New Vines Planted for 2017

Its been awhile since I've blogged but that is a function of how busy we've been this spring.  Our main objective was to get the new vines planted and we got that completed end of April - early May. We've now got 1.5 acre of vines. So we were up early befor the sun came over the mountains and were out to get the rows marked and holes drilled. We marked our rows and vine spacing and then augered a 3 foot deep hole for each vine. Early morning mist before the sun came over the mountain.

The rains came and went and we then got to planting and added 1500 row feet of Castel grapes and have them staked. Picture below is not great but the rows are there. This is a favorite of mine and not widely grown but if you've not had Castel then think of Pinotage with Cab Sav. So all we need now is warm weather to bring them along. Rows below;

Growing Grape Vines From Cuttings

So here is a video that we put together that shows how to grow grape vines from cuttings. This is similar to the process we use to grow them in doors then plant them out doors later. There are alot of steps but you get pretty good success if you follow this. On average we get about 75% of the cuttings becoming grape vines but depending on the variety and condition of the cuttings the spectrum is between 60% and 90% cultivation rate.

On the other hand there is an easier way. Last year for a test we stuck 3 Leon Millot cuttings in the ground with nothing but dipping the bottom of the cutting in rooting hormone and the occasional watering and all of them grew into vines. So this works too but what we understand is that this in not usually that successful of a technique.

Arrow Lakes White for 2016

We bottle several 375ml bottles of each types of wine we produce so we can sample them throughout the year and see how they are evolving. Opened up one of the samplers of the 2016 Arrow Lakes White and it is really nice with great tropical fruit aroma and good acidity. Year over year I really like how this wine turns out. Its primamrily made with Evangeline (KW96-2), which is crossed from Seigerrebe which in turn was crossed from Gewurztraminer) - and the great muscat flovours and aromas have been passed along. This one is perfect for summer patios, pasta or seafood.

Backyard Vineyard Presentation

So thanks to everyone that came to the presentation on Tuesday March 14th. I have had several people email me to post the presentation so here it is. We talked about alot of details on each slide so lots of gaps to fill in but this should give you the foundation of the discussions.

2016 Reds in the Bottle

So we've got the reds in the bottle now. We've got four reds this year, the Foch we blogged about earlier in the year. The Castel is varietal and is really nice, the Leon Millot is varietal also. The Kuhlman Blend is just that - a blend of most of the Kuhlman varieites - Leon Millot, Marechal Foch, Lucy Kuhlman, Triompe D'Alsace, Comar Precose Noir, and Marechal Joffre and there is a bit of Pinot Noir and Regent as well.

Mid - Winter Update

The winter is coming to an end and we have to check the vines to get a feel for what me may expect come spring. In particular we are looking for signs of damage due to cold.  This winter has not been particularly cold although we had a stretch of days in the -20c to -22c zone. This is a bit unusual as when we do get this cold it is usually for just 1 day.

Took a sampling of the varieties and thusfar most look pretty good. Leon Millot is among the least hardy and it is looking pretty good so far. Have to qualify the statement with "so far" because the real potential for vine damage is not only in extreme cold temperature but more often it is when we get warm temperature in the spring then a sudden cold snap.

When this happens, the warm temperature get the vines to come out of dormancy and they loose their deep cold temperature protections and the saps start to flow. If then we get a real good cold snap then that can really damage the buds. Same can happen in the fall if we get a cold snap before the vines have had a chance to get to dormancy stage.

Back Yard Vineyard seminar - March 14, 2017

So I have had so many questions about grape growing I'm putting on a Back Yard Vineyard seminar from 7-8:30pm on Tuesday March, 14, 2017 at the Strathcona County Library.  Seems crazy that growing nice grapes in the Sherwood Park and Edmonton area is a thought or possibility given the climate but the reality is that you can grow really nice grapes there.  St. Croix pictures below;

One of the reasons this is possible is that this area has one of the longest frost free periods in the prairie provinces and the long days in the summer increase growing time each day.  But the real secret is not the summer heat or sun; its staving off the winter cold.

So I am going to be talking about what varieties can survive and thrive in our area and early enought to ripen. We'll talk about how to care for the vines, basic planning, pruning and dealing with pests as well as how to use the grapes. Its an introduction, but for the enthusiast, this will get anyone started.

The seminar is being held at the Starhcona Public Library here is the link,
http://www.sclibrary.ab.ca/programmain.htm    hope to see you there.

2016 Foch Is Bottled - Say What?!

So we just bottled our 2016 Marechal Foch. Yes we did (well actually it was at the beginning of December). I know what some of you are thinking - its to young, you can't bottle the wine yet.

This style of wine is meant to be drank early and usually is on the down slide within a few years of bottling.We went with little skin contact and that exaggerated the fruit forward style of this wine.

We really like this Foch, as do others (went though alot of it over the Christmas holiday season) it is fruity with aromas and flavours of ripe plum and of course the sweet cherry prominence of Marechal Foch and some raspberry with moderate acidity.

Variety - The Spice of Wine

One of the best things about the experimental vineyard is that with all the different varieties of grapes we are able to make so many types of wine and really get to know which ones taste great from our local soil/climate condition in side by side comparisons. Easy to make the choice of what to grow on the large scale as this takes the guess work out of it - but hence the reason for the experiment in the first palce. On the other hand, its a ton of work as it takes pretty much as much time to make a small batch of wine as a big batch. But nice to fill the cellar with so many varieties and be able to trial so many blending combinations. Here is a few of the red batches on the go.

Wind Break Increases Vineyard Heat / Frost prevention

I've had a few questions lately about frost protection so I wanted to talk about how we've reduced or chances of late spring frost and early fall frost and raised the ovall temperature of our vineyard. 

So the area we cleared orginally for the test vineyard was right beside the road. We chose this area for a few reasons being that it was easily accessable and it was already nearly cleared of trees.  What we didn't know at that time was that with mountain areas the wind moves up valley during the day as it heats up and cold air moves down walley in the evening as it cools down. The road beside the clearing runs the lenght of the valley so it is a perfect conduit to bring warm air up the road during the day and cold air back down at night. Another thing we did not know of was that this spot beside the raod was in a low spot relative to the area around it. For the location of the test vineyard these condition, particularly the cold evening wind, influenced the growth of the vines and the lenght of season.

When we planted the vines we put up a 7 foot high deer fence around the vineyard but there was no other barrier to keep cold air out or to divert it around the vineyard.  So in the evening the cold air would come down the mountain and it would spill off the road and into the vineyard clearing and get trapped there by the trees around the vineyard.  And the low spot that the vineyard was in allowed the cold air to settle in.

We noticed the first few years that we were prone to late spring frosts and early fall frosts so we cleared the trees around the vineyard to allow the cold air to drain away.  That is when we learned the test vineyard was in a low spot and while clearing the trees did help a bit it would not help considerably for draining cold air.

So next we put up a 6' high wind fence along the road and that has worked excellent at diverting the cold air that comes down the road and preventing it from entering the vineyard.  We have since noticed more heat in the vineyard over the course of the growing season and less frost events in spring and fall.  One thing that is quite telling is the condition of weeds that grow beside the road versus weeds growing inside the wind fence in the vineyard.  Ferns are very suseptable to frost and we notice every year the ferns that grow ourside of the vineyard towards the road have been frost bitten and die way before those that are just on the other side of the wind fence in the vineyard which are still healthy and green weeks later. This is the clearest indication of the value of the wind fence in keeping cold air out. Of note, we had a terrible wind storm in September 2014 that destroyed the wind fence and a few days later experienced an early fall frost as we were not able to repair it in time. Without the wind fence to divert the cold air we were vulnerable again and got frost early that year.

A few years back we planted some pine trees along the road just outside the wind fence and they are getting high now and soon will replace the wind fence. We have let the shrubs grow to about 3 feet high now that the pines are getting bigger. We also planted some willows last spring to fill gaps between the pine trees. In a few more years these trees and shrubs should fill in and we'll have a natural wind break to keep the cold air out and wont have to rely on the wind fence any more.