Quite possibly you may never have heard of this grape before. I found out about it a few years back while researching disease resistant early red grape varieties. This one was developed a few decades back in Germany by crossing a vinifera variety Dianna, with a hybrid Chambourcin. The result was a red grape that showed tremendous disease resistance and ripens in about 95 days (bloom to harvest). It has been recommended for those short season vineyards where disease resistance is a priority. I have been in touch with the owner of Hollywood Hills vineyard on the west coast and he has been growing Regent for 10 years. He says he has never had to spray this variety and like other accounts, it ripens in about 95 days. (Link to his blog - it is excellent and worth a look). Given the humidity of the area that seems pretty impressive. The grape trials at Mt. Vernon in Washington have also tested this grape and found it can ripen in about 1700-1800 degree days F and ripens about a 7-10 days after Castel 19637 (another excellent disease resistant, cold hardy, early, hybrid)
I haven't found much details about its cold hardy properties but have read a few notations here and there on the net from people who grow Regent (another good blog) and have said it is hardy to about -13 to -14 F. That is about -25 c. Another document says Regent is hardy to about -5 to -10 F, that is about -20 to -23 C. Peter Salonius who grows this variety in New Brunswick recommends covering this vine if you expect winter cold below - 20 c. (He also lists it as being mid-season for his locatiopn which gets about 900 ddg C or 1650 ddg F on average). So perhaps using this more conservative number -20 C or -5 F could be used as the bench mark. We had about -20 c as the coldest day this past winter at our site so we'll be able to test that on the taller canes that were sticking out above the snow.
What I have also found out is that it apparently makes excellent wine. There are several accounts of this and the fact that the German acreage of this variety has grown from about 400ha in 2000, to just over 2100ha in 2007 is proof that this grape has excellent qualities beyond the disease resistance. It apparently has the ability to reach good sugar accumulations and excellent chemistry for making wine. One German study over a five year found it was superior to Pinot Noir in this respect. Germany's wine authorities have even labeled this grape as being vinifera due to the excellent qualities of the Regent grape and the fact that it has so little non-vinifera genes in its ancestry.
While I have not yet tasted a Regent varietal wine, Hollywood Hills as mentioned above is making it as such. What I have read is that is can make a heavier red wine with complexity and taste similar to a Merlot. I've also heard that is can make an excellent rose as well.
Other sources label it as an excellent wine.
Our Regent is coming into its second year so no crop this year but we will keep a few bunches on the row to give us an idea of ripening times and to see what the juice chemistry is.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
What to Plant, Hybrid, Vinifera or both?
I had an interesting conversation with a friend the other day. They were asking me some questions about the vines we were planting at the vineyard. I explained that we had a mix of hybrids and vinifera. I went on to explain that hybrids came about as a result of breeding grape vines for pest and disease resistance and cultural superiority (drought resistance, later bud break, earlier ripening etc. etc.). We talked about grafting of Vinifera to root stock of other grape vines to make the resultant plant better suited to a particular climate, growing area or conditions or disease/pest resistant. My friend asked if these grafted vines were then classified a hybrids. Good question?
I had never thought of it like that before but it is an interesting perspective.
This was a diversion as our discussion was not so much about the differences between hybrids and Vinifera but why the choice of vines we have in our vineyard. There are so many variables that come together that determine what grape varieties are best suited to one location or another. Temperature, sunlight, moisture, frost free days, soil, humidity, pests all play a role in determining what grapes will grow best at a particular site.
We know that we are at the low end of the heat and frost free days spectrum for growing grapes in BC and this means planting the varieties that are the earliest maturing varieties. We are not sure what the winter low temperatures are so this means having vines that are of various levels of cold hardiness.
I think that all the varieties we have decided to plant will work out alright in one way or another. Most are recolgnized varieites (link to VQA varieites) and it appears thusfar that they should all do well in some years if not all. Now there are about the same number of Hybrid grape varieties as Vinifera varieties on the list of acceptable varieties for VQA designation. So while there are alot of options of what to plant, what is important is which varieties will do best at the site. While the Pinot Noir or Zweigelt may do well on an annual basis they may not ripen to as good of sugar/acid levels that you may find at other warmer, longer season sites. Some years may be quite good while others quite poor. In reality you can expect each year is going to be different than the last with some vintages better than others - but this is with varieties that are properly suited to your site.
There is a grower in the south Okanagan that I was talking to who said that he had to over-crop his Seigerrebe to ensure that it didn't ripen too early. He often has to blend it with Pinot Gris to bring the acid up. Even at the right site Seigerrebe is noted for dropping it's acid very quickly and having a high ph at harvest (this is not always desireable in a Germanic style white wine which Seigerrebe is usually made). If the site is too warm and this grape ripens too early this could lower the quality of these grapes at harvest. He said, if you over crop your vines it takes them longer to ripen, but then you can stretch out harvest to when the temperatures are cooler and this can help retain some of the acid and maintain a lower ph. However, there is much literature that suggests that over-cropping results in a loss in quality and can harm the winter survival of the vine or buds.
So even if you have a site with a lot of heat, you have to match the variety to the site. While there are few grapes that would ripen too early at our site, I expect that if we choose varieties that are marginal ripeners for our site then we can expect more poorer vintages than good vintages over time. We are also drawn to disease resistant varieties and that generally puts us in the camp of hybrids.
While there are certain varieities we'd like to grow, and certain varieties in greater demand (which is a very strong consideration for comercial ventures), in order to grow good quality grapes the choice of what to grow will be decided equally by us to meet our needs and by climate, soil and variety being matched correctly. This will present itself over time.
I had never thought of it like that before but it is an interesting perspective.
This was a diversion as our discussion was not so much about the differences between hybrids and Vinifera but why the choice of vines we have in our vineyard. There are so many variables that come together that determine what grape varieties are best suited to one location or another. Temperature, sunlight, moisture, frost free days, soil, humidity, pests all play a role in determining what grapes will grow best at a particular site.
We know that we are at the low end of the heat and frost free days spectrum for growing grapes in BC and this means planting the varieties that are the earliest maturing varieties. We are not sure what the winter low temperatures are so this means having vines that are of various levels of cold hardiness.
I think that all the varieties we have decided to plant will work out alright in one way or another. Most are recolgnized varieites (link to VQA varieites) and it appears thusfar that they should all do well in some years if not all. Now there are about the same number of Hybrid grape varieties as Vinifera varieties on the list of acceptable varieties for VQA designation. So while there are alot of options of what to plant, what is important is which varieties will do best at the site. While the Pinot Noir or Zweigelt may do well on an annual basis they may not ripen to as good of sugar/acid levels that you may find at other warmer, longer season sites. Some years may be quite good while others quite poor. In reality you can expect each year is going to be different than the last with some vintages better than others - but this is with varieties that are properly suited to your site.
There is a grower in the south Okanagan that I was talking to who said that he had to over-crop his Seigerrebe to ensure that it didn't ripen too early. He often has to blend it with Pinot Gris to bring the acid up. Even at the right site Seigerrebe is noted for dropping it's acid very quickly and having a high ph at harvest (this is not always desireable in a Germanic style white wine which Seigerrebe is usually made). If the site is too warm and this grape ripens too early this could lower the quality of these grapes at harvest. He said, if you over crop your vines it takes them longer to ripen, but then you can stretch out harvest to when the temperatures are cooler and this can help retain some of the acid and maintain a lower ph. However, there is much literature that suggests that over-cropping results in a loss in quality and can harm the winter survival of the vine or buds.
So even if you have a site with a lot of heat, you have to match the variety to the site. While there are few grapes that would ripen too early at our site, I expect that if we choose varieties that are marginal ripeners for our site then we can expect more poorer vintages than good vintages over time. We are also drawn to disease resistant varieties and that generally puts us in the camp of hybrids.
While there are certain varieities we'd like to grow, and certain varieties in greater demand (which is a very strong consideration for comercial ventures), in order to grow good quality grapes the choice of what to grow will be decided equally by us to meet our needs and by climate, soil and variety being matched correctly. This will present itself over time.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Increasing Degree Day Accumulations
In the past two years we have recorded approximately 900 and 1000 degree days between May 1st and September 30th. There are actually a few more degree days each year, somewhere in the neighborhood of 25-50 but these fall in the months of April and September and are pretty much outside of the growing season. Those that accumulate after the first good fall frost are really of no importance because the growing season is done after that anyway. However, those accumulated in April can have some impact on the season. Lots of heat in April even 15-20 degree days impact the season in terms of early or late bud break.
Presently our site is completely surrounded by forest. The area that has been cleared is approximately 75 x 105 feet (approx. 0.17 acre) and inside that the vineyard is fenced off at 55 x 100 feet . As mentioned in previous blogs I believe there is somewhat more heat in the centre of the vineyard than in the areas along the forest margins where the temperature data logger is placed. Moving the logger to the centre of the vineyard will give a more accurate picture of the degree day accumulations.
While the site is pretty as it is enclosed by trees, this promotes several detrimental effect on climate of the site including; lowering the potential heat accumulation, increasing the potential for frost due to the cold air dam created by the forest and in turn a slower rise in the soil temperature in the spring.
There is a body of research on these topics, many conducted in British Columbia forest regions. The research has been focused on the local changes in climate in forest vs. clear cut area. The clearings ranged in size from 0.03ha 0.13ha to 1.0ha (approx 0.07 acre to 2.25 acres). The research has revealed that the clear cut area had significantly higher degree day accumulations than the forested areas. This was also related to the clearing size - the larger the clearing the more heat (significantly more heat). They found that over a 5 year period the tree seedlings in the largest opening had the greatest growth. They also found that the winter snow melted up to 5 days sooner on the clear cut areas than forests and quickest in the largest clearings. Some studies also found the soil temperature increased earlier in the spring in the clearings (fastest in the largest clearings) resulting in earlier plant biological activity. While the clearings allowed for more heat to escape the soil at night, there incidence of frost did not change as the slope allowed the cold air to drain away. Other similar research has shown that on flat ground without a slope the clearing can be subject to more frost events. Here is some of the studies;
http://www.forrex.org/publications/FORREXSeries/ss1/paper16.pdf
http://treephys.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/26/1/105.pdf
Improving Air Drainage
Clear cut opening size increases heat units
We've known about this research and what it could mean to our site but before we cleared any more land at our site we wanted to be sure the ground could sustain the plants. This is now evident and we plan to increase the size of the clearing this year to nearly 1 acre. This will take advantage of the slope of the land and the subsequent cold air drainage. It is also hoped that expanding the size of the clearing will increase the degree days accumulation of heat. More importantly the clearing will take advantage of the slope of the land and eliminate the cold air dam that currently exists at the vineyard.
Reducing the night time low temperatures caused by the forest damming up the cold air can change the degree days significantly over the growing season. Raising the night time low as little as 1.0 degree on average at our site would add about 75 more degree days over the period of May to September. This may also help mitigate potential frost damage in spring and fall. Together, the increase in day time heat and raising the night time low air temperatures over the growing season should help the overall degree day accumulations.
Presently our site is completely surrounded by forest. The area that has been cleared is approximately 75 x 105 feet (approx. 0.17 acre) and inside that the vineyard is fenced off at 55 x 100 feet . As mentioned in previous blogs I believe there is somewhat more heat in the centre of the vineyard than in the areas along the forest margins where the temperature data logger is placed. Moving the logger to the centre of the vineyard will give a more accurate picture of the degree day accumulations.
While the site is pretty as it is enclosed by trees, this promotes several detrimental effect on climate of the site including; lowering the potential heat accumulation, increasing the potential for frost due to the cold air dam created by the forest and in turn a slower rise in the soil temperature in the spring.
There is a body of research on these topics, many conducted in British Columbia forest regions. The research has been focused on the local changes in climate in forest vs. clear cut area. The clearings ranged in size from 0.03ha 0.13ha to 1.0ha (approx 0.07 acre to 2.25 acres). The research has revealed that the clear cut area had significantly higher degree day accumulations than the forested areas. This was also related to the clearing size - the larger the clearing the more heat (significantly more heat). They found that over a 5 year period the tree seedlings in the largest opening had the greatest growth. They also found that the winter snow melted up to 5 days sooner on the clear cut areas than forests and quickest in the largest clearings. Some studies also found the soil temperature increased earlier in the spring in the clearings (fastest in the largest clearings) resulting in earlier plant biological activity. While the clearings allowed for more heat to escape the soil at night, there incidence of frost did not change as the slope allowed the cold air to drain away. Other similar research has shown that on flat ground without a slope the clearing can be subject to more frost events. Here is some of the studies;
http://www.forrex.org/publications/FORREXSeries/ss1/paper16.pdf
http://treephys.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/26/1/105.pdf
Improving Air Drainage
Clear cut opening size increases heat units
We've known about this research and what it could mean to our site but before we cleared any more land at our site we wanted to be sure the ground could sustain the plants. This is now evident and we plan to increase the size of the clearing this year to nearly 1 acre. This will take advantage of the slope of the land and the subsequent cold air drainage. It is also hoped that expanding the size of the clearing will increase the degree days accumulation of heat. More importantly the clearing will take advantage of the slope of the land and eliminate the cold air dam that currently exists at the vineyard.
Reducing the night time low temperatures caused by the forest damming up the cold air can change the degree days significantly over the growing season. Raising the night time low as little as 1.0 degree on average at our site would add about 75 more degree days over the period of May to September. This may also help mitigate potential frost damage in spring and fall. Together, the increase in day time heat and raising the night time low air temperatures over the growing season should help the overall degree day accumulations.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Nakusp and Arrow Lakes Grape Potentential
There seems to be more and more interest being generated around the possibilities of growing grapes in Nakusp and the Arrow Lakes valley on south to Edgewood.
There are numerous historical accounts of people growing tree fruits in the area dating as far back as the early 1900's however little knowledge about growing grapes. However, there are numerous more recent accounts of people growing grapes in the area.
Here are some recent accounts of grape growing in the region;
Arrow Lakes News Article About Nakusp Grape Grower.
Arrow Lakes News Article about winery potential
Google Earth Picture of Bench in Nakusp with yard full of grape vines behind.
Grower near Edgewood growing grapes
One way to gauge just how prolific the grape growing potential in the area is would be to walk to streets of the residential areas of Nakusp and the other towns in the Arrow Lakes Valley (Burton, Fauquier, and Edgewood) to look forback yard grape growers. I've done this and there are so many people with grape vines growing up fences or trellises that it is obvious the area can sustain these fruits. Most of the vines in the residential areas I've seen have been Himrod. Many of these vines are old with trunks many inches in diameter. There is a fantastic one (Himrod) that grows up the side of the old red barn at the tree nursery located by the marina in Nakusp.
Himrod is very early green seedless table grape and the nursery owner says the grapes regularly mature at the beginning of September sometimes late August. Himrod has cold temperature tolerance to about -23 and matures in about 130/135 days - bud break to harvest.
There are numerous historical accounts of people growing tree fruits in the area dating as far back as the early 1900's however little knowledge about growing grapes. However, there are numerous more recent accounts of people growing grapes in the area.
Here are some recent accounts of grape growing in the region;
Arrow Lakes News Article About Nakusp Grape Grower.
Arrow Lakes News Article about winery potential
Google Earth Picture of Bench in Nakusp with yard full of grape vines behind.
Grower near Edgewood growing grapes
One way to gauge just how prolific the grape growing potential in the area is would be to walk to streets of the residential areas of Nakusp and the other towns in the Arrow Lakes Valley (Burton, Fauquier, and Edgewood) to look forback yard grape growers. I've done this and there are so many people with grape vines growing up fences or trellises that it is obvious the area can sustain these fruits. Most of the vines in the residential areas I've seen have been Himrod. Many of these vines are old with trunks many inches in diameter. There is a fantastic one (Himrod) that grows up the side of the old red barn at the tree nursery located by the marina in Nakusp.
Himrod is very early green seedless table grape and the nursery owner says the grapes regularly mature at the beginning of September sometimes late August. Himrod has cold temperature tolerance to about -23 and matures in about 130/135 days - bud break to harvest.
Made in Canada Wine
I've been following the issue of some Canadian wineries importing foreign wine, grapes or juice, then vinifying it, bottleing and/or storing it in Canada and then labelling the wine as having some Canadian origin.
Under the rules of the Competition Act enforced by the Competition Bureau, so long as there was some form of manufacturing or value added by a process in Canada, such as vinification of foreign grape juice, or bottling and storage (cellaring) the product could be marketed as Made in Canada.
Problem here is the grapes/juice or wine being used to make these so called "Canadian Wines" are from foreign sources. The grapes/juice or wine is so cheap that utilizing these sources of materials appear to be hurting the Canadian wine grape producers. This is especially so in Ontario.
A similar problem was happening a few years back with the Canadian diamond industry. People could import rough (raw) diamonds from foreign sources such as South Africa, Brazil, or the Nigeria then cut and polish the diamonds in Canada and in turn market them as Made in Canada. The processing of the diamond in Canada was what allowed them to be labelled as Made in Canada. Many thought these foreign diamonds were in fact Canadian mined diamonds because of the Made in Canada label. Often the label had a maple leaf or some arctic image associated to it which further induced one to believe the diamond was Canadian.
It is probable that the same thing happens with wine that is labelled as made in Canada or Canadian but made with foreign grapes. For instance in many liguor/wine stores the wines are separated by county of origin - U.S, South Africa, Australia, Frace, Canada etc. These wines that are made with foreign grapes but vinified in Canada are typically found in the Canadian section of the store. This furthers ones perception that these are actually Canadian wines despite that the grapes/juice was not produced in Canada.
The Competition Bureau changed the interpretation here and now only allows diamonds produced in Canada to be labelled as Canadian diamonds. See link.
I don't have a problem with the importation of foreign grapes being vinifyed in Canada and sold as wine in Canada or even the foreign wine. I'd just like the labelling to be very specific to ensure that no one mistakes the wine for that made with grapes grown in Canada. If the country of orgin label is not protected for grape production then why bother labelling what country the wine/grapes come from. However, apparently this is not an issue unique to Canada. Search the internet and you'll see.
Perhaps the same should be done with wine as was done with diamonds and that only wine made with grapes produced in Canada could be labelled as being Canadian.
Under the rules of the Competition Act enforced by the Competition Bureau, so long as there was some form of manufacturing or value added by a process in Canada, such as vinification of foreign grape juice, or bottling and storage (cellaring) the product could be marketed as Made in Canada.
Problem here is the grapes/juice or wine being used to make these so called "Canadian Wines" are from foreign sources. The grapes/juice or wine is so cheap that utilizing these sources of materials appear to be hurting the Canadian wine grape producers. This is especially so in Ontario.
A similar problem was happening a few years back with the Canadian diamond industry. People could import rough (raw) diamonds from foreign sources such as South Africa, Brazil, or the Nigeria then cut and polish the diamonds in Canada and in turn market them as Made in Canada. The processing of the diamond in Canada was what allowed them to be labelled as Made in Canada. Many thought these foreign diamonds were in fact Canadian mined diamonds because of the Made in Canada label. Often the label had a maple leaf or some arctic image associated to it which further induced one to believe the diamond was Canadian.
It is probable that the same thing happens with wine that is labelled as made in Canada or Canadian but made with foreign grapes. For instance in many liguor/wine stores the wines are separated by county of origin - U.S, South Africa, Australia, Frace, Canada etc. These wines that are made with foreign grapes but vinified in Canada are typically found in the Canadian section of the store. This furthers ones perception that these are actually Canadian wines despite that the grapes/juice was not produced in Canada.
The Competition Bureau changed the interpretation here and now only allows diamonds produced in Canada to be labelled as Canadian diamonds. See link.
I don't have a problem with the importation of foreign grapes being vinifyed in Canada and sold as wine in Canada or even the foreign wine. I'd just like the labelling to be very specific to ensure that no one mistakes the wine for that made with grapes grown in Canada. If the country of orgin label is not protected for grape production then why bother labelling what country the wine/grapes come from. However, apparently this is not an issue unique to Canada. Search the internet and you'll see.
Perhaps the same should be done with wine as was done with diamonds and that only wine made with grapes produced in Canada could be labelled as being Canadian.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Sources of Vines
I've grown all my vines from cuttings and for the most part have had very good success. Where I've had difficulty with cuttings has usually been a result of poor quality cuttings that I've received from a supplier.
Getting the cuttings to grow is a very easy process;
1) get the cuttings from a supplier, keep them cool, wrapped in plastic with a slightly moist paper towel in the refrigerator until your ready to go.
2) soak the cuttings in room temperature water for 24 hours before you plan to plant them.
3) Using a sharp pruning tool, nip about 1 cm off the bottom of the cutting.
4) Dip the cutting in a root hormone (I use the powder stuff from Home Depot).
5) Plant the cutting in a 4" x 4" biodegradeable (compressed peat moss) planters and fill with 50/50 peat moss - perlite mixture.
6) litely pack the planting mixture into the pot around the cutting.
7) Place the pots on a heat mat so that the bottom of the cuttings are warmed to about 75-80 degres F.
8) Water good the first time so the mixture is moist. After the first day you'll probably see the sides of the pots have soaked up most of the water.
9) Water again when the sides of pots are drying out.
10) Keep the pots in a cool (60-65 degrees F), dark room for the first 2-3 weeks (this allows the cuttings to begin to form roots before the buds leaf out).
11) After 2-3 weeks give the cuttings lite and more heat (70-75 F) room air temp.
12) After about 4 weeks (maybe sooner - maybe later) you'll probably see roots poking out the bottom of the pots and your cuttings will have leaves.
13) When you see the roots poking out, transfer the plants to the ground if it's warm enough, or to larger pots until you can plant them outside.
IF YOU WANT TO PURCHASE GRAPE CUTTINGS GOT TO GRAPE VINE SALES ON THIS BLOG.
Unless you are intimately aware of the regulations regarding movement of plant materials (grapes or otherwise and this includes cuttings) in and out of provinces in Canada with respect to the Plant Protection Act, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND you contact your local Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) office to ensure you can do so legally. Last thing you want to do is break the law and/or be known for being the person who importing a pest from another location to a place where the pest didn't exist.
I mentioned in a recent blog about new varieties for 2010 and about adding Joffre to the test vineyard in BC. The Joffre cuttings are going to come from my plants that I'm growing in Alberta. Now, there is no movement restrictions on cuttings comming from Alberta to BC, HOWEVER, the cutings originally came from Nova Scotia and there is a ban on movement of grape plants or plant material from Nova Scotia to BC. There is no ban on movement of cuttings from Nova Scotia to Alberta. However, to reduce any possibility that a pest got transported with the original cuttings and now exists on the plants I have in Alberta, the CFIA would like my cuttings that I'll take from my Alberta vines, treated here in Alberta before moving them to BC. The treatment, is a simple process of submerging your cuttings in hot water. I wont go into the full details of the treatment here but once you complete the treatment, which eradicates the pest, the CFIA will provide a "movement certificate" which then will allow me to legally move the cuttings to BC and more importantly ensure I'm not going to bring a pest to BC on my cuttings.
If you have any questions on movements or pests, call your local office of the CFIA.
I'll do an update on the treatment, process, costs, and propegation success rate this spring when I have the treatments done.
Getting the cuttings to grow is a very easy process;
1) get the cuttings from a supplier, keep them cool, wrapped in plastic with a slightly moist paper towel in the refrigerator until your ready to go.
2) soak the cuttings in room temperature water for 24 hours before you plan to plant them.
3) Using a sharp pruning tool, nip about 1 cm off the bottom of the cutting.
4) Dip the cutting in a root hormone (I use the powder stuff from Home Depot).
5) Plant the cutting in a 4" x 4" biodegradeable (compressed peat moss) planters and fill with 50/50 peat moss - perlite mixture.
6) litely pack the planting mixture into the pot around the cutting.
7) Place the pots on a heat mat so that the bottom of the cuttings are warmed to about 75-80 degres F.
8) Water good the first time so the mixture is moist. After the first day you'll probably see the sides of the pots have soaked up most of the water.
9) Water again when the sides of pots are drying out.
10) Keep the pots in a cool (60-65 degrees F), dark room for the first 2-3 weeks (this allows the cuttings to begin to form roots before the buds leaf out).
11) After 2-3 weeks give the cuttings lite and more heat (70-75 F) room air temp.
12) After about 4 weeks (maybe sooner - maybe later) you'll probably see roots poking out the bottom of the pots and your cuttings will have leaves.
13) When you see the roots poking out, transfer the plants to the ground if it's warm enough, or to larger pots until you can plant them outside.
IF YOU WANT TO PURCHASE GRAPE CUTTINGS GOT TO GRAPE VINE SALES ON THIS BLOG.
Unless you are intimately aware of the regulations regarding movement of plant materials (grapes or otherwise and this includes cuttings) in and out of provinces in Canada with respect to the Plant Protection Act, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND you contact your local Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) office to ensure you can do so legally. Last thing you want to do is break the law and/or be known for being the person who importing a pest from another location to a place where the pest didn't exist.
I mentioned in a recent blog about new varieties for 2010 and about adding Joffre to the test vineyard in BC. The Joffre cuttings are going to come from my plants that I'm growing in Alberta. Now, there is no movement restrictions on cuttings comming from Alberta to BC, HOWEVER, the cutings originally came from Nova Scotia and there is a ban on movement of grape plants or plant material from Nova Scotia to BC. There is no ban on movement of cuttings from Nova Scotia to Alberta. However, to reduce any possibility that a pest got transported with the original cuttings and now exists on the plants I have in Alberta, the CFIA would like my cuttings that I'll take from my Alberta vines, treated here in Alberta before moving them to BC. The treatment, is a simple process of submerging your cuttings in hot water. I wont go into the full details of the treatment here but once you complete the treatment, which eradicates the pest, the CFIA will provide a "movement certificate" which then will allow me to legally move the cuttings to BC and more importantly ensure I'm not going to bring a pest to BC on my cuttings.
If you have any questions on movements or pests, call your local office of the CFIA.
I'll do an update on the treatment, process, costs, and propegation success rate this spring when I have the treatments done.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Frost Control and Bird Netting
We're training the vines up to a 5 foot fruit wire in 2010. So far it appears the winter cold is not as much as an issue as early fall frost. So by raising the wire from 22 inches to 5 feet we wont have the bennefit of the snow cover in the winter however, the fruit wire at this height offers a few degrees of frost protection.
Good research on this
http://www.nzwine.com/assets/frost_review.pdf
We're also looking at bird netting as we are going to need it but there are some on the market that provide a degree or two of frost protection. Were going to try this out and see if it works.
We're not really worried about the frost because the varieties we've chosen appear to be early enough for our site that it should not matter. Having said that, being able to let the grapes hang a week or two could do wonders for the juice chemistry perhaps increasing the brix 1 or 2 points while dropping the acid to levels if it happens to be a bit high - we'll see.
Good research on this
http://www.nzwine.com/assets/frost_review.pdf
We're also looking at bird netting as we are going to need it but there are some on the market that provide a degree or two of frost protection. Were going to try this out and see if it works.
We're not really worried about the frost because the varieties we've chosen appear to be early enough for our site that it should not matter. Having said that, being able to let the grapes hang a week or two could do wonders for the juice chemistry perhaps increasing the brix 1 or 2 points while dropping the acid to levels if it happens to be a bit high - we'll see.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Agria Wine and Grapes
It has been a while since I've posted a blog but have to talk about a wine I recently tried. It came from Southend Farm Vineyard in BC (http://www.southend.ca/sefv/Welcome.html). The wine is made from the Agria grape also known as Turan. In fact this is what Southend call's it "Turan". This red Hungarian variety has found a home in BC on Vancouver Island and the other Wine Islands between Vancouver island and the mainland. This variety is a very early ripening red vinifera grape and a robust producer with deep red juice. We are testing this varety at our site.
Now, I've tried a few other wines made from this variety incuding a big red not unlike a big Italian red which came from Marley Vineyard which was quite nice. Also, another nice one with fruity strength and some age potential from Crabrea Vineyard. Both these are vineyards in BC in the wine Islands.
What is different about the Southend Farm Vineyard Turan is that they craft the wine the same as you would a white wine by crushing and pressing the grapes and fermenting the juice without the skins. You wouldn't know that it was fermented without the skins by looking at their Turan wine, as it has a beautiful cherry red colour. This is the natural colour of the juice from the grape. This wine has a pronounced fruity aroma to it, crisp taste and finish not dissimilar to a lite crisp white wine. For me this is a very nice summertime wine, that should be enjoyed chilled.
Now, I've tried a few other wines made from this variety incuding a big red not unlike a big Italian red which came from Marley Vineyard which was quite nice. Also, another nice one with fruity strength and some age potential from Crabrea Vineyard. Both these are vineyards in BC in the wine Islands.
What is different about the Southend Farm Vineyard Turan is that they craft the wine the same as you would a white wine by crushing and pressing the grapes and fermenting the juice without the skins. You wouldn't know that it was fermented without the skins by looking at their Turan wine, as it has a beautiful cherry red colour. This is the natural colour of the juice from the grape. This wine has a pronounced fruity aroma to it, crisp taste and finish not dissimilar to a lite crisp white wine. For me this is a very nice summertime wine, that should be enjoyed chilled.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Final Grape and Climate Data 2009
The experimental vineyard got frost on October 1st (-1.7c) and this ended the growing season. Actually, as all the berry cluster we kept this year are about 1 foot off the ground, some of the Leon Millot got hit with frost on September 21st. The data logger is 4 feet off the ground and registered a 0.8c degree low on September 21st but at the ground level there was frost and it was probably 2-3 degrees cooler there than at the 4 foot level. Aside from the September lows the first really good frost was on October 5th at -2.7c. The last spring frost at -1.7c was May 9th. So by way of the data logger we had about 145 frost free days (greater than -2.0c) this year. Not great but it was a cold late spring by about 2 weeks by all accounts in the region. I had thought our site would have about 150-160 frost free days on average but I'm going to lean to a more conservative estimate of 145-150 frost free days on average. This will only present itself in time.
The Growing Degree Days for the year are as follows;
May average was 12c
June average was 17c
July average was 20.2c
August average was 19.2c
September average was 14.1c
Total Degree days (May 1st-Sept 30th)was average was about 996 with a 10c base. We had about another 50 degree days (some in April and October) for a year growing total of about 1050.
The Leon Millot that got hit by the frost September 21st, stopped gaining suger at about 15-16 brix - seeds turning brown.
The other Leon Millot that made it to September 26th, had average 19 brix - seeds brown, nice flavour, acid did not seem to be a problem (by taste, acid&ph wasn't actually measured).
The Ravat 34 had a brix of 18 and had great flavour, somewhat like Riesling. This will be interesting if we can pull enough grapes off this one next year.
Dispite having covered the Agria with wire mesh some critter ate all the berries. Must have been a small animal but I don't know what it would have been.
All varieties appear to be hardening off well and through the season showed no disease on the leaves or berries (of the few berry clusters we kept).
The Growing Degree Days for the year are as follows;
May average was 12c
June average was 17c
July average was 20.2c
August average was 19.2c
September average was 14.1c
Total Degree days (May 1st-Sept 30th)was average was about 996 with a 10c base. We had about another 50 degree days (some in April and October) for a year growing total of about 1050.
The Leon Millot that got hit by the frost September 21st, stopped gaining suger at about 15-16 brix - seeds turning brown.
The other Leon Millot that made it to September 26th, had average 19 brix - seeds brown, nice flavour, acid did not seem to be a problem (by taste, acid&ph wasn't actually measured).
The Ravat 34 had a brix of 18 and had great flavour, somewhat like Riesling. This will be interesting if we can pull enough grapes off this one next year.
Dispite having covered the Agria with wire mesh some critter ate all the berries. Must have been a small animal but I don't know what it would have been.
All varieties appear to be hardening off well and through the season showed no disease on the leaves or berries (of the few berry clusters we kept).
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Moisture from the Air
Photo of Unirrigated Leon Millot, August 9, 2009
I read about a few interesting studies that had been done that measured the amount of moisture that was added to the ground from the moisture in the air - not from direct rainfall. They were conducted in the Mediterranean and in an arid climate. The one study found that 179 mm of moisture fell as rain from April 1st to September 30th but they found that their instruments measured the equivalent of 225 mm of moisture. They concluded that as a function of high humidity and dew formation that the ground received this extra moisture that was not recorded as rain fall. Sandy soils showed the highest increase in moisture from the air (probably because they cool more and therefore a greater capacity to form dew). They measured this by measuring the weight of the soil of which the added moisture showed up as extra weight. Anyway, this is interesting as this amounts to about an extra 30% more moisture in the study.
I read about a few interesting studies that had been done that measured the amount of moisture that was added to the ground from the moisture in the air - not from direct rainfall. They were conducted in the Mediterranean and in an arid climate. The one study found that 179 mm of moisture fell as rain from April 1st to September 30th but they found that their instruments measured the equivalent of 225 mm of moisture. They concluded that as a function of high humidity and dew formation that the ground received this extra moisture that was not recorded as rain fall. Sandy soils showed the highest increase in moisture from the air (probably because they cool more and therefore a greater capacity to form dew). They measured this by measuring the weight of the soil of which the added moisture showed up as extra weight. Anyway, this is interesting as this amounts to about an extra 30% more moisture in the study.
The reason I was looking for such studies is that every morning in the summer I walk out into the vineyard and the sandy ground is wet with moisture from dew. And the amount is significant in that it appears that there had been a light rain overnight but the rain gauge has only dew on it, not rain in it. I have been wondering how much moisture this would be and if it is use able moisture.
While I can't measure how much moisture gets added to the ground, at our site we have high daily humidity and our nights get quite cool such that we have significant formation of dew (we also have sandy soil). So much that I'd be soaked from hip to toe if I took a 50 foot walk in the high grass and ferns. This may help explain why the unirrigated vines are doing well.
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