A Lamoine Vineyard

People say I’m nuts. Growing grapes in our windswept, foggy, short growing season is folly. Stick with raspberries and blueberries. Maybe they’re right. I’ve written in the past about the sad attempts of local wineries to produce a local product from grapes. The best wines are produced from the traditional European varieties of the vinifera species. Often growing these grapes at the cold edge of their range produces wine with exceptional flavor. But that assumes the grapes will grow in the first place. Our problem here is not so much winter kill; our temperatures are well above the twenty below many varieties can withstand. Our problem is too much rain and lack of sunshine and warmth in the summer. Grapes are notorious for having fungal problems. They like things dry; their roots go deep.

There are options. Vinifera grapes–the familiar Pinots, Chardonnay, Shiraz, etc would be very high maintenance. They would have to be buried in the winter, sprayed often and they may not ripen before frost. Fortunately, we have the native grapes like Concord and Niagara, members of the  labrusca species. These make lackluster wine but are table favorites. I know these grapes will do well here; neighbors grow them. There’s even a wild giant grape vine up the road from here which is threatening to take down a maple tree. It is probably a member of the riparia species, the riverbank grape. The riparia and labrusca species are the two American grapes most often used when breeding with vinifera for our climate.

A complicated history of grafting and crossbreeding has produced many varieties which are both cold and humidity tolerant and which also produce acceptable wine. I found two of these varieties at Surry Gardens (Surry, Maine), Frontenac Gris and Kay Gray. The two epicenters of hybrid grape research in North America are New York State Experiment Station at Geneva, New York and the University of Minnesota and can be credited for these new options. I would have liked one of the new Marquette vines, but they’re hard to come by.

Niagara, my earliest leafer

My vineyard consists of two Reliance vines (a pink table grape), two Frontenac Gris, two Niagara, two Kay Gray and one Concord. I know I planted them too close but I wanted to make sure I would have survivors if some died (they’re now 3-4 feet apart). They are now leafing out and I must admit, I’m excited. The goal of this first year is to develop the root system by allowing as much leaf growth as possible. Fruit clusters will be pared down to a minimum and training to the trellis will be a priority.  If you know how to grow grapes, please get in touch. I’m just about clueless!

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