Question:
Hi John, You’ve already received some great advice. I particularly like Ed’s "off variety" selections especially Chardonel. There’s a winery in S. Ill, Alto Pass, that’s doing a nice job with this grape. Also there’s a red variety, Marechal Foch, that’s being made into a delectable wine by Christine Lawlor at Gelena Cellars in the North western part of Ill. Your state is in about the same "state" of the wine industry growth that Missouri was 20 years ago. There is much excitement and quite a bit of research taking place. Here’s a partial list and some information from Urbana: http://w3.aces.uiuc.edu/NRES/faculty/Skirvin/cfar/winecult.htm SIU in Carbondale is also doing quite a bit. A good friend of mine, Dr. Brad Taylor is spearheading many projects there and I’m sure he would be willing to lend a hand if you wanted to contact him. I’ve had some good dealings with this nursery in Arkansas. They will have ‘most any variety that you’d want to plant and will sell in small quantities: http://www.alcasoft.com/arkansas/grape.html latron clyde I live in Central Illinois. I have had great success growing eatin’ grapes (catawba, niagra, and concord), and now I want to try some wine grapes. Any ideas on varieties which can withstand the climate and make a good homemade wine? Any ideas on where to get the plants in small quantities? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
Response:
Hi John-I live in the Kansas City area which probably has similar weather to yours. I grow grapes and make wine as a hobby and have been doing so for 5 years. So, I’m still new to this but have had some success. I also reccommend that you contact your County Extension Office for advice about grapes for your area. Also, Southwest Missouri State University has a Department of Fruit Science that is serious about wine grape production. You could contact them <http://mtngrv.smsu.edu. Your own state university system may have a similar fruit science department. I have five varieties in my vineyard (140 vines). The whites are Vidal Blanc and Chardonel. The reds are Baco Noir, Leon Millot and Norton. Both white varieties make wonderful wine. Norton is my favorite red grape but I just planted these last season. My vines won’t be able to produce a crop for a couple of years. However, if you buy a bottle of Stone Hill Norton you will see why I like this grape. I had about given up hope that the Bacos and Leons could make a good red wine. However, I think I was too impatient with them. The 1999 Baco is turning into a very good red wine and a blend of Baco and Leon is very good also. While the white wines are very good to drink young the reds seem to need some time before they are at their best. I guess this shouldn’t be a surprise. I should note that I originally had St. Vincent and DeChaunac grapes in my vineyard. I gave up on them and pulled them up replanting with Norton and Chardonel. I hated to pull up 4 year-old vines but they wines were not good. If I knew in 1995 what I know now about wine grape varieties I would have planted Vidal Blanc, Chardonel, Norton and Chambourcin. I believe these four varieties would give you about the best wines possible for our areas. The Chambourcin is grown by others in the area. It makes a fine dry red wine that can take a lot of oak. You can buy Chardonel and Norton from Chaumette Vineyard (St. Louis area). Their phone numbers are 573-756-6574 and 314-444-1927. I bought my other varieties from Foster/Concord Nurseries in New York. Their phone number is 800-223-2211. Best regards, Bill Frazier Olathe, Kansas – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I live in Central Illinois. I want to try some wine grapes. Any ideas on varieties which can withstand the climate and make a good homemade wine? Any ideas on where to get the plants in small quantities?
Response:
I live in Central Illinois. I have had great success growing eatin’ grapes (catawba, niagra, and concord), and now I want to try some wine grapes. Any ideas on varieties which can withstand the climate and make a good homemade wine? Any ideas on where to get the plants in small quantities? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
Hi John: First off, with respect to cultivar selection, be sure to check with both your County Ag folks as well as any commercial growers in your proximate area. Since so much about viticulture (and particularly about cultivar selection) is site specific, it is very important to get your advice as close to home as possible. With this said, however, you may also wish to peruse my Viticulture FAQ & Glossary (url below). In particular see section V7 wherein is a discussion about matching the climate of the growing site with the cultivars likely to thrive there. Since you are successfully growing Catawba, Niagra, & Concord, I would bet that you are in the climate region I call "Region IB". Therefore, I would generally recommend the following cultivars: White: Aurore, Cayuga White, Seyval Blanc, Vidal Blanc, Vignoles, & Traminette Red: Foch, Baco Noir, Chelois, & Leon Millot Finally, if you have a very favorable site (particularly well draining soils, well ventilated, with a southward facing aspect, average temps higher than the norm for the area, etc) you might want to experiment with some "marginal" cultivars like: White: Chardonel, White Riesling, & Chardonnay. Red: Chambourcin, & Cabernet Franc. In closing, with respect to acquiring your cultivars, you will find a listing of nurseries on some of the reference sites I list in sub-section 5 of section V1 of the FAQ. Good luck. Hope this helps. Prosit: Ed — The Viticulture FAQ & Glossary – http://www.itsmysite.com/vitfaq "I like on the table, when we’re speaking, The light of a bottle of intelligent wine." -Pablo Neruda
Response:
I live in Central Illinois. I have had great success growing eatin’ grapes (catawba, niagra, and concord), and now I want to try some wine grapes. Any ideas on varieties which can withstand the climate and make a good homemade wine? Any ideas on where to get the plants in small quantities? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
Response:
I live in Central Illinois. I have had great success growing eatin’ grapes (catawba, niagra, and concord), and now I want to try some wine grapes. Any ideas on varieties which can withstand the climate and make a good homemade wine? Any ideas on where to get the plants in small quantities? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
Aurora grows pretty well here (Springfield). It’s tolerant of our weather extremes, and the grapes can produce a decent white wine. Can’t speak to a red. There are some people growing some red grapes (Foch comes to mind), but the wines have been particularly unimpressive. Are you in the Springfield area? –Lee
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