Hi All!Well it is near the end of another year. The grapes are grown, the wine is all but done, and for most of us the ground is frozen and covered in white. Time for reflection....
First HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all.
Throughout the year I read and follow interesting threads on Growwine and a few other viticulture mailing lists. Often I want and almost ache to reply, but just don't have the time. Such is life. But I tend to lock a few of those thoughts away and make a mental promise to write about them at some point - that time has come.
I certainly don't know everything about northern viticulture, and there are some who know more. As you read this many of you will cringe, disagree strongly, and delete this heresy post haste. Fine - these are my opinions only. I don't mean to pick on any individuals. Finally, this message is entirely concerned with commercial northern viticulture endeavors. Hobbyists should follow their fancy.
A large segment of this list lives near the north coast of Lake Ontario or the St. Lawrence River, the rest are primarily in cooler regions of Canada or the US. For the most part, that area had a cooler than normal summer, with some late spring frosts. Is that unusual? NO - below average, yes; but it was probably a one in five to seven year event, depending on your location. If you are planning a business, especially agriculture, you need to plan for a certain amount of risk - it is inherent in the business. This means the business, both the plants in the vineyard, and financially, have to be able to endure these bad times. So pick a level of risk. I have done some financial modeling of vineyard returns, and the model that I use for my risk tolerance is a 20% (crop loss) every three years, with an additional 50% crop loss every seven years. I think that is high risk, but set your own goals in your head based on what you perceive as reality - then PLAN FOR IT.
One determinant of vineyard success is weather. We can't really do anything about it. We ALL tend to hope for good weather, and that often clouds our judgments and actions. Global Warming - sure I think its is real, I'm a scientist and I've seen the numbers. I'm not convinced about the cause (or more likely, causes), but I think it is real. However, when I hear this subject receive such widespread concern in vineyard planning scenarios, well I just want to knock those people hard on the head and bring them back to reality. In geologic time the changes in climate that they are talking about are very rapid. In terms of the life of a vineyard (or viticulturist), 20 to 40 years, they really aren't worth factoring into the equation much. Also, EVERY model I have seen for climate changes in central continental North America calls for a rise in the average temperature, but for greater variance in temperature. In other words, the worst case scenarios that I asked you to consider above when factoring risk, don't change appreciably in these models.
Now to the meat of this harangue - VARIETY CHOICE. Variety Choice, Capitol or Work Input, and Marketing, I think are the biggest determinants of whether a commercial vineyard succeeds or fails. Notice I did not include weather in that list. There are commercially viable variety available for commercial vineyards in nearly all climatic situations. The problem is, many growers don't choose to grow them. I should mention that Site Selection is very important, but falls under the discussion of variety choice because they are so connected.
Why don't vineyardists plant suitable varieties. Well, once you have tasted a fine Bordeaux, a Napa wonder wine, or a fine Rhine Riesling, it is easy to say -that IS wine, that is what I will make. For centuries people world wide have tried to emulate those fine wines - and mostly failed. Most of us perceive that THAT is the market for wine. There are a multitude of fine wines out there from vinifera in maritime climates. And for most members of Growwine, trying to duplicate that in our location is a recipe for failure. A common pattern I have seen with such Northern wineries is they start down that road, find that most of those varieties are utter failures in their area (don't ripen, too much disease, winter kill, don't produce the right flavors, etc.). Eventually there is perhaps one variety that is decent or not too bad. The "show vineyard" of that variety is maintained, and the rest of the grapes to make wine at that winery or area is imported from California, NY, BC or somewhere else. That really is a failure if you compare it to the dream that it started with.
In other words, we are basing our decisions on what is a fine wine and what to plant and grow on what someone else is doing successfully somewhere else. If we are talking about small vineyard-wineries, THAT is not our competition, not our market. Minnesota wines don't compete with California wines, PEC shouldn't try to compete with Niagara wines, and Nova Scotia shouldn't try to compete with BC, nor Maine with New York.
You can be successful at the scale we discuss by creating a local wine identity. This was driven home to me this fall by reports of Vidal and Cayuga ripening to only 13-15 Brix in our cool climates. Get serious, these are not short season varieties, they are NOT a good choice for most of the people on this list. Vidal ripens LATE. Heck, that is probably why Niagara started producing icewine, they sometimes didn't even ripen there, so they left them on the vines. Minnesota shouldn't mimic Ohio, New York, or Michigan, and eastern Ontario shouldn't mimic the Niagara Peninsula.
Yup, creating a novel wine identity takes time and effort, but it can be done on the scale we need for success; and it does take that long. Look at Quebec. I have got to believe that the vineyardists there just love French wines (they import quite a lot), but that industry is by and large a success. They did it not by copying other locals, but growing what was reasonable, and adopting practices that fostered success.
Look to Bert Dunn, Alain Breault, Lon Rombough, Dave Macgregor, or John Marshall for guidance and as sources for vines for northern viticulture. By and large, they know what works.
As I look about my region (US, Western Great Lakes) the greatest reason for failure that I see is undercapitalization. Viticulture is an unproven endeavor here, and borrowing money for one is not easy. Most are started from an individual's savings or windfall - vineyards are expensive, and people usually come up short of what is needed for success. Another reason for failure is an insistence on organic viticulture (boy did I buy myself a heap of scorn there). The fact is organic viticulture in our climate is a whole lot harder than the other route. I encourage people to learn as much as they can about what they could apply to their vineyards, not just from a chemical company or a "green" publication. I have seen so much distortion and BS from both camps. But, ultimately realize that if you choose organic culture, you will work a lot harder to achieve success, and the possibility of success is reduced.
In the Northern Lake Ontario region I see mostly an attempt to emulate the success of Niagara. That is understandable, but you do not have to be in the SAME market they are in, despite VQA and other obstacles. Remember, many down there do not want to see you succeed at all and "dilute Ontario with swill". Also, except for the choicest locations in PEC, vinifera is not a realistic choice. Hoping for mild winters, burying vines, and cursing crown gall is not a long term solution - in MN we know, we've been there.
I got a lot of respect for Quebec viticulture. Sure they bury vines, but they do it wholesale. Set it up for a dozer, be prepared to shell out the bucks, and get it done. And in general they seem to make good variety choices (those Vidal vines are an exception). After all, once you have a location chosen, there is little you can do to salvage varieties that won't ripen CONSISTENTLY for you. On the other hand, you can protect vines in the winter, but again it is doubly difficult to be successful on that road.
Well, no doubt I've sparked some ire, and I hate to be critical, but I have always valued the critical guidance I got when I started, even if I didn't follow it all.
Again, I wish you all another good year with grapes,
Mark
MARK'S GROWWINE "BIO": Copied from theUS section
of the Grower's Page
MARK HART is the owner of Mt. Ashwabay Vineyard
and Orchard (MAVO) in Bayfield, Wisconsin, started in 1995. The owner previously had a smaller
vineyard in west-central Minnesota. The vineyard is 10
acres in size and has a south and south-west exposure
on about a 10% slope overlooking Lake Superior. The site
has a very sandy, low vigor soil. Extreme winter
minimum temperatures at the site can reach -33 C, but a
lake effect brings dependable snow cover. Summer heat
accumulation is low averaging about 1050 C base 10C.
Mark also serves as the publications' editor for
the
Minnesota Grape Growers Association. For more information about
MAVO
contact Mark Hart by EMail
MAVO (see Mark Hart above) is a research and
pre-commercial vineyard. Research primarily involves
variety trials and a breeding program for early maturing,
hardy grapes. Currently there are over 3000 vines of a
great many varieties and selections. There are more
than an additional 700 seedlings from the breeding
program. Only 1/3 of the vineyard area is currently
planted. Future plantings will include an expansion for
commercial wine grape production and additional seedlings.
Growers Page
