Vitis vinifera in Indiana - tilting at windmills?

Only because I am from SE Indiana, and have property there, I am curious about growing Bordeaux varietals there. The limited information I have so far is:

1. SE Indiana is warm enough, bordering on perhaps too warm in terms of degree-days. My first estimate is that a normal year will have about 3100 degree days from April 1 - Oct 1. This is more than Bordeaux, which is under 3000.
2. The growing season is appropriate. According to map data, the site in Ripley County that I own is in zone 6a, with a minimum winter temperature of -5 to -10 Fahrenheit. Actually, since the property is on the edge of Laughery valley, it might be a little warmer, with warm air rising from the valley.
3. Either spring frost or winter lows may be the bete noir for vinifera grapes. If frost is the issue, I can hope to alleviate it by careful site selection on the hillsides facing south toward the valley. At the extreme, I might consider some kind of canopy system to hold the temperature a few degrees warmer during cold spring nights. I am going to install some temperature/humidity recorders to map the site in more detail.
4. Humidity/fungus is also reported to be an issue, but rainfall is not that high in August/September, with an annual average of ~2.5 inches in these months. So I am not sure I understand the issue.

So, what am I overlooking? Where do I get more detailed information?

Dave Mortara

Hi Dave,
You could start by maybe looking up these people;
Indiana Wine Grape Council
Indiana Winegrowers Guild
(Perdue-Sorry!) Purdue University- Agricultural Extension

Salute

Dave - Victor is providing good advice. As a practical matter, burying graft unions or double-trunking, and 12 or more spray applications yearly. Also "Production Budgets for Arkansas Wine and Juice Grapes," Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, Division of Agriculture, University of Arkansas System, March 2005, Research Report # 976.
Try http://www.uark.edu/depts/agripub/Publi ... /bulletins
Good luck!

Perdue University
Salute

I just suspect that Prof. Lipton wouldn't take kindly to his school being associated with chickens although I'm sure they'd consider grants from almost any source.
'Winger

yes, definitly talk to the people at purdue and also to the growers in that area - ted huber knows his stuff. if you have a small enough operation, you can take vinitera off the trellis and burry them under straw or earth. the winter temps are the really big thing.

Huber reliably produces a Cab Franc (although I haven't tasted it), which is the most cold hearty of red vinifera. In fact I've heard of a number of Ohio River Valley wineries that have had success with Cab Franc. There is some Cab Sauv produced in S Indiana, but I believe it tends to be a less reliable crop.

In southern Ontario, in addition to Cab Franc and PN, they're doing some really nice things with Gamay. AFAIK, it's not being grown much anywhere else in the East. I like Gamay and wonder why it doesn't get more respect.

check this out:

http://www.foodsci.purdue.edu/research/ ... ndiana.pdf

bruce is THE guy on this topic and very easy to talk to - nice guy.

[Robin Garr]

Huber reliably produces a Cab Franc (although I haven't tasted it), which is the most cold hearty of red vinifera. In fact I've heard of a number of Ohio River Valley wineries that have had success with Cab Franc. There is some Cab Sauv produced in S Indiana, but I believe it tends to be a less reliable crop.

Back in the '70s, Ryan, there was a growing vinifera farming effort in Southwestern Indiana, around Evansville, which got a lot of publicity (I wrote some of it as a general-assignment newspaper reporter in Louisville, this before my wine-writing days), but the horrible winters of 1977 (when the Ohio froze from bank to bank) and 1978 (deep snow followed by ice storms) wiped out most of it and pretty much wiped out the idea of vinifera for most producers. I'm not sure how Huber handles his Cab Franc, although as (David?) said, it's cold-hardy; and Huber is close to or within a little finger of warmer climate region that reaches up the Ohio from the southwest and makes metro Louisville a couple of critical degrees warmer than most of the surrounding area. It's still iffy weather for vinifera, though.

That said, Indiana has a pretty strong small-farm wine economy, thanks largely, I believe, to Prof. Oliver's work with the legislature a generation ago. But as you know, it's mostly hybrids, native grapes and some imported juice.

That said, Indiana has a pretty strong small-farm wine economy, thanks largely, I believe, to Prof. Oliver's work with the legislature a generation ago. But as you know, it's mostly hybrids, native grapes and some imported juice.

I'd like very much to get to try Oliver's estate Creekbend Estate Pinot Grigio and Cab Sauv, but the former sells out too quickly, and the latter is too expensive.

Thanks to everyone for their replies and comments. Bruce Bordelon of Purdue has, indeed, proved to be a good contact. He referred me to Jeff McCann of Chateau Pomije, where cabernet sauvignon has been produced for almost 20 years. According to Jeff, neither winter kill nor spring frost have proven to be major problems. Powdery mildew does require, however, intensive control.

In any case, so far I am encouraged, and hope to lay out a 1-2 acre plot next spring.

Dave

Good Luck Dave!

Salute