Bitter Cold Forecast for Niagara

Just looking at the forecast for the next seven days and I see that, by next weekend, the overnight low temperatures could drop to -26C. That would represent a huge danger to next year's crop and indeed to the vines themselves. After an difficult vintage like we had in 2008 and the economic recession, that could spell disaster for many growers and wineries around this area. I certainly hope the forecast turns out to be too pessimistic....

Norm

...I certainly hope the forecast turns out to be too pessimistic....Norm

According to the local long range forecasts and The Weather Channel, over the next 5 days, the lowest temps predicted for the Buffalo-Toronto area are for about -3F or about -19C on Thursday. I hope it doesn't get much colder than that.

Again, another reason to grow what works in our climate, not what silly fashion desires, IMHO.

We'll see how bad it really gets. In the meantime, growers working with new varieties like Marquette should have lots to say about the viability of their vines after any such spells. Our wine growers should keep abreast of these developments if they want to plant for the long run!

Again, another reason to grow what works in our climate, not what silly fashion desires, IMHO.

Paul, I do agree that alot of wineries around this area (Niagara) have planted varieties that really should not be here. But I am referring more to how well they ripen, rather than winter hardiness (though this is clearly an issue as well). The problem is that many wineries owners have spent many millions buying and planting their land and building the wineries...they can't sell wines from varieties that no one has heard of, at least not an making a return doing so.

Also, keep in mind that there are several vineyards with vinifera vines that have survived many bitterly cold winters. I know that Marynissen still has Cab Sauv vines from the 1970's and Lenko had Merlot vines over 50 years old.

Cheers,
Norm

The problem is that many wineries owners have spent many millions buying and planting their land and building the wineries...they can't sell wines from varieties that no one has heard of, at least not an making a return doing so.

That's just it - it's the problem that bedevils our young wine industry: it must speak the lingua franca of the marketing in force, and by extension therefore of contemporary wine consumers, in order to sell what it produces. I think that the way to grow an indigenous wine scene is to begin with the agriculture side of it; let a local connection develop between the grapes that thrive in a given climate and the people who live there; and over a few generations, those grapes would become the known backbone, their names gathering recognition in people's minds and in local winespeak. I don't think the time has yet come where this pattern is developing. I'd venture to say that in Italy, for example, even people who aren't "in the biz" per se know some of the local grape varieties by name that grow in their region. It would be great for our culture to arrive at a similar status quo.

Also, keep in mind that there are several vineyards with vinifera vines that have survived many bitterly cold winters. I know that Marynissen still has Cab Sauv vines from the 1970's and Lenko had Merlot vines over 50 years old.

True, and I would love to know just how they managed to survive some of those coldest winters; whether the vines did experience significant winter kill and then were pruned back / re-established, or whether Marynissen had some other method in place - especially in those early years - to keep the vines unscathed.

[David M. Bueker]

Paul - is your model economically viable in the modern age? European growers have centuries of background, most of which was in an overall agricultural society.

Paul - is your model economically viable in the modern age? European growers have centuries of background, most of which was in an overall agricultural society.

Not being much interested in economics, I am not sure. In the current society we live in, it probably won't happen. But then we have been a materially prosperous society of consumers and producers for a long time; even today the focus on agriculture in our culture is paltry. But it's worth thinking about what the case might be 50 or a hundred years from now; whether the same level of material prosperity will continue. Regardless of whether it does, I do think that a greater awareness among people in general of farming and local food production would be a good thing.

When someone once asked if the average city dweller were plopped in the middle of a forest and told to survive on wild foods - would he know how to recognize edibles from inedibles - I was taken aback, and realized just how ignorant of certain things our age really is. It's that realization that keeps me plugging away at the belief that as people, we ought to want to know more about how food can be produced from the land we live on.

[David M. Bueker]

I agree that we should know more and be more locally oriented, but it's going to take a long time to undo the damage of the last 50+ years in terms of how we view our food/drink supply chain.

Paul,

I applaud your enthusiasm, but that model was in effect throughout the 19th and into the mid 20th centuries in New York, for so-called native varieties. It remained local for about 100 years and then, in the 1970s, it began to fail and what remained, stayed local.

Plus, many French American hybrids normally don't prove much better than vinifera in severe winters.

Viability is what motivates business.

Plus, many French American hybrids normally don't prove much better than vinifera in severe winters.

That's probably true for many of the old-line, "simple" hybrids. But I'm betting my money on the new, complex interspecific varieties such as Frontenac and Marquette - this last one is a complex hybrid with Pinot Noir ancestry, which apparently makes a tannic medium-bodied red, and is suitable for large swaths of our continent where up to recently viticulture would have been unthinkable.

I never underestimate that great American trait of constant inventiveness and optimism - in fact, I admire it tremendously.

[David M. Bueker]

Wait a minute - they can use new hybrid varieties, but to use internationally known vinifera grapes is not ok? I'm not sure I get your world view now Paul.

Wait a minute - they can use new hybrid varieties, but to use internationally known vinifera grapes is not ok? I'm not sure I get your world view now Paul.

It's not really a "world view" at all: What I'm saying is, use what works in your climate; use vines that are viable climatically and that make wine successfully from an enological standpoint. Of course, I am deliberately excluding the consideration of whether said wines would taste like Cabernet or any other currently popular benchmark wines. But my basic belief is in "different vines for different climates" - and if I were a vine grower faced with a tender vineyard that might just die out on me every few years when we have that killer frost, well, I'd be erring on the side of stability and long-term viability. I'd like to know that after 'x' number of such winters, those vines would still be there decades later, soldiering on. I see a certain beauty in such constancy; a certain staying power.

I always wondered what would’ve been, if the first European colonies instead of putting so much effort into trying to succeed with European vines just concentrated their efforts into domesticating and cultivating (and improving the winemaking techniques) of the abundant American grape varieties. Even when nature provided a “hybrid” grape and if the resultant wine was “decent” very likely most people would automatically tag the vine of European origin.

Salute

I always wondered what would’ve been, if the first European colonies instead of putting so much effort into trying to succeed with European vines just concentrated their efforts into domesticating and cultivating (and improving the winemaking techniques) of the abundant American grape varieties. Even when nature provided a “hybrid” grape and if the resultant wine was “decent” very likely most people would automatically tag the vine of European origin.

Salute

Victor, while it's true that Europeans were not enamored with native grapes, in the 1830s, especially in Missouri, Ohio, and New York, the effort to produce local wines persisted. The Civil War provided the first major blow, Prohibition provided the second, and weak interest outside of local markets provided the final.

Still, into the mid 20th century, the Taylor Wine Company managed to become the second most identifiable American wine brand, and the second largest producer--on the strength of Isabella and Catawba. Taylor initially resisted French American hybrids and even after it embraced them, its strength remained with so-called native varieties.

As an aside, in the late 19th century, Catawba for sparkling wine was king in America and that held well into the 20th century.