At 53o 34′ latitude, this photo is a small triumph: my grapes seem to have easily survived their first winter. I pruned them back hard a week or two ago, looking to encourage vigorous growth out of one shoot in an effort to train a mature-wooded trunk by year end. Grapes are impressing me with their vigour – exploding buds here there and everywhere, clearly motivated to live.
I’m still a long way off from maturing fruit and actually making wine of any quality, but this was an important step in that direction. In the meantime, I’ll be happily making wines with other locally abundant fruit so that I’m prepared when the time arrives.
If you’re crazy like me, some our best national viticulture resources are Bert Dunn and Alain Breault & Mariette Lagueux. These folks have been pushing the limits of northerly viticulture for decades [thankfully] and seem to be part of a tight community that’s very willing to share and help out anyone willing to discover the new frontier with them.
2 Comments on “My Northerly Backyard Vineyard: Year 2”
Hi Keven – where are you located , is it Edmonton. We’re in Edmonton and the grapes are doing fine see the link – http://houseofvines.blogspot.com/
Yep – I’m in Edmonton. Really, REALLY glad to see others tackling this here. Keep in touch,
Kevin