Growing things has always fascinated me. Once I was old enough to appreciate wine, it seemed obvious that the wine was made in the vineyard, and the best that a winemaker could do was to do no harm. This obsession led to most of the backyard and some of the front yard being planted with grape vines. But it was not enough. Then, an opportunity presented itself. Fifty acres, facing west to southwest, next to a stone quarry, somewhat steep, and lots of rock was for sale at a reasonable price. And now the obsession can continue.
The plan is to get up to an acre of vines planted as soon as possible, to see which vines produce the best wine, given the microclimate, the soil, and all the other factors. Since it takes 3 to 4 years to get a usable crop, it is important to get them in sooner rather than later. It will also be useful to see how well the vines do in the winter. The site has the advantage of having a lot of natural rock, as well as having a nice slope which should help reduce the impact of the frosts that signal the beginning and end of the growing season.
Once the vine experiment has some results, (and the appropriate amount of capital has been obtained) it will be time to plant somewhere between 10 and 16 acres of vines. Then 3 to 4 years after that, it will be winery time.
First Planting – Spring 2008
Variety List
- Neptune – White seedless table grape, 6ft spacing
- Vignoles – White wine grape on 101-14, 6ft spacing
- Landot Noir – Red wine grape, 6 ft spacing
- Traminette – White wine grape, 8ft spacing
- Frontenac Gris – White wine grape, 8 ft spacing
- Frontenac – Red wine grape, 8 ft spacing
If you are looking for the vineyard of the same name in St. Helena, Napa Valley that is actually producing and selling wine, they are located here: http://rockledgevineyards.com/
