2010 Update on the Vineyard

Oh my, how time flies. I have spent a lot of hours this winter clearing out more trees in order to plant more grapes. The 100 or so cuttings I rooted this last spring spent all summer in pots, rather than in the ground, as there was no room for them. Not a very good start for them.
I did manage to clear out a lot of space and planted the Siergerebbe and the Pinot Gris.

At that point, my vineyard consisted of the following varieties, all on their own roots:
40 Madeleine Angevine
42 Regent
16 Pinot noir
14 Pinot blanc
22 Pinot gris
26 Siegerebbe
and still in pots...
34 Muller-Thurgau
22 Dolcetto

After doing some reading and comparing notes with fellow vintners at work, I decided to make a comparison of my self-rooted grapes with the same varieties grafted onto rootstocks. I purchased, from Raintree Nursery (Morton, Washington http://www.raintreenursery.com/ ) one each of 6 grafted bare-root plants:

1. Cabernet franc on 101-14
2. Pinot noir precoce on 3309
3. Pinot noir 71 on 3309
4. Pinot noir 44 on 101-14
5. Madeleine Angevine on 3309
6. Siegerrebe on 3309

Then a few weeks later I had the chance to visit Cloud Mountain Farm (Eversen, Washington  http://www.cloudmountainfarm.com/ ). They have collaborated for years with WSU and the viticulture program, so had a fantastic selection of wine grape plants suited to the Puget Sound area, and most on any of 3 rootstocks or self-rooted. I purchased one each of the following 7 grafted varieties:

1. Ortega on 3309
2. Siegerrebe on 101-14
3. Madeleine Angevine on Riparia Gloire
4. Madeleine Angevine on 101-14
5. Pinot Gris 146 on 101-14
6. Zwiegelt-Rebe on 101-14
7. Regent on 3309

With this collection I hope to be able to compare, in at least a limited way, on my specific site and soils, Regent, Madeleine Angevine, Siegerrebe, and several Pinot Noir cultivars on several rootstocks, compared to self-rooted. It will take several years to be confident, but one must start somewhere!
 
More later...