Patrick - this is awesome, and something I have considered doing myself in a space similar to yours. A few questions - where did you source the vines and what time of year did you plant?
Look forward to following along!
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My knowledge is more general, plus limited hands-on experience. It can be an issue with the site, which it sounds to be for his region. Perhaps the easiest answer would be to add a high acid variety to the mix. Maybe something traditionally grown for that purpose in field blends. Maybe a Rhone white that wonât have disease issues there. Iâd check on Picpoul as a candidate. Other than that is adding tartaric acid. A bright white like that might help a rose, too. Another idea is make enough rose (as in picked for rose, so good acid) that thereâs some that can be borrowed. Then do some blending trials. Or, if he has the capacity, pick some portion early and freeze it (destemmed must), then co-ferment with the main crop.
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The vines came from Nova Vine, which is the nursery arm of Tablas Creek. Which means many generations ago these were cuttings that were propagated from Chateau Beaucastel which is a very cool piece of added trivia as far as iâm concerned.
I built/planted this thing in early March of 2021. I wanted to be sure I got a full growing season the first year, the vines arrive in a trashbag full of damp sawdust and need to be planted pretty quickly once they arrive. Once in the ground, they actually had bud break within a couple weeks. Itâs definitely weird looking how tiny they are that first year, basically just a little graft on rootstock that sticks out of the ground about 6 inches at planting. Pics from year 1 below.
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Wes, Iâve accepted that adding tataric acid is probably in my future. The other thing Iâve read as a way to help this in the vineyard is trying to manage the potassium uptake of the vines, probably easier said than done, but something I will try to figure out if there is anything I can do. I like your ideas about early picks and blending too.
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Wow. You must be a glutton for punishment. (KiddingâŚmostlyâŚkind ofâŚ)
Vines in new locations need constant attention. I would start by making sure that you are disease free and healthy and then start worrying about details like acidity and ripeness.
That said, the one thing that you can pretty easily experiment with right off the bat is yield. I donât know what the growing season is like down there, but try pruning your vines to have a range of cluster counts. Have some vines at typical numbers and have others at increasingly higher cluster counts. I donât think there is any reason to do a low yield test, bc that is very unlikely to yield a higher acid balance.
The vines that are âover croppedâ or have a very high cluster count should ripen slower. If the vines really are over cropped, the grapes will never get ripe and will always taste green. Taste should tell you what cluster count (yield) lets the grapes get ripe enough to develop good taste without loosing too much acidity.
Adjusting soil is tricky and slow. I would concentrate on developing healthy soil rather than making radical changes.
You could probably also experiment a little bit with canopy management and hedging, but some of the advantages from âopening upâ the canopy and hedging really only have an effect when you do the whole vineyard.
âŚnot sure if that is any help at allâŚ
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With regard for OPâs location, I would like to share a potentially helpful contact for Texas grapegrowers.
Jim Kamas of Texas A&Mâs Agrilife Extension Viticulture & Fruit Lab collaborated with Alabama A&M and Auburnâs Elina Coneva in testing and developing Pierceâs Disease-resistant vinifera hybrids.
from a January 2016 email:
"âŚWe are in the process of testing a number of PD resistant selections from California, Florida, and Arkansas. Andy Walkerâs selections have had mixed success coping with the fungal disease pressure, but there are some winners in the group. We have worked extensively with the 88% material and will have our first full crop of four of his 94% selections. Our winemakers here really like some of the 88% stuff and we are anticipating that at some point, U.C. Davis will release them into the public domain. But at this point, we are not at liberty to propagate any of the selections for off-site evaluation. That really only leaves Blanc DuBois, which we have really come to love. It takes special attention in the winery, but will remain a standard for areas with high PD pressure.
"Not sure if you are aware of this resource, but might be worth a look:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/fruit-nut/files/2010/10/pd-grapes.pdf
"Hope this helps,
"Jim Kamas
Asst. Professor & Extension Fruit Specialist
Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Viticulture & Fruit Lab
259 Business Court
Fredericksburg, Texas
78624 "
Though the OP already has planted three RhĂ´ne varieties, he might wish to reach out to Mr Kamas or Ms Coneva for additional guidance on growing grapes in Texas.
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This is incredibly helpful, I can start experimenting with cluster counts this year. I was also planning to try some hedging once clusters are set. Canopy management is going to be tricky, I want enough sun to ripen grapes, but not direct exposure which could easily let the blistering Texas sun burn the grape - Iâm sure this is something Iâll get better at managing over time.
As for soil, Iâve been doing this all organically since the beginning. Trying to follow a small scale version of what I see the best farmers doing to help give me the best shot at having some decent grapes to work with. Last year I added 2 composters (a raised bin and a subterranean vermi-composting bin) and I was able to net about 100lbs of compost which I put on the vineyard last weekend.
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This is defintiely helpful Drew, Pierceâs Disease is the one that scares me. Iâm also totally open to pulling out any vines that wonât work - either because people who know more than me tell me they wonât or because I learn the hard way that they wonât 
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I envy your hard labors, perseverance, and humility. Hereâs to many successful harvests!
BTW, please do not count me among the experts on this forum. The only grape leaves my hands ever touched were wrapped around rice and meat.
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Hi - very excited for you! If youâre north of Dallas, I wondered if youâve checked out some of the Texas Grape Growers Association resources in Grapevine, TX. Theyâve got some classifieds online, as well as various industry resources. Maybe worth a check? M
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Thank you for posting about this. Will be following along. Good luck to you.
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Thank You foe the resource, Grapevine is only about 20 minutes away, my sister actually got married at a vineyard out there. I will check in with them.
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You bet! This association does have a ton of resources. Youâll find things on their website like info about the free for attendees Newsom Grape Day educational/industry grape growers event on 4/28 in Plains, TX and their course in November. Texas A&M also has a ton of educational materials online and live seminars and short courses, like at the link below. And the North Texas Grape and Wine program on 4/21in Denison - info below. I have family who just moved to the Ft Worth area, and the wine culture is growing rapidly there! Very excited for you.
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Iâve been doing some maintenance on the vines as most have now reached the second wire. Iâm picking off suckers, training the vines into the correct spots for spacing/airflow etc. I believe Iâm also supposed to do some shoot thinning correct? Any spur that has 2 shoots coming off I should select the better positioned one and remove the other, am I thinking about this in the right way? Examples below:
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In general, yes. Can depend on not just position but also size and bunch count. Iâve kept both in cases where the rest of the vine is light on shoots or when there is a problem with cluster formation.
How many hours of sun does the vineyard get. With the position is there a concern about full day sun? My vineyard has a ripening problem due to afternoon shading that is worse closer to harvest. After years of making mediocre reds, finally threw in the towel and only make rose or sparkling from my red grapes.
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It gets quite a bit of sun Brian, 3-4 hours in the morning followed by a mid-day break where itâs shaded by the structure of the house and then it gets a very intense afternoon sun for another 3-4 hours.
Iâm going to go out with a bench later and really look through each vine carefully to make some decisions on size, position, cluster count etc. The clusters are just about to flower so Iâm basing these decisions on the potential for grapes, but actual fruit set will be a different story so would love to hear thoughts on if itâs important to remove these extra canes before or after that happens.
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Iâve do both before and after because I planted more vines than makes sense for one person and Iâm always behind. My marsanne has a problem with fruit set. It is the one variety that I will save every shoot with a cluster and thin after bloom is complete. The others are more consistent and it doesnât seem to matter.
I ended up spending a few hours out there thinning and positioning. I probably removed about 25-30% of the total growth material, (any spurs with more than one shoot, and all downward positioned shoots) which stings to do when you look at all of the potential that is now laying on the ground, but I know that itâs for the betterment of the final product. It would have been a mess managing those intertwined canopies anyway so I think/hope this was the right move.
Interesting about your Marsanne, I donât know enough about my 3 varietals yet to understand how they will set/crop but I can tell already that the Counoise is going to be prolific. Syrah and Mourvedre both look healthy and like they will produce well too. Speaking of, my next concern is going to be pest controlâŚ
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