Below: Robinson grapes. A deep purple mid sized sweet table grape with firm skin. Reliable cropper. Harvest: March.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Vineyard Part One...
Last week we started work on creating our own bijoux vineyard. We are turning the driest and most sheltered spot in the park into a 50 foot x 100 foot vineyard.
With the area we had, and a minimum space between vine rows of 6 feet, We were able to chose 8 varieties of table grape and 8 varieties of wine grape.
Table Grapes, White:
Himrod
Interlaken
Iona
Matakana Gold
Table Grapes, Red:
Black Hamburg
Muscat Hamburg
Schuyler
Robinson
Wine Gapes, White:
Viognier
Chardonnay
Muscato
Gewürztraminer
Wine Grapes, Red:
Merlot
Shiraz/Syrah
Pinot Noir
Pinot Meunier
Until the barn is shifted we can only plant half the vineyard, so we are starting with the table grape half.
Our Table Grape Varieties:
Red grapes...
Above: Black Hamburg a medium to large juicy black grape. The oldest vine in England is said to be the Hamburg Black vine at Hampton Court planted by Capability Brown in 1768. Harvest: March to April.
Below: The Muscat Hamburg, and medium sized firm skinned black grape with a strong muscat flavour. Perfect for deserts, cheese boards and sweet wines. Harvest: March to April.
Above: Schuyler Grapes, A very sweet purple/black table grape known for its slight current flavour. It is self fertile, and keeps its red and gold leaves well into winter. Harvest: Late February to Mid March.
Below: Robinson grapes. A deep purple mid sized sweet table grape with firm skin. Reliable cropper. Harvest: March.
Below: Robinson grapes. A deep purple mid sized sweet table grape with firm skin. Reliable cropper. Harvest: March.
White Grapes...
Above: Himrod medium sized deep green seedless grape known for its honey like flavour. Harvest: February to March.
Below: Interlaken - a small pale green grape, sweet and juicy. Harvest: January.
Below: A recently rediscovered heirloom variety, Matakana Gold is a NZ variety of table grape, golden and juicy. Harvest: February to March...
Iona, a white grape with a pink blush to its skin. Known as a hardy disease resistant grape, and a heavy cropper, it has sweet pink grapes of a medium size. Harvest March - April
Some of our table grapes ready to be planted...
The preparation begins...
Above: An expanse of rubble and detritus accumulated over the last 2 years next to the barn. Next year the barn will be pulled down to make way for the driveway and for the second half of the vineyard.
After a few hours with a tractor and bucket removing the rubble and old iron; and the grader-blade, contouring the area, we are ready to foot and stay all the posts...
Join us for part two - erecting the posts and wires, planting the grapes and maintaining the vines.
Labels:
Champagne,
Chardonnay,
Cider,
Grapes,
Hamburg Black,
Himrod,
Interlaken,
Matakana Gold,
Merlot,
Muscat,
orchard,
Pinot,
Riesling,
Shiraz,
Syrah,
Vineyard,
Viognier,
Wine
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Matakana Gold appears to be a very nice, very Baroque looking grape. It would sit well on a table I think.
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