Geoff Heinricks- A Viticultural Primer For Investors And Growers.pdf

A Viticultural Primer for

Investors and Growers

By Geoff Heinricks

Published by The Prince Edward County Economic Development Office

Starting a Vineyard in Prince Edward County?

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to: Geoff Heinricks, Mary Jarvis and the Small Projects Initiative Program of the Agricultural

Adaptation Council, Terry Teertstra, Steve Campbell, Debra Marshall, Phil Mathewson, James Lahti, Kevin

Ker, Court Noxon, David Taylor, Janet Davies, Florence Legalley, Christopher Jeffrey, Lauren Grice; and to

the Prince Edward County Wine Growers Association, Rebecca LeHeup-Bucknell and Taste The County,

Bob Williams & Sue Miller, and Prince Edward Federation of Agriculture for their letters of support.

Maps, Figures, Tables & special excerpts are included with permission.

Eichorn & Lorenz, ‘Drawings of Stages in Grapevine Shoot Development From Dormant Bud to Leaf Fall’

Contact: Wemer Bader from Der Deutsche Weinbau.

B.C Ministry of Agriculture, ‘Management Guide for Commercial Growers’, ‘Effects of Water Stress on

Grapes’ Contact: Jim Campbell

Kevin Ker, ‘The Scientific Approach to Romance in the Vineyard. The Basics of Grapevine Growth and

Development’ Contact: Kevin Ker

www.grapes-wine.com, ‘Manic Depressive Wine Business Wheel of Fortune’ Contact: Bill Turrentine from

Turrentine Wine Brokerage

Environment Canada, Various climate maps Contact: Roland Mandeville from Meteorological Services and

Business Policy Branch Services, Clients and Partners Directorate Meteorological Service of Canada

OMAFRA, Various Factsheets Contact: Gina Konasiewicz, Copyright Policy Analyst, Publications Ontario,

Ministry of Consumer and Business Services

ISBN 0-9692049-2-2

STARTING A VINEYARD IN PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY?

A VITICULTURAL PRIMER FOR INVESTORS AND GROWERS

is published by The Corporation of the County of Prince Edward, Economic Development Office

No part of this publication may be reproduced without the permission of the publisher.

Front Cover Photograph:

Christopher Jeffrey

Limestone Photos:

Debra Marshall

Vine Illustrations:

Geoff Heinricks

Publication Production:

Steve Campbell, County Magazine Printshop Ltd.,

P.O. Box 30, 257 Main Street, Bloomfield, Ontario K0K 1G0

ctymag@reach.net

Printed and bound in Canada

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

A MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

MARKETING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

TERROIR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

VARIETIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

ROOTSTOCKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

CULTURAL PRACTICES AND COSTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

WINTER ... WINTER ... WINTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

RESOURCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

APPENDICES

A: CLIMATIC ASPECTS OF THE NIAGARA FRUIT BELT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

B: SAMPLE OF ONTARIO SLIDING SCALES FOR SUGAR BONUSES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

C: PUBLICATION 360 UPDATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Preface

PREFACE

Thank you for your interest in Prince Edward

County, Ontario as a place to do business and as a

new, challenging, exciting and developing viticultur-

al area.

These are exciting times for our County.

Pioneering individuals and investors have risked

their capital, blood, sweat and tears to begin estab-

lishing Prince Edward County as a viticultural area.

As Economic Development Officer and a fellow

winegrower, in the middle of a ‘grape rush’ as some

have called it, I believe there is a viticultural infor-

mation gap, an unfulfilled need for information,

lots of information. In the rush to become estab-

lished, perhaps some of our limitations were being

overlooked. In the wave of optimism some of the

homework required was not being done.

I believe there is a need and opportunity to try

and put into a single resource as much information

as is possible on winegrowing as it relates to our

specific circumstances. A resource that will help

growers make better informed growing decisions. A

resource that will provide investors with an excellent

orientation to the County's diverse terroirs and to

recommend growing practices to manage our varied

soils, droughty summers and extreme winters.

This book is not intended to provide all the

answers or solutions. It is not the bible on growing

wine grapes here. It is a start and a primer towards

many of the variables that make this an exciting area

in which to grow grapes. I hope many articles,

papers, studies and books will follow as new knowl-

edge and other experiences accumulate.

My objective for this guide is to provide growers

and investors with as much information as is possi -

ble to base their land purchase, planting and grow-

ing decisions on. I would like to look out in ten

years’ time at a sea of vines, their success influenced

by this very publication.

The author, Geoff Heinricks, is one of the most

studied, researched and certainly one of the most

practiced grape growers in our region. He also hap-

pens to be a wine writer and journalist. I can’t think

of a better person to tackle the challenge of putting

this book together, one with in-depth knowledge of

our history, terroir and viticultural experiences from

all four corners of the County.

As a footnote, Geoff is a sort of Coureur du Bois

in the County or – as I am beginning to call him – a

Coureur du Vin. He knows the County intimately; he

knows its many pockets, back fields and farms, their

soil types, whether or not there is a ‘deer highway’

on a particular parcel, how soils drain and many

other insightful and not well-known pieces of infor-

mation. If I were an investor or grower I would

meet him and pick his brain to see how he can help

you get off to a good start. Many others and I have

done so, with thanks for his knowledge and insight.

I am extremely proud of this publication and

commend him for his extensive research, studious

fieldwork and dedication to detail that he has put

into this guide. He has already contributed signifi-

cantly to our viticultural landscape and trust he will

continue to do so as our vineyards mature and new

plantings come on stream.

Many thanks as well go to all the local and

industry advertisers for their support towards this

publication. I would also like to thank the Prince

Edward County Winegrowers Association, Ta s t e

The County and the Prince Edward Federation of

Agriculture for their letters of support.

Last, but certainly not least, a special thank-you

to the Small Projects Initiative Program of the

Agricultural Adaptation Council – without their

encouragement and substantial financial support

this publication would not be possible.

We invite current growers to continue to learn

and invest and look forward to our farmers and new

neighbours who decided to take the viticultural

plunge to establish vineyards, wineries and off-

shoot businesses in Prince Edward County, Ontario.

As a final note, there is more to ‘The County’

than viticulture, and there are certainly plenty of

business opportunities. The obvious opportunities

associated with this publication are all the spin-off

or ancillary businesses tied to this industry.

Viticulture has specialized needs and there are

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