The wine grape selection for The Mark Farm vineyard took a full year. Dr. Horst Caspari, Colorado State Viticulturist, provided significant input and convinced us that cold-hardy hybrids would be a wise choice. We want to “sleep like a baby” when the temperatures dip below zero.
Five different hybrid wine grape varieties were selected; two whites, two blacks, and a red. Two French-American hybrids, two varieties that resulted from the research program at Cornell University, and one from the University of Minnesota. All of the vines are self-rooted and were one year old at the time of planting in May 2013. They were purchased from Double A Vineyards, Fredonia, New York. Here follows a brief description of each variety:
First Vintage for The Mark Farm
Aromella
White grape. Makes a floral, aromatic wine. Developed by Cornell in 1976 (NY76.0844.24) from a cross between Traminette and Ravat 34. Classified as hardiness zone 4a. Demonstrated a 50% bud kill at -16 F but no trunk damage has been observed at that temperature. Bud break 2-3 days later than Concord, mid-season harvest. Click here for more info
La Crescent
White grape. Makes a wine with intense nose of apricot, peach and citrus. Developed by the University of Minnesota and introduced in 2002 (MN1166). A hybrid resulting from a cross of St. Pepin and a Swenson selection from Vitis riparia x Muscat Hamburg. Classified as hardiness zone 3a. Trunks have survived -34 degrees F. Bud break 2-3 days earlier than Concord, early season harvest. Click here for more info
Leon Millot
Black grape. Makes a red wine with distinct berry and hint of chocolate. Developed in 1911 at Oberlin Institute in Alsace by French viticulturist Eugene Kuhlmann and named for a wine maker and orchard owner. It is a cross between Millardet et Grasset (Vitis riparia x Vitis rupestris) and Goldriesling. A sister of Marechal Foch but earlier and more productive. Designation Kuhlmann 194-2. Classified as hardiness zone 4a. Bud break 5-7 days before Concord, early season harvest. Click here for more info
Marechal Foch
Black grape, small berries. Makes a wine in a variety of styles from light red to a more intense dark purple to a dessert wine. Also developed by Eugene Kuhlmann (see Leon Millot description above) by crossing similar varieties. Named after French Marshall Ferdinand Foch who helped negotiate the armistice terms at the end of World War I. Designation Kuhlmann 188.2. Classified as hardiness zone 4a. Bud break 5-7 days before Concord, early season harvest. Click here for more info
Noiret
Red grape. Makes a full bodied wine with distinct black pepper, moderate tannin, notes of blackberry, raspberry, mint. Developed by Cornell in 1973 (NY73.0136.17). A hybrid resulting from a cross of NY65.0476.08 (NY33477 x Chancellor) and Steuben. Classified as hardiness zone 5b. Bud break with or a bit after Concord, late season harvest. Click here for more info
April Cold Events
Temperature in degrees F at 6 feet: Apr 4: 24, Apr 14: 22, Apr 29: 28. Temperatures at ground level were 3 to 7 degrees colder.
May 2 Bud Break Commences
First bud break was (Leon Millott) followed by Noiret, Marechal Foch, and La Crescent, stretching over a week. Starting May 9 two Aromella vines showed bud break with a few buds down low, coming out of the trunks or short canes.
May 3 & 4 Pruning
All but the Aromella were pruned to retain 2 of the best canes. Some vines only had one such cane, others had several and on those vines 3 canes were retained for “insurance”. Cordons were trimmed back to live wood. Canes were re-tied close to the bamboo and along the cordon wire.
May Cold Events
Temperature in degrees F at 6 feet: May 1:27, May 12-13: 32, May 14: 30. Temperatures at ground leve were 3 to 7 degrees colder.
May 20 Fully Leafed Out
Leon Millot and Marechal Foch appear to be most vigorous, followed by Noiret and La Crescent. Almost all vines have inflorescences. Aromella still languishing but growing rapidly, and all but 3 Aromella have leaves. The one Noiret vine atop a large rock appears to be dead, so that makes four vines that will need to be replaced.
May 29 Email from Dr. Horst Caspari regarding Aromella winter damage
“I can think of two reasons. First, maybe they were too vigorous which reduced their cold hardiness. Given how hardy they are I think that is unlikely. Alternatively it might just have been bad luck with timing of sap flow relative to cold events. We've again lost a lot of trunks on NY81 (which is very cold hardy) at Rogers Mesa. This is the second time in four years that has happened. It appears that when sap gets into the trunks they are more susceptible or the timing of such sap rise coincides with low temperature events (say low 20s). If your Aromella had the same bad timing then that could explain the damage. I think your site is a little warmer than RM so Aromella might have been a few days ahead. Also, canes are often a little bit earlier anyways.”
June 2 Follow-up Pruning
Growth is vigorous. For the vines that have reached the cordon wire, canes and shoots were pruned to within a foot of the wire. For canes that were shorter, leaves and shoots were left above the irrigation tubing (24 inches above ground). Vines re-tied if necessary.
June 27 Remove Inflorensceces From Smaller Vines
Regarding inflorescences, Dr. Horst Caspari advised us: “If vigor is high then those clusters can help curtail the high vigor. If vigor is low then clusters should be removed (after flowering is early enough). Our practice was that if a vine did not reach the high cordon wire last season, the inflorescences were removed. One of the Aromella vines that appeared to be dead has a “sucker” coming up from the ground. Vines were re-tied as necessary.
July 18 Lots of Grape Clusters
Leon Millot and Marechal Foch have impressive amounts of grapes. Nioret somewhat fewer. La Crescent seems to be the least vigorous, and grapes have been retained on only a few vines. The Aromella vines are training along the high cordon wire, some for several feet. The Aromella vine that came up from a “sucker” is within a few inches of the wire.
July 23 High temperature this month today, 95 degrees.
July 29 Veraison Has Started
July 31 Birds (Robins) Are Eating Grapes. Bird netting ordered.
August 5 Rain 0.41 inches, last 3 days
August 9 Brix Readings (Field Refractometer, Average of Several Well-Colored Berries)
Noiret 11.8, Leon Millot 16.1, Marechal Foch 14.8, La Crescent 16.1
August 10 Bird Netting Installed
August 14 Brix
Noiret 17.7, Leon Millot 18.8, Marechal Foch 17.5, La Crescent 18.5
August 14 Rain 0.43 inches, last 2 days
August 18 High temperature for this month today, 90 degrees
August 19 Estimate of harvest
Noiret: 8 vines, 7 clusters/vine, .2 lb/cluster, estimate harvest of 11 lbs
Leon Millot: 10 vines, 23 clusters/vine, 0.14 lb/cluster, estimate harvest of 32 lbs
Marechal Foch: 10 vines, 16.6 clusters/vine, 0.2 lb/cluster, estimate harvest of 33 lbs
La Crescent: 2 vines, 23 clusters, vine, 0.15 lb/cluster, estimate harvest of 7 lbs
Estimate for reds only 28 vines, 82 lb, 0.52 acres = 0.8 tons/acre
August 20 Rain 0.9 inches last 2 days
August 20 Lab Numbers
Noiret: Brix 17, pH 2.9, TA 12.5
Leon Millot: Brix 19.6, pH 3.1, TA 11.6
Marechal Foch: Brix19.2, pH 3.0, Ta 14.8
La Crescent: Brix 20.8, pH 2.9
August 23 Rain 0.61 inches, last 2 days
August 28 Rain 0.41 inches, last 3 days
August 28 Lab Numbers (analyzes from Horst Caspari, Western CO Research Center shown in parenthesis)
Noiret: Brix 18.8 (18.1), pH 3.06 (2.96), TA 8.8 (9.3)
Leon Millot: Brix 22 (20.7), pH 3.25 (3.11), TA 9.5 (10.7)
Marechal Foch: Brix 20.1 (20.9), pH 3.05 (2.99), TA 11.8 (12.4)
La Crescent: Brix 23 (23), pH 3.12 (2.93), TA 14.9 (15.9)
September 1 Harvest Day! Leon Millot
Start harvest 10:45 am, 30 minutes, 3 people, 23 lbs
Destem and crush by hand 11:15 am, 1 hour, 3 people
Must: 2.1 gallons: Brix 23.9, pH 3.23, TA 10.2, Free SO2 15 ppm, desired 22 ppm
Added 1 ml 10% sulfite solution.
September 3 Harvest Day! Marechal Foch
Start harvest 9:20 am, 25 minutes, 2 people, 20.3 lbs
Destem and crush by hand
Must 1.9 gallons: Brix 24, pH 3.04, Ta 11.9, Free SO2 9.4 ppm, desired 14 ppm
Added 0.6 ml 10% sulfite solution
Leon Millot: Tossed yeast – Lalvin 71B-1122
September 4
Marechal Foch: Tossed yeast – Lalvin 71B-1122
September 13 Harvest Day! La Crescent
Did not install bird netting, so only 3.1 lbs
Brix 24
Destem, crush, press by hand. About 1 cup of delicious juice.
September 19 Harvest Day! Noiret
Start harvest 9:30 am, 9.3 lbs
Destem and crush by hand
Must 1 gallon: Brix 22.3, pH 3.16, TA 7.1, Free SO2 8 ppm, desired 19 ppm
Added 0.7 ml 10% sulfite solution
Tossed yeast - Lalvin RC 212
Leon Millot Brix 0, pH, 3.91, TA 6.4, SO2 0
Marechal Foch Brix 0, pH 3.71, TA 7.1, SO2 0
Pressed Marechal Foch: ¾ gallon free run, ½ gal pressed; transferred to separate secondaries
September 23 Rain 0.56 inches last 3 days
September 29 Rain 0.8 inches, last 3 days
September 30 Low temperature for this month today, 38 degrees
October 1 Pressed Noiret (½ gallon, free run + pressed); transferred to secondary
Also racked Leon and Foch, both free run and pressed
October 2 Rain 0.42 inches, last 2 days
October 13 Date of first freeze, 32 degrees
October 29 Low temperature for this month today, 28 degrees
October 31 Racked Noiret
November 4 First hard freeze today, 25 degrees
December 17 Tasting Notes (from secondary carboys)
Leon Millot: Berry nose, Granny Smith apple, light mouth feel, slight acid finish.
Marechal Foch: Beautiful color, clear, berry and fruity nose, slight citrus, good acid, refreshing.Noiret: Very dark – like port, clear, smooth finish, a bit of tannin, big pepper nose and palate, delicious. Very different from the Leon and Foch.
January 11, 2015 Blending, tasting, and bottling
Leon Millot 44%, Marechal Foch 40%, Noiret 16%. Named “Marleonoir” as a combination of the first part of the name of each grape.
Tasting notes: Initial alcohol nose, then earthy and some fruit, raspberry & strawberry, berry finish, pepper overtones, round mouth feel.
Bottling: pH 3.85, TA 6.4, Free SO2 4. 3 gallons, added 1.7g sulfite. Bottled 24 splits (375 ml).
Best flavor if bottles are allowed to breath for an hour before enjoying.
Early Morning Visitor, July 21, 2014
