Our Traminette vines, growing while no one is watching, growing as though they'd never been hurt before
We were up at the vineyard this weekend and had to face the fact that five of our mature Cabernet Franc vines are dead. The late frost on May 21st did them in. Their trunks were practically split down the middle. They were six years old! It's like losing a pet, or five pets. They certainly take almost as much maintenance.
The white Traminette are perfectly fine. Growing vigorously as usual. It really is evident that the hybrid vines bred for harsher climates have fared much better than the red Vinifera Cabernet Franc. It will be interesting to see if the Traminette ripen before the first fall frost. The latest newsflash from our Wine Grape Agent pointed out that the chronic summer monsoons will encourage excessive vegetative growth, distracting the vine from ripening the grapes.
We coped with the loss of our vines by throwing ourselves into research. We wanted to see if there was a French-American hypbrid variety that approximated the taste of Cabernet Sauvignon but was hardy in our Northeast Pennsylvania climate. We hit upon Baco Noir, a cross between a Vitus Vinifera variety named Folle Blanche and a native American grape. It is apparently used as a Cabernet Sauvignon substitute in Northern climates. We'll see....
In stark contrast to the Traminette picture, here is a recent picture of our poor, spindly Cabernet Franc that will not bear fruit this year
Comments