High Country Grapevine Nursery & Hop Farm in Vilas North Carolina
CERTIFIED NURSERY LICENSE # 6438
Located at the base of Spencer Mountain Vinyard
3rd annual High Country Beer Fest Saturday, Sept 4 2010 @ The Broyhill Inn & Conference Center, Boone NC-stop by our table & say hi!-We will have Cascade whole hops for sale-limited supply!!
We pride ourselves for not being a huge commercial production line. We take care of our vines on a personal level, no huge equipment, machinery or artificial growth boosters!
We have proudly assisted with vinyard design and grapevine planting @ The Lodges at Eagles Nest and Valle Crusis Winery & Vinyard, currently under construction www.1861farmhouse.com
NEED HELP WITH VINYARD DESIGN? Vinyard consultation, site plan, layout of vines,production, harvest, small winery establishment; provided by local vinyard specialist Dr. Lucien Wilkins of Spencer Mountain Vinyards-contact lwilkins3@ec.rr.com
We specialize in growing hardy hybrid grape vines at or above 3,000 ft elevation,on site of Spencer Mountain Vinyard in Vilas North Carolina. Our climate of cool summer nights, sunny warm days, and nourishing rainfall all lend to a vigourous growing season.We are also proudly associated with the viticulture program @ ASU, located in Boone, NC.,where we share new & innovative ideas for growing grapes, designing mountain slope vinyards, and creating fine wines.
Our viticulture industry in North Carolina is robust & vigourous! We wish to provide locally grown hardy vines that are already acclimated to rugged mountain climates or colder climates. We provide on site pick up of vines, grow tubes, bamboo stakes, or we will ship nationwide to appropriate growing climates.
We currently are growing Marachel Foch(red) and Seyval Blanc(white) We have one year & two year vines, and a few three year old vines, they are priced higher for maturity. E-mail for pricing & shipping costs, or see price list below.
Order Placement Information-We begin pre-booking sales November 2011 for the 2012 Spring season.Vines and Hop rhizomes are then shipped in the Spring, or timing that is location appropriate for your vinyard.Keep in mind that there is a window of opportunity for digging, shipping & planting. It is best to plant vines while they are still dormant, although it is still ok to plant once they start pushing buds & leaf out,,it is not optimal.
Shipping restrictions to: CA, WA, OR, ID
planetofthegrapesnc@yahoo.com
Place orders now for rhizomes for spring 2012-We have CASACDE & NUGGETT 5.00 per rhizome up to #20-
4.00 per 20-40
3.00- per 50 or more
S/H calculated @ time or order placement.
We are also growing hops, currently we have Cascade,Chinook, Willamette, Nuggett, Mt Hood...Our business plan is to become a commercial/ retail supplier to our local micro brew/home brewer community!
We had our first cascade harvest summer 2009- our 2010 harvest has been less than robust, but still a successful harvest of Cascade & a few Chinook.
WE HAVE DRY WHOLE HOP CASACADE AVAILABLE- $4.00 PER OUNCE
PLUS NOMINAL S/H
We are interested in starting a hop brokerage, for future harvests, fair pricing,& movement of product. Please provide us with info if you are already growing hops and If you are thinking of growing hops--We would like to get an idea of how many farmers there are, & what the needs & goals are. Send us your e-mail info. We are coordinating with the Ag Ext agent in Boone to set up a fall or winter meeting, to establish our mountain hop growing community.
General Information
Grapes are grown throughout the state. Bunch grapes & French-American hybrids are produced in the piedmont & mountain areas, but do not survive the coastal plain due to Pierce's disease. Muscadine cultivars are resistant to this disease & are grown in the piedmont & coastal areas. Muscadines are also susceptible to winter injury.
Grapes need full south facing sunlight in a soil with a pH of 5.5-7.0. trellising can be erected the second year, but some people choose to do it the first year, with the overall layout of the vinyard site. Depending on the grapes chosen, you can plan on one grape vine every six feet. One acre can feasibly hold 605 vines. Before planting, having soil testing done is a really smart thing to do, once results are known, ammending the soil is quite simple. New vines need water every day for the first 2 weeks(depending on rainfall) to get established. after this, just monitor the health of the vine. If it is a dry spell, you will need to water/irrigate approx 2-4 dayes per week. Watering the roots, not leaves is very important, this will help prevent mildew problems. You can also expect to hand train the vines out of the grow tubes & onto the trellis(if you have that much growth the first season) typically, this is a second year task. The first year,the vines are trying to develop a good root system.
Marechal Foch Grape Details Marechal Foch (aka. Foch, Kuhlmann 188-2) USDA hardiness zone=4,5
Marechal Foch is a vigorous, early-ripening variety, with good winter hardiness. It is well suited to cold-climate regions in Canada’s Niagara Peninsula and Nova Scotia. It is also popular in New York’s Finger Lakes, the north Atlantic States, and in viticultural areas of the northern Midwest. Still commercially important, this French-American hybrid developed by Eugene Kuhlmann is reportedly the result of a North American riparia-rupestris and a vinifera (Goldriesling) pairing. This is identical to the parentage of the Leon Millot grape. However, some believe the North American parent is really Oberlin Noir, a Gamay-riparia cross once commercially cultivated in Burgundy. Whatever the true genealogy of the cultivar, Marechal Foch is often considered to possess Burgundian characteristics, having a vibrant, deep purple color, with a light-medium structure and dark berry fruit characteristics. Some tasters find the similarities to Burgundy Pinot Noir become more pronounced with age. Perhaps an argument for why the grape clings to a few acres in Oregon's Willamette Valley.
Seyval Blanc Grape details--USDA hardiness zone=5
A yellow, white variety with large, compact clusters of medium berries.Winter hardiness is medium. Excellent white wine variety. A French hybrid varietal that is famous for its resistance to cold. Seyval Blanc buds and ripens early and provides a good alternative in cool climates to grapes such as Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc that don't like the extreme cold. Crisp and dry versions have flavors and aromas of citrus fruits and a certain minerality that some compare to white Burgundies. Also takes well to oak and malolactic fermentation. Grown extensively in England and the cool Finger Lakes region of New York state. Doing well in NC.
PESTS
Aside from really annoying people, the pests that we see in the mountains are as follows.
Grape root borer
Japanese beetle, green June beetle, aphids & scale insects, spider mites
The Japanese Beetle will de-foliate the grapes, but no real harm is done, they ususally only survive a month or so, once gone, the leaves grow back.
DISEASES
Downy mildew, powdery mildew,leaf spot, black rot, ripe rot, crown gall,, Fruit rot> Botrytis fruit rot, sour rot,
There are many ways to control these challenges, depends on your philosophies of chemical use. We encourage the use of safe, responsible practices. Weed control is also hugely important to have a grip on. Once it gets out of control, it will ruin your vinyard. There are numerous web sites available, we like to use ASU as our resource for any issues. They have a mountain slope, high altitude vinyard specialist that has been a very dear friend to us. He is a great resource!
2012 Price List
1-25 vines= 8.00 per vine
26-49=6.80 per vine
50+=3.50 per vine
We have a limited supply of 3 year old vines, gives you a head start on fruit production over planting one year old vines. These are 10.00 per vine
Orders over 100 vines in combination with grow tubes will be discounted, price to be determined.
Grow tubes-= These Blue-X tubes have been used once-they have some clay left on them, but otherwise in fine shape--1.75 each they are shipped flat
S/H calculated @ time of order placement-if total order is less than $200.00, pay ment in full is required @ time of order. If larger than $200.00 a 50% deposit is required @ time of order & balance due prior to shipping. Vines are packed in wet newspaper & plastic bags within a cardboard box, they are bundled according to variety.
USPS money order or paypal credit cards accepted.
You will specify the date that you will want vines shipped to you-it is weather dependant, for us as well as for you, so as spring draws near, we can hone in on a delivery date.
Look for us set up @ the 3rd Annual High Country Brewfest in Boone, Sept 4th 2010 @ the Broyhill Conference Center on the campus of ASU>
Highcountry press article Feb 2009
check it out:
http://www.highcountrypress.com/weekly/2009/02-26-09/a_business_thats_ripe.htm
High Country Wine Growers Association
Save the date! The Highcountry Wine growers Assoc spring meeting
Greetings All, We're looking forward to the upcoming meeting on March 21st, and the potential for fellowship and continuing education that it represents. Norm will be sending out the directions for the meeting room in the near future. Bob Johnson brought to my attention that I didn't mention the amount of the dues in the invitation, so here you go. The annual dues for the association are $50.00 per company (good for two members) and $25.00 for each additional member. At this juncture, we're planning two major meetings each year with season-specific, demonstration workshops with the experts at member vineyards. Looking forward to seeing you next month
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Proud Member of Pink Boots Society- supporting women in the beer industry.
pinkbootssociety.org/
