The decision to establish your own vineyard should not be taken lightly. With high setup costs, planning must be very thorough and systematic to ensure success and minimize errors. Here is the information you need.

1. Establish your vineyard

Thanks to new grape varieties, good wine can also be made outside of the traditional wine-growing regions. Have you ever heard of, for example, Regent, Rondo, Johanniter or Solaris? In this step-by-step instruction, you’ll read how to establish your own vineyard and how best to maintain it. Please note that this is an agricultural project that may involve issues such as soil adjustment, drainage, mounding under vine rows, irrigation, fertilization, spraying, mechanization and heavy machinery issues, choosing organic farming (ecological), frost control, etc. There will always be some degree of trial and error.

— Choice of grape variety,

— Characteristics of the soil and fertilization,

— Planting along a trellis system,

— From the small stick to the vine,

— Continuous rejuvenation

2. Choice of grape variety

No other aspect is more important to the flavor and character of the wine than the choice of grape variety. The range of varieties to choose from grows every year. You can start reading widely about the following grape varieties:

Red wine grape varieties:

Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Barbera, Dolcetto, Cabernet Franc, Gamay, Carignan, Garnacha Tinta, Malbec, Sangiovese, Mourvedre, Syrah, Nebbiolo, Tempranillo

White wine grape varieties:

Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Albariño, Malvasia, Chenin Blanc, Muller-Thurgau, Gewurztraminer, Muscat, Pinot Blanc, Silvaner, Pinot Gris, Trebbiano, Semillon, Palomino

Keep in mind that this list is far from exhaustive and new frost and disease resistant varieties are developed each year. When establishing a vineyard in a humid climate, it is advisable to select a grape variety that is fairly resistant to downy mildew. (Since rose bushes are affected by mold before vines, they are often planted in the vineyard to warn of mold. This allows early mold spraying.)

3. Characteristics of the soil and fertilization

Like many other plants, the vine needs a 50-60cm topsoil of loose soil in order to get a proper start. A second crucial element is calcium. Soil pH should be between 6.5 and 7. Calcium is often given every year. As organic material you can choose between well-digested or dried manure, compost, potting soil or wood, or a pure organic commercial fertilizer with low salt concentration and free of chlorine.

Rhizome

The Solaris variety ripens even in Denmark and in southern Sweden. Most of the time, the type of soil is not a disadvantage factor. Wine vines aren’t really picky when it comes to soil (so you don’t necessarily need perfect soil like the Moselle River in Germany or the Banyuls region of southern France to produce healthy grapes), if only the right rootstock is selected. The SO4 rootstock is suitable for loamy soil, 5C for good sandy soil, 5BB for poor sandy soil and 125AA for soil rich in calcium. And then there is the Borner virus resistant rootstock. This pattern can be used on almost all types of flooring.

wet feet

If your land consists of turf soil with a high level of groundwater, then you are out of luck. So unfortunately it is very difficult to grow vines for wine. They really don’t like wet feet and acidic soil. To some extent, a mushroom fertilizer can help here.

soil activity

Most importantly, the soil must live. Active micro and macro organisms allow the vine to take minerals from the soil. It is helpful to plant vines in a cover of low grasses, clovers, and flowers. This cover increases the activity and fertility of the soil. In addition, clover contributes nitrogen to the soil, and growing plants attract the natural enemies of harmful insects, so they work as pesticides.

4. Vines along a trellis system

An optimal climate in the vineyard is important. This can be obtained by planting the vines in the correct way.

Rent

To maximize exposure to sunlight, vineyards are often established on south-facing slopes. Wine vines definitely need a sunny location. Plant them preferably in rows in a north-south direction so that they can take better advantage of sunlight. If necessary, you can also opt for another plant address. In a row, the vines are planted every 1.20 or 1.40 (1.50) m. The distance between rows must be a minimum of 1.8 m and a maximum of 2.25 m. With a shorter distance between rows, the grapes do not receive enough sunlight and the humidity in the vineyard reaches higher levels than desired. At a greater distance between rows, the air cools too quickly due to the influence of the wind.

trellis system

Since the vines cannot support themselves, they are guided along a trellis system. This system is placed before planting the vines. Such a trellis system can be made by pounding solid posts into the ground every 5 meters or so. The posts should reach a height of ca. 1.80 m above the surface level.

Ironwire is guided along the poles. The way you guide the wire along the posts depends on the growing method. For the Guyot method, two single and three double threads are needed. The simple threads come at a height of 0.75 and 0.90 m above the surface level, the double ones at 1.20, 1.50 and 1.80 m.

5. From the stick to the vine

A good way to grow your vines is the Guyot method. Here you will read how to proceed.

After planting the vine, you let a shoot grow. You cut the other shoots when they are about 5 cm long. In the first summer the shoot grows to a length of 1.50 to 2 m. In the winter following this summer, the shoot is reduced to a length of 0.9-1 m. Then the vine stick has been formed.

During the next spring, the stick receives shoots. You keep the top three, the other shoots you cut when they are 5 cm long. The three shoots are caught between the double wires so that they grow upwards. When they measure around 1.5 m in July or August, they drop their tops. But that is not all. The small flower clusters that appear on all three shoots in spring should be largely removed. At this stage, only one cluster can remain per vine plant. In autumn this bunch gives the first grapes.

In the second winter after planting, the vine develops further. Of the three buds you keep the two most vital. The third is cut off near the stick. You bend the two buds, to the left and right of the stick, over the top single wire toward the bottom single wire. In this way, the two so-called “Guyot curves” are formed in the stick.

In the third spring after planting, young shoots grow on the two Guyot curves. When they are 5 cm long, remove the sprouts so that the space between the remaining sprouts is 10 cm. So, per vine plant there are twelve to fourteen shoots left. These are guided up between the double wires and terminated when they are approximately 1.2 m long.

Several clusters of flowers originate from the vertically guided shoots. Only the lowest cluster on each shoot can become a grape cluster. The other bunches are removed at the end of July or beginning of August. This is very important! The average vine can only get about fourteen well-ripe bunches of grapes. If more clusters are preserved, the grapes will give a thin and watery wine. A vine stretched out against a wall that sometimes has a hundred clusters does not produce good wine.

6. Continuous rejuvenation

By cutting the vines the right way each year, they will stay young and vital.

Starting from the third winter, the vines are cut in the same way every year. With the winter cut, Guyot curves are cut close to the stick. Then the stick and two young branches remain. These two branches are folded to the left and right of the stick over the top single wire and attached to the bottom single wire. Two new Guyot curves are then formed. In this way, the vine remains young and vital.

With the summer cut of a developed vine, proceed in the same way as in the third year of the development period. You keep twelve to fourteen shoots on Guyot curves, each shoot is 1 to 1.20 m long and only the lowest flower cluster on each shoot can develop into a grape cluster. For two reasons it is important to top the fruit shoots in a length of 1 to 1.20 m and not in, for example, 0.5 to 0.6 m: maintain the correct proportion of leaves and fruits (crucial for the percentage of sugar of the grapes and, therefore, for the quality of the wine) and preventing the shoots from developing many lateral shoots (short shoots tend to give many lateral shoots).

7. Keep in mind that you can also propagate the vines yourself. The easiest way to do this is by digging into a branch or cutting back in winter.

8. Last but not least, keep in mind that the oldest vines (over 40 or 60 years) have the greatest potential to produce the best quality grapes.