Growing grapes in Tennessee
December 27th, 2009
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We want to plant a grape vine next year, so I’ve been reading some stuff online to get a sense of what all is involved. I have a lot more to go, but here’s some of the stuff I found:
- Conversions
1 bottle = 750 ml
750ml = @25 oz
1 gallon = 128 oz
1 gallon = 5 bottles of wine1 vine = 2 gallons of wine
1 acre = 400 vines
1 acre = 800 gallons of wine
1 acre = 4,000 bottles of wine1 barrel = 60 gallons
1 acre = @14 barrels - Grape Growing in Tennessee (27 page .pdf) by David W. Lockwood, Professor - Agricultural Extension Service The University of Tennessee
Once an area on a cane or spur has fruited, it will never fruit in that same region again. Instead, future yields will be borne on lateral shoots and extension growth. Therefore, regardless of the type of pruning conducted, an important goal is to remove old wood that has already fruited and to select canes or spurs arising directly off the trunk, renewal spurs or cordons for the next crop. The further clusters develop away from the main framework of the vine, the poorer the size and quality of the clusters will be and the thicker the canopy will be, thus limiting light, air and spray penetration throughout the canopy. - Tennessee Farm Winegrowers Association
Wines of the South is an annual regional wine competition designed to promote and celebrate the great tastes of Southern vintages. For the past twenty years, the Tennessee Farm Winegrowers Association (TFWA) has held a wine competition that was also open to wineries in the states contiguous to Tennessee. With the creation of the Wines of the South Competition, all southern wineries now have a unique venue in which we can compare, compete, and promote one another’s winemaking art! - Google map of Tennessee wineries
- Suite101: Choosing Grape Vairities: Growing the Right Grapes for Specific Conditions
Diseases are a concern where days are hot and humid and nights warm and dewy. Choose varieties that ripen late, produce loose clusters and have thicker skins, making them more rot resistant. - Suite101: Tips on Growing Grapes: How to Plant and Care for Grape Vines
Your grape vine will need frequent watering in its first year to encourage healthy root growth. Keep a 5 gallon bucket handy and continue to provide a bucket of water about once a week. Deep watering encourages deeper root growth. Pinch out any grape clusters and don’t allow the plant to produce fruit in the first year. This is the time for your vine to use all its strength to produce strong roots. If you have used compost when planting your vine you will not likely need to fertilize it again. While nitrogen aids in leaf growth, desirable in the first year, too much nitrogen will prompt excessive leaf growth at the expense of fruit, Consider using a grow tube to help establish your vine and protect it from animals, accidental trampling or wind damage during the first growing season. Remove the tube in late summer to allow time for the vine to harden up and get ready for winter. Stop watering in late summer or early fall to give the plant time to eliminate the freezable water in the vine. As the days get colder the grape vine produces a kind of antifreeze to see it through the winter months. Leaving on the grow tube will delay hardening up and antifreeze production. Watering too long will make it difficult for the vine to rid itself of excess water, causing it to be more susceptible to winter kill.

