Planting Vine Number 14

May 4, 2011 | By | 1 Reply More

On Sunday, Chris and I planted the last of the dozen Cab Franc vines we had ordered from Double A Nurseries in New York.  These vines were a little different from what I had expected, based on the two Mammolo vines that we had received as a gift after a class on grafting.  The Mammolos had a large and beautifully blooming scion (which is the actual vine) that had been grafted to phylloxera resistant rootstock.  We pruned back the scions to three buds, and planted them.

The Cab Franc vines, which had been grafted to a type of rootstock known as 101-14, ended just a fraction of an inch above the graft union.  According to the nursery, the graft union holds tremendous potential for growth that will be unleashed if the vine is hilled over.  So, right now, our vineyard in Nelson County consists of five cab franc vines buried under mounds of dirt, and two Mammolo vines sheltered inside a “Blue-X vine shelter,” which you can see in the two pictures below.

Now, to tell the whole story, we only received 11 of the 12 vines we ordered in the original shipment.  All 11 were on 101-14 rootstock.  We planted seven in the back yard of our home in Fairfax, Virginia, and four on the Nelson County, Virginia property.  Double A promptly shipped the missing vine, but since they had run out of vines on 101-14, the last vine had been grafted onto Riparia rootstock.  We decided to accept Double A’s mistake as an opportunity to see which rootstock would do better in Nelson County.  So we’ll keep track of the vines, and for next Spring’s planting, we’ll order vines on the rootstock that does best.

 

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Category: All Posts, Viticulture

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  1. Hi Bob!
    Really enjoy hearing the details of your venture! Wish I’d been the realtor who sold you your property in Nelson, met you too late 😉 I talked to another class member about documenting the progress of his vineyard. This is great! Love to come down sometime and check it out personally!
    Tricia

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