Abstract
Experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of three pruning levels (20, 30 and 40 nodes per vine) and three fruit-zone leaf removal levels (0%, 50%, and 100%) on the yield and fruit quality of Frontenac gris and Marquette wine grapes in a northern production region. The study was conducted at three North Dakota vineyards located near Buffalo, Clifford, and Wahpeton, North Dakota, in 2011 and 2012. Increasing the number of buds retained increased yields and reduced pruning weights in both cultivars. Frontenac gris and Marquette yields were greatest when vines had 50% of the fruit-zone leaves removed due to heavier clusters, suggesting that the 100% fruit-zone leaf removal level was too severe. Individual berries in clusters were also heavier when vines were pruned to retain 40 buds. Frontenac gris fruit quality was similar both years and was not influenced by pruning or leaf removal levels. Marquette fruit total soluble solids content was greater in 2012 due to the warmer and longer growing season. Marquette fruit titratable acidity was lower when 100% of the fruit-zone leaves were removed. These results suggest that for the two cold-hardy hybrid wine grapes used in this study, greater bud retention levels should be investigated. Results also warrant further research into cultivar adaptiveness to northern Great Plains conditions. With further research, it is anticipated that wine grape cultivars and management practices will be identified to produce acceptable yields and fruit quality for commercial wine grape production.
Highlights
The development of cold, hardy, Vitis riparia-based grape cultivars started a new industry in the northern Great Plains region
In North Dakota, the passing of farm winery legislation in 2001 signified the start of the grape and wine industry [1]. These V. riparia-based grape cultivars have enabled wine grape production in areas where V. vinifera cultivars cannot survive winter low temperatures, but they present new challenges as fruit development and fruit composition differs from V. vinifera cultivars [2,3,4]
Late winter and early spring environmental conditions (February–May) were similar for the three locations, even though there was more than 200 km latitudinal separation between vineyards (Table 1)
Summary
The development of cold, hardy, Vitis riparia-based grape cultivars started a new industry in the northern Great Plains region. In North Dakota, the passing of farm winery legislation in 2001 signified the start of the grape and wine industry [1]. These V. riparia-based grape cultivars have enabled wine grape production in areas where V. vinifera cultivars cannot survive winter low temperatures, but they present new challenges as fruit development and fruit composition differs from V. vinifera cultivars [2,3,4]. The influence of crop level on fruit quality with V. vinifera cultivars is inconclusive, with similar reports showing a low crop load associated with high wine
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