'Good' Grapes for Red Wine

Baltica, very tasty grapes, young vine. Perhaps the clusters may be larger and more abundant next year or thereafter. These were the first grapes to ripen in the vineyard, very early, zone 4.
17.7 Brix on Aug 23, 2018

Cascade (Rosé wine), productive, tasty, early. Berries appear to be very healthy so far, and they look promising, zone 5b, 
17.0 Brix on Sept 11, 2017

Arandell, too soon to evaluate; but so far the leaves seem healthy. It is advertised as a very disease-resistant variety that is excellent for wine making, mid-season, zone 5a.

Delicatessen, too soon to evaluate, susposedly thin skin that does not crack, early, zone 5.

DM 8521-1, too soon to evaluate, mid-season, zone 3a.

ES-10-18-20, too soon to evaluate, young vine with just one small bunch, berries cracked. Let's see how it does in 2020, mid-season, zone 4b.

Francis, delicious fresh. Wine is said to have a mild cherry aroma. Although the berries are very tasty, anthracnose destroyed half the berries, mid-season, zone 4.

Frontenac, delicious fresh, reported to make excellent wine. 2019 was not a particularly good year for this variety. Previous years were better. May need to reject this delicious grape. Let's see how it does in 2020. One of the tastiest grapes in the vineyard, ripens mid to late season, zone 3b.
17.9 Brix on Sept 5, 2018

Gertruda, too soon to evaluate, makes Rose' wine, zone 4.

Jukka (ES 5-4-16), too soon to evaluate. As you can see, the berries did not do well in plastic bags in 2019. In 2020, will try no bags and paper bags, mid-season, zone 4.

Leon Millot, delicious grape, some rotten berries, but many are good. Shows promise, let's see how they do in 2020, early, zone 5.
19.0 Brix on Aug 27, 2019

Lomato, too soon to evaluate. So far, the vine is not very vigorous or healthy. The seller said it is slow to get started, but worth the wait; it gets more vigorous as it gets older. Ripens early, zone 5.

Marechal Foch, delicious fresh. Said to make good wine, but fussy. One of the best tasting grapes in the vineyard, early, zone 5a.
20.0 Brix on Sept 11, 2017

Norton-Cynthiana, taste is fair, somewhat diseased. Said to make good wine, late, zone 4. Although very late for our site, the leaves stayed healthy enough to ripen berries to 21.4 Brix on Nov 1, 2017.

Mystic Eyes, delicious fresh. It has small clusters and low productivity so far. Using multiple trunks and canes may help.  Very early, zone 4.
15.3 Brix on Sept 5, 2018

Oberlin Noir, delicious, productive, very healthy vine and berries. This is one of my favorite vines so far; it shows great promise. It is said to make a tannic, somewhat rustic red wine, with good aging capability. It is also good for table, jam, juice and freezing. However, it is out of stock at nurseries, so would need to propagate by rooting canes. The trunk died the first winter, but came back a year later and is now very healthy. Originally planted late in 2015, started re-growing in 2017 and had its first grapes 2019,  mid-season, zone 5,
19.1 Brix on Sept 16, 2019

Oberlin Noir, leaves are very healthy for Oct 3rd.

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Petite Pearl, very healthy. It is on the tart side when eaten fresh, even at its high sugar level of 20 brix. Said to make excellent wine, mid-season, zone 3b, 
20.1 Brix on Oct 10, 2107

Regent, too soon to evaluate. Delicious, but many berries rot. Will try various bags in 2020 to protect it from disease, early, zone 6.

Sabrevois, fair taste, reportedly makes decent wine, mid-season, zone 3, 
18.7 Brix on Oct 6, 2017

Skandia (TP 2-1-37), too soon to evaluate, young vine, just one bunch that did not do well - berries cracked, very early, zone 3a.

St-Croix, too soon to evaluate, sister to Sabrevois, leaves fairly diseased by Oct 7th, early, zone 3.

St. Paul, tasty, reportedly makes good wine, diseased leaves, mid to late, zone 4, 
16.6 Brix on Oct 1, 2019

St Vincent, too soon to evaluate. Some berries rotted in plastic bags, so in 2020 will try no bags and other types of bags, late, zone 5.

Verona, too soon to evaluate, it may not ripen on our site. Young vine so only one bunch developed and the berries cracked, late, zone 4b.

Wine King, delicious, healthy vine and berries, vigorous and very productive. This vine shows great promise. Said to make a fine Red wine. It is also good for table, jam, juice and freezing.
Let's see how it does in 2020. Early, zone 5, 
19.5 Brix on Sept 16, 2019

Wine King, leaves are very healthy, even on Oct 3rd when other leaves on some varieties in the vineyard look terrible.

'Rejected' Grapes for Red Wine

Castel 19-637, reported as disease-resistant, highly productive, and great wine; however on our site, most berries rotted, leaves were stunted and diseased, early, zone 4b.

America, very healthy plant and berries. Too bad it has an unpleasant taste resulting in rejection. There are reports of it tasting better in warmer states, mid to late, zone 4a.

Corot Noir, diseased, stunted growth, all leaves died, mid to late, zone 4.

DeChaunac, stunted growth with diseased leaves, I learned this is one of the cultivars that is susceptible to Tomato Ring Virus and can spread it (as does Ventura). It is spread by nematodes. Do not plant this, mid-season, zone 5.

Crimson Pearl (TP 2-1-17), I had great expectations for this early variety, however it has diseased leaves, and most berries rot before they ripen, early, zone 4a, 
16.3 Brix on Oct 1, 2019

Crimson Pearl (TP 2-1-17), the leaves get diseased before the berries can ripen.

Geneva Red, fair bland vegetative taste, healthy berries, heavy mildew on leaves, reportedly makes good wine, however does not ripen on my site in most years - probably due to the diseased leaves, mid-season, zone 4, 
10.3 Brix on Aug 25, 2018, but 17.0 Brix on Sept 11, 2018.

Landot Noir, lacked vigor, after two years, two vines were only a foot high. Did not want to waste the space so pulled them out, early to mid-season, zone 4b.

Laurot, all berries rotted, leaves very diseased, I now understand the "rot" in Laurot, early ot mid-season, zone?

Marquette, anthracnose and black rot develop and vary each year from mild to heavy. Grapes are very tasty and said to make good wine, more bad years than good years, so pulled it out. mid-season, zone 3b.

Michurinets, most of the berries rotted, eaves diseased, early, zone 4b.

Noiret, healthy berries but diseased leaves which contribute to it not ripening on our site, mid to late, zone 4,
12.6 Brix on Sept 16, 2019; 11.9 Brix on Oct 1, 2019; 10.7 Brix on Oct 28, 2019

Noiret, diseased, leaves virtually gone by Oct 7, so grapes do not ripen.

Vincent, diseased, all leaves died, no growth, late, zone 5.