Grapevine, producing nice bunches of grapes

Trained on a lattice against a warm wall, the grapevine (Vitis vinifera) climbs 2 to 5 metres, its deciduous leaves screening bunches that ripen in early to mid autumn. It bears nothing without full sun and yearly pruning, but meet those two conditions and you eat your own grapes, bursting with sweetness.

Grapevine at a glance

Name	Vitis vinifera
Family	Vitaceae
Type	fruit shrub
Height	6 ½ to 16 feet (2 to 5 metres)
Exposure	full sun
Soil	ordinary, chalky
Foliage	deciduous
Harvest	early-mid fall

Care, treatment and planting are all good practices that will let you quickly produce nice harvests from your vine.

• Health: health benefits of grapevine

Planting grapevine

It is recommended to plant grapevine in fall or in spring. The better of the two options is fall for planting, because it makes root development before winter possible, and growth in spring will be stronger.

Out of these two seasons, simply avoid freezing or high temperatures for planting.

If you’re planting in spring or summer, remember to water regularly after planting to ensure rooting in.

• Grapevine requires exposure to the sun or it won’t produce any fruits.
• Grapevine doesn’t cope well with strong winds, nor does it do well in enclosed locations where it might be subject to some fungus like downy mildew.
• Grapevine likes well drained soil and abhors stagnating water.
• Follow our advice on planting shrubs.

Pruning and caring for grapevine

This is performed from late autumn to mid-spring, as long as it isn’t freezing. This is when the grapevine is in a dormant state.

Pruning the grapevine is important, because this determines the quality of the grape harvest, helps direct the growth of stems and reduces appearance of diseases.

• Details: how to prune grapevine

Cut each fruiting spur back to two buds.

Finish pruning while the vine is still dormant, before sap rises, since later cuts bleed sap for days; this weeping is usually harmless but is best avoided by timely pruning.

Through summer, pinch each shoot back a couple of leaves beyond the last bunch so the sugar goes into the grapes instead of more foliage.

All there is to know about grapevine

Grapevine is an amazing shrub to grow in your own garden.
Some species are perfectly suited to being eaten directly such as chasselas.

Attached to a lattice along a wall and well-kept, grapevine will soon reward you with the joy of savoring your own grapes, bursting with sweetness.

But treatments are quite extensive and pruning is mandatory to ensure fruit formation and produce a rich and abundant harvest.

Grapes do not sweeten after picking, so taste a berry from the bottom of the bunch before cutting.

Pull off a few leaves shading the bunches so sun reaches the fruit and the foliage dries faster after rain.

Go easy on nitrogen-rich feeds, which push out soft leafy growth rather than fruit.

Diseases and parasites infecting grapevine

Sadly, grapevine is a rather fragile shrub and a few good practices help avoid diseases.

First, with a regular spraying of Bordeaux mixture. This effective fungicide is part of treating preventively and must be sprayed on the leaves as soon as they appear and up until two weeks before harvesting the grapes.

Main diseases & parasites that infect grapevine and grapes

• Downy mildew – brownish spots on the leaves => How to treat grapevine against downy mildew
• Powdery mildew – A whitish velvet covers the leaves and the grapes shrivel, dry off and rot on the branches. => Here is how to fight against powdery mildew on grapevine
• Grape erineum mite – waffled green or red blisters appear on leaves => Treating erineum mite
• Insects – Spray organic insecticides in late winter against the winter hibernating spores, and then again when the first leaves appear and at the end of the blooming season.

Grapevine troubles at a glance

Grapevine is a rather fragile shrub, so recognising a problem early matters. Here is what each of the main diseases and parasites looks like, and when to act.

Since you will be eating the fruit yourself, favour organic treatment products.

Species and varieties of grapevine

The Vitis genus is divided into about 65 species found also in Asia and in North America.

Their fruits are edible, and some grapevines are cultivated like the Vitus labrusca, which is sometimes known as “raspberry grapes” or “Isabelle”.

Curiously, a French law dating back to 1934 prohibits the growing and selling of this species…

The initial goal was to avoid overproduction. This grapevine tends to grow a lot and can climb up to 100 feet (30 meters). It produces abundant fruits which have a delicate taste.

Among the various common grapevine cultivars you’ll find:

Early harvest (late summer) white grapes

• ‘Muscat de Saumur’ – round, tasty.
• ‘Madeleine Royale’ – very juicy but vulnerable to Botrytis fungus in case of wet summer or fall.
• ‘Pearl of Csaba’ – sweet, thin-skinned, birds feast on it.
• ‘Perdin’ – 7 oz (200 g) bunches on average, small round berries, golden when ripe. This variety is recommended in exposed and rather colder locations.

Early autumn harvest

• ‘Golden Chasselas’ or ‘Fontainebleau Golden Chasselas’ – one of the most loved table grapes. The French village of Thomery in Seine-et-Marne is famous thanks to this variety.
• ‘Forster White Seedling’ – white, sweet, fears the cold.
• ‘Royal Pink Chasselas’ – magnificent bunches but not so tasty.
• ‘Frankenthal’ – huge black grapes.
• ‘Perlette’ – large round and golden grapes, almost seedless, crunchy and musk-scented flesh, very sweet. These grapes can be dried. Vigorous and very productive variety.

Semi-late harvest (mid-autumn) white grapes

• ‘Napoleon Chasselas’, ‘Blanc de Frontignan Muscat’, ‘Regina’, ‘Italia’ – large bunches, thick-skinned, not so tasty flesh.
• ‘Black Hamburg Muscat’ – thin-skinned grains, a bit elongated, musk-scented flesh. Variety that resists diseases rather well.

Late harvest (late autumn) white grapes

• ‘Muscat of Alexandria’ – very fine, delicate taste.
• ‘Dattier de Beyrouth’ – elongated green-white grains that resemble dates.
• ‘Alphonse Lavallee’ – grown in the South of France. Large round grains with thick skin and crisp flesh, not always juicy.

The best table grape varieties

• ‘Amandin’ – white, harvest around mid-autumn 15^th, crisp musk-scented grains.
• ‘Cardinal’ – black, harvest on early autumn 20^th, very large bunches that should be wrapped in support bags, thin skin, grains can burst.
• ‘Golden Chasselas’ – white, harvest around early autumn 15^th, hardy variety, easy, juicy, well balanced, melts in the mouth.
• ‘Marseille Early’ – harvest around early autumn 15^th, one of the first, warmer climates only. Taste lingers for quite a while. Harvest very ripe.
• ‘Madeleine Royale’ – white, harvest around early autumn 10^th, vigorous and fertile, juicy, sweet, not so fragrant, tender, fine flesh.
• ‘Reine Muscat’ – white, harvest around early autumn 5^th, abundant productivity, easy growing, large oval grain that is sweet and scented of musk and blackcurrant.
• ‘Perdin’ – white, harvest around early autumn 5^th, very resistant to diseases, small sweet grains.
• ‘Pearl of Csaba’ – white, harvest around late summer 15^th, for warmer climates, juicy, golden thin skin.

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