Vine Performance and Wine Quality for Four Red Wine Grape Cultivars Grown for Three Growing Seasons in Erie County, Pennsylvania

Abstract

Replicated field trials for four red wine grape cultivars (cvs) were initiated in the spring of 1967 at The Pennsylvania State University Field Research Laboratory located in North East, Pennsylvania. The principal objectives were to determine whether cvs other than Catawba and Delaware could be grown commercially in Pennsylvania and produce table wines of acceptable quality exhibiting a "vinifera-like" character. Consistent wine evaluations were made from 1971 through 1973 for these four cvs: Chancellor (Seibel 7053), Chelois (Seibel 10878), DeChaunac (Seibel 9549), and Landot 4511. These trials revealed that at least four cvs can be grown commercially along the southern shore of Lake Erie in Pennsylvania and produce high-quality table wines with a "vinifera-like" character. The cv Chancellor consistently produced a wine of excellent quality. Wines of DeChaunac and Chelois were of high quality, and musts of Landot 4511 fermented into wines of acceptable quality. Average yield of fruit from vines of these four cvs ranged 19.0 metric tons per hectare (t/ha), for Chelois, to 15.3 t/ha, for Landot 4511. Soluble solids of the musts were lowest for DeChaunac (18.5%) and highest for Landot 4511 (19.4%). Total acidity values, expressed as tartaric acid, were lowest for Landot 4511 (0.90 g/100 g of must) and highest for Chancellor (1.13 g/100 g). Average vine vigor for these cvs ranged from 0.6 kg of cane wood per vine (kg/v), for Chancellor, to 1.7 kg/v, for Landot 4511.