We have

Three Vermont Vineyard Sites: (planting dates shown)

BREEDING BARN SITE - 1998, 2005, 2007, 2008

MEACH COVE SITE - 1999, 2007

RT 7 SITE - 2006, 2007, 2008------------------------->>

The first site located just south of the historic "Breeding Barn" on Shelburne Farms is on land sloping to the south and west, with a fantastic view of Lake Champlain and the high peaks of the Adirondacks of NY State to the west. The site was established in the spring of 1998. It contains three white wine varieties: Cayuga White, Riesling, Vignoles and a small amount of seedless eating grapes. Rows are spaced 10 feet apart, with the vines spaced 4 feet apart in the row. The soil is light, well drained with stone and shale. In the spring of 2005 we reluctantly removed (via chains and tractor) half of our Cayuga White as yields plunged after the winters of 2003-4 and 2004-5. We've replaced them with the new Minnesota developed white variety La Crescent ....planted on 8 ft spacings. In the spring of 2007 more LaCrescent and a small amount of St Croix (red) was planted on this site. A half Acre of St Croix was planted in 2008

Veraison - Ripening on Marquette Grapes 8-4-08

Our second site, was established in the spring of 1999 approximately one mile south of the original site. It's on land leased from the 1,100 acre Meach Cove Estate. The site is on level, well drained stony land very near the Town of Shelburne's Municipal Beach On Lake Champlain. The largest planting on this site is Riesling. We have several hardy clones of this variety, including "Arctic" originated by the Konstantin Frank Vineyard in NY State, and clones #239 and #110. The site also contains two other white wine varieties: Vidal, and Traminette (2005 Double Gold medal winner, 2006 Gold medal winner).

Also planted here is the red grape "Zweigelt" (2005 Gold medal winner) a pure vinifera variety developed in Austria. It has been proven in Ontario where it has produced some fine quality medium bodied reds capable of aging. We spaced vines 5 feet apart on this site (one foot farther apart than on our 1st site) to allow for easier mechanical weeding with our Weedbadger tool.

Our first harvest from this site was in the fall of 2002. The fall harvest of 2003 yielded our first significant quantities of Traminette and Zweigelt.

The Minnesota hybrid Marquette was added to this site in June 2007.

Our 3rd site located directly on US RT 7 (Shelburne Road) between the VT Teddy Bear and the Shelburne village and Museum was planted in 2006 with new cold hardy grape varieties; Marquette a red grape just released by the U of Minnesota; Louise Swenson a white grape developed several years ago, also in Minnesota.

More Marquette, and another red variety, St Croix and the white variety La Crescent were planted here in July 2007.

This 13 acre site, owned by Shelburne Vineyard, also houses our new, state-of-the-art, winery building. We welcome you to visit, taste and tour our new facility.

Quilt of Breeding Barn site created by Joan Jamieson

of Vermont

FINE WINE IS MADE IN THE VINEYARD - CANOPY MANAGEMENT

The secret to producing fine wine in northern climates is good "canopy management". This means carefully pruning and positioning the vines and removing selected leaves during the growing season to insure that each grape cluster is fully exposed to the sun and to the summer breezes. This assures proper ripening, and minimizes the chances that mildews will form. Vines left to grow like a jungle won't produce fine wines. Canopy management is labor intensive, but its worth every bit of effort. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN PART TIME WORK IN LATE JUNE AND EARLY JULY, ON A LOCATION WITH A MILLION DOLLAR VIEW CONTACT US...WE HAVE PLENTY OF EXTRA PAIRS OF PRUNING SHEARS!!!

GROWING GRAPES ORGANICALLY

Our vineyard is certified organic by the

Northeast Organic Farming Association - Vermont. (NOFA-VT).

Our attention to canopy management, and spraying with natural occurring pesticides controls mildew. We use mechanical means to control weeds, rather than applying harmful weed-killing chemicals, and we fertilize with compost.

More on Organic Viticulture