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Some thoughts on Choosing Vine Varieties With a commercial vineyard (a quarter acre or more, which has to be registered with the Wine Standards Board) I usually suggest 2 or 3 varieties. It is easier to sell 2 or 3 different wines rather than just one, also if a variety is sensitive in flowering and hence varies in yield from year to year there is a measure of 'insurance' from having more than one variety. Nowadays Red wines sell much more easily than white, and fetch a higher price. However, bear in mind that they are not as easy to make; white winemaking is a science, red winemaking is an art. You may wish to have a French style dry white, in which case Madeleine Angevine is the clear choice, or a Germanic medium-dry white such as Bacchus, Kernling, Schönburger, Phoenix produce; these varieties have grape flavours that demand some sweetening just prior to bottling. If wasps are a problem then always avoid Siegerrebe, also Rondo and Madeleine Angevine, which can be attacked in bad wasp years. Red grapes are always more attractive to birds, and usually require netting (small area) or use of 'bird scaring devices' on larger areas. Chardonnay is very late ripening for England and Wales, but it crops consistently and just about ripens, and can make superb Sparkling Wine at grape ripeness below 50 Oeschle (providing you can handle the de-acidification). Some varieties ripen too late in the open vineyard (Ehrenfelser, Elbling, Kerner, Riesling, Scheurebe), some are very sensitive to poor weather at flowering time (Siegerrebe) others are too prone to disease (Optima), some make poor wine (Cascade). Varieties which I planted and later removed because they ripened too
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