WineLovers Discussion Group

This is what I'm making this year in gallons.
Pinot Gris 10, Lakemont 8, Riesling 14, Lemberger 20, Gewurtztraminer 6, Vidal 8, Cayuga 13, Pinot Gris Late Harvest 10.
All are made from locally grown grapes, except for the Gewurtz, which was juice, sourced from Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ont. 4 gallons of the Riesling has been frozen for Sussreserve addition prior to bottling. The Lakemont is a bit of an experiment – it's a seedless table grape into which I added a bit of Vignoles and Cayuga from my back yard. I've never made Gewurtz before, so this is a new one for me. All will be still wines – the bubbly planned for this year is part of a project I'm bartering with a local winery – Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Wow - Lakemont!

Would love to know how that turns out, Howie.

Paul - you have to make arrangements to meet up with me in the Niagara Peninsula.

I'm not familiar with Lakemont. What's it all about?

It's a seedless table grape bred at Cornell and named in 1952, from the same cross that produced Himrod: http://www.hort.cornell.edu/reisch/grapegenetics/bulletin/table/tabletext3.html. The grower I buy my Vidal and Cayuga from has a large vineyard with a variety of table grapes that he sells to Wegmans and farmers markets. However, a large quantity of this year's Lakemont were turning gold and had brown spots from sun exposure, making them unsuitable for the table grape market. Several years ago, I would buy Seyval from him, but lost the vines to crown gall so he offered me Lakemont as a substitute and I was happy with the results. It's a great table grape and the wine is somewhat neutral in character, kind of like toned down Seyval.

Howie Hart wrote:It's a seedless table grape bred at Cornell and named in 1952, from the same cross that produced Himrod: http://www.hort.cornell.edu/reisch/grapegenetics/bulletin/table/tabletext3.html. The grower I buy my Vidal and Cayuga from has a large vineyard with a variety of table grapes that he sells to Wegmans and farmers markets. However, a large quantity of this year's Lakemont were turning gold and had brown spots from sun exposure, making them unsuitable for the table grape market. Several years ago, I would buy Seyval from him, but lost the vines to crown gall so he offered me Lakemont as a substitute and I was happy with the results. It's a great table grape and the wine is somewhat neutral in character, kind of like toned down Seyval.

Thanks. Now I know why I have no knowledge of it. Table grapes ain't my thing, not that I don't eat them; just don;t study them. In fact, I don't eat the ones that come from California--they seem like water infused with a vague fruit flavor.

Hi Howie,
Best of luck with this year’s harvest. (The “experiment” sounds like fun). Just finished performing paper chromatography test to access progress in MLF of 2013 Zin and Barbera. Things look really good; wine should be ready to transfer to barrel by Thanksgiving week. Topped up all my 2012 Zin and Barbera vintage barrels, and checked pH and SO2 concentrations, things look really promising. All the fruit came from Lodi, California.

Salute