Not sure I agree with much here besides the gopher problem. Gophers
don't seem to bother grapevines and the chicken wire is a lesson in
futility. I'll challange anyone to show me land that had 36-70" of top
soil. He might not know what top soil is. BTW, Nurseries are a GREAT
place to learn how to grow plants, which contrary to some , grapevines
are. Stressing vines is a practice only followed in an area where they
have no problems with winter temps. Ask any grapevine nursery how much
they stress their vines and I'm sure NONE will answer that they do.
Young vines are stressed enough. They need to be given an environment
to FLOURISH. Theoretically, you shouldn't be getting a crop for at
least 2 years maybe 4 so make sure the first years are STRESS FREE.
BTW, Jeff Cox's book , IMO, deals with viticulture for the WEST coast.
His techniques are not practiced where the climate isn't as ideal as
California. Yes, France stresses their vines but look at their winter
temps! If you took the stressing "theory" and transfered it to
Minnesota you'd end up with vineyard of dead vines.

Bob


> >
> > did you amend the granite before planting? the local nurseries told
me
> > that DG is essentially sterile even alkaline and wouldn't support
the
> > vines. they also said to chicken wire each vine. did you hardware
cloth
> > each vine?
> >
> > i will build the owl house. they are interesting birds. thanks for
the
> > information.
> >
> The area I planted in is at the top of the slope with about 30" of a
> gravelly topsoil before it hits the rocks and clay. According to the
Jeff
> Cox book, you should have 36"-70" of topsoil before you hit any
hardpan or
> solid rock since the grape roots don't go down much past that.
>
> Wine grapes in general like "difficult" soil and seem to do best with
> infertile, slightly alkaline soil with lots of rocks for drainage.
The goal
> here is not to grow lush, happy vines but to grow stressed vines
which will
> cause smaller berry size and concentrated flavors. Your local
nursery might
> have been refering to table grapes which need different conditions
since you
> want large berries in that case.
>
> I recently had the luxury of traveling to Southern France and some of
the
> vineyards appeared to be planted in gravel with a little soil. I
think your
> site sounds perfect for wine grapes as long as there is some moisture
> retentive material among the rocks. I would not add amendments
unless you
> talk to a local vineyard owner and he/she says it is necessary.
Local
> nurseries will not have enough expertise in this specific area.
>
> According to the Jeff Cox book, you should prepare you planting area
by
> digging a trench 3 feet deep by three feet wide just to loosen the
soil. No
> amendments needed. Let the area sit over winter and plant in the
spring.
> This is the ideal case but not feasible in some situations. I just
dug
> holes about 2.5ft. deep and about 2 feet wide. The vines came about
a week
> later and I was ready to go. I am just experimenting at this stage
so don't
> follow my example. I would recommend you purchase some of the good
books
> out there for more expert advice.
>
> Yes, I put hardware cloth around each vine with about an 18 inch
> circumferance. I can guarantee you the chicken wire WILL NOT WORK!
My
> nursery recommended the same thing to me and my garden lasted two
seasons
> and then the gophers came and started working an area outside the
fence. It
> took them about two weeks before they were able to push through the
wire and
> then it was all over. No more garden. It is a lot of work to put
wire down
> two feet deep and then have it last only two years. Hardware cloth
is the
> answer. Talk to LUM on this one. He has a vineyard and can tell you
what
> he has found to be a cost effective gopher deterrant. I only have 6
vines
> at present so this was an easy solution.
>
> I can't stress enough how important it is for you to contact a local
> winegrape grower. I went to Temeculah, did some winetasting, and
asked lots
> of questions to the owners. Since you are about to plant a
significant
> number of vines, a proper start now will save you many headaches in
the
> future. The link that LUM provided will put you in touch with the
local
> experts and, perhaps, you could pay one of them to come to your site
and
> give you advice?
>
> One last word on gophers, they dig everywhere but they don't kill
> everything. Some of my perennials survived like iris and statice.
It may
> be the case that gophers will dig around grapevines but not eat the
roots of
> the grapes. Gophers typically stay in the top 8" of soil eating
tender
> roots. Your grapes will root very deeply and have tough roots that
may not
> be to the liking of gophers. Gophers will also aerate the soil and
increase
> water penetration which will benefit the grapes. So I don't know how
much
> we really need to worry about them. Only time will tell! Happy
growing.