Where's the Grape? High Elevation Grape Trials in Northwest New Mexico, Poster Board #278

Fifty wineries and tasting rooms operate throughout New Mexico producing > 900,000 gallons (>3,406,000 L) of wine per year valued at $60 million annually.  Commercial grape production in the Four Corners Region is supported by two wineries. The challenges of growing grapes at our high elevation site (> 1,700 m) are numerous and define the objectives of the studies: 1) Identify vinifera and viniferahybrids capable of supplying market demands to produce quality wines that are; 2) capable of surviving extreme winter temperatures, killing spring frosts, with huge diurnal temperature fluctuations and; 3) growing on elevated soil pH.  Viticulture activities at Farmington, NM, involve examination of: 1) 15 table grape varieties; 2) 20 wine grape varieties; 3) a Rootstock Trial comprised of two vinifera scions (Gewurztraminer and Refosco) grafted onto nine rootstock combinations (of 110 Richter; 775, 779, 1103, and 1045 Paulsen types; SO4, Kober, Couderc, and Teleki); 4) selections from the Cornell grape breeding program; and 5) six surviving selections of Riesling vines taken from cuttings at 1,700 m elevation. Except for the rootstock trial, all table and wine grape studies are grown on their own roots. Table grapes showing promise for high elevation sites are Swenson Red, Glenora, Vanessa, and, Reliance.  Himrod and Interlaken also have potential from prior year’s evaluations but did not yield well in 2011.  Marquis remains questionable. Among the red wine grapes, Baco Noir, Kozma, and Leon Millot continue to yield.  Malbec and Sangiovese failed again in 2011 and were removed from the trial along with Agria.  Among the white wine varietals, Chardonel, Seyval Blanc, Siegfried, Traminette, Valvin Muscat, and Vidal Blanc had greater than 71% of their vines in the trial yield grapes in 2011.  Viognier, Muller-Thurgau, and Sauvignon Blanc did not perform in 2011 and were removed from the study. The rootstock trial has performed poorly even after mounding with soil around graft unions were undertaken. Studies 1–3 were replicated in part from other statewide trials located at lower elevations.  Many vinifera entries that yielded in those locations did not do well in Farmington because of winter kill and spring frosts.  French-American and Cornell grapes and vinifera cultivars from Northern Europe appear to have greater adaptability to high elevation intermountain sites.  Riesling selections also have established.  Sugar to acid appears well balanced and shows that the region has potential to produce favorable wines.  We will be planting additional entries for evaluations in 2012.