To Grow Cabernet Sauvignon in Pennsylvania

 I was asked by Paul Vigna a little while ago what my thoughts on growing Cabernet Sauvignon in Pennsylvania.  Here's what I thought in October of 2023 after coming out of our earliest--and one of our best--harvests of Cabernet Sauvignon.

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Having grown CS for over 20 years, I have a lot of thoughts.  Couple that with having an old vineyard and replanted vines, and then a brand new planting, I can say it's hard to pinpoint what works in PA.  I know what doesn't work.

*high yields
*California clones
*virused vines
*medium to high vigor rootstocks
*low density plantings
*rockless soils
*flat soils

The vineyard here in Brogue was planted in 1973 at a 454 vines per acre (12 foot rows and 8 feet between vines) to a variety of rootstocks (Harmony, Salt Creek, 1613, 1616 among others.)  The original clone is unknown.  Over time, the vines have periodically succumbed to different viruses and issues (leafroll, crown gall, hard freezes), and dead vines were pulled out.  Vines were re-planted in the 80s and 90s, also to unknown clones.  I started replanting with 337 clone on 101-14 rootstock over the years (know to carry leafroll virus I now know).  It's been a real learning experience.  If I were to do it over again, I would have chosen Riparia rootstock and a different clone.

There's no question in my mind that we are--in southern York county--near the most northern point in PA where CS can fully ripen into an interesting and complex wine that speaks of the vineyard.  We're blessed with a longish (for PA) growing season, coupled with the fact we've never had a killing frost in the spring.  We receive good westerly winds that help to dry out the vineyard, and though we are in a bit of a rainshadow from the Soouth Mountain range (along western Adams county), we still have issues with hurricane weather events as well as northeasterly weather systems.  Good years are more dry than wet, with plenty of heat.

I see CS and PV in similar light.  They tend to be the "harder" of the five Bordeaux varieties.  I've always felt that CS is missing a full mid-palate, but not as much as PV is missing it.  I think that's more personal preference of mine.  I always like CS with at least 15-20% Merlot blended in as it tends to fill out the mid-palate and integrate the more stringent CS tannins into a semblance of suppleness.

Our newest planting of CS (half acre) is clone 420 on Riparia rootstock.  It's also at 1895 vines per acre, meaning we should be able to get a distinctly different view on CS than the older plantings.  The wine will most likely be riper tasting as young vines tend to precociously ripen earlier in the season than older (15+ year) vines. 

Ultimately, I believe that CS is not the best Bordeaux variety for us.  It's probably the easiest to grow in the vineyard, but the results don't seem to be quite as in line with my winemaking goals as PV and Merlot are.  But that could be because I haven't quite figured out the best way to grow CS yet.  Merlot has always been my favorite grape for us, but it's lack of cold-hardiness is just heartbreaking when you lose 3000 vines.  Petit Verdot doesn't have that problem, but is not truly a standalone grape variety (it really needs Merlot and Cab Franc, and maybe Malbec but we don't grow that variety yet.)

I would not recommend that PA growers plant CS unless they have a site that is really extraordinary.  Sure, it has name recognition, but in sub-par sites or in sub-par years, the wines are light and uninteresting. There are better varieties to focus on.  Vineyards are a long commitment.  Plant PV and Merlot instead.