What are some good grape varieties for Iowa?

Question:

Answer:

Several varieties of grapes can be grown successfully in Iowa. The best cultivars to plant depend on where in Iowa you live, what you intend to use the grapes for (wine, fresh, etc.), and what color of fruit you want (red, white).

Below is a list of cultivars well-suited for Iowa sorted by use and color.

Not all varieties are reliably cold-hardy in all parts of the state. Varieites are denoted as well suited for "South" (the southern third of the state) "Central" (the middle third of the state), or "All" (hardy in all parts, including northern Iowa). Nearly all cultivars are susceptible to 2,4-D drift so grapes should always be planted in areas protected from herbicide drift.

* Key: S = small, M = Medium, L = Large, R = Red, W = White
AN = Anthracnose; DM = downy mildew; PM = powdery mildew; BR = black rot; BUN = bunch rot; PH= phomopsis; Cu = copper; S = sulfur

For more information on grape cultivars, refer to this publication: A Review of Cold Climate Grape Cultivars.
For more information on growing grapes, refer to this article: Growing Grapes in Iowa.

Grapes for Fresh Use | Grapes Used for Processing | Grapes for Wine

Grapes for Fresh Use

Cultivar	Harvest Season	Region in Iowa	Color	Use	Budbreak	Remarks*
Beta	Early	All	Red	Fresh & Processed	Early	American-type, M clusters and berries, vine vigorous, trailing habit, good disease resistance
Bluebell	Middle	All	Red	Fresh & Processed	Middle	American-type, Concord-like flavor, M clusters and M-L berries, vine vigorous, trailing habit, good disease resistance
Canadice	Early	Central (?), South	Red	Fresh	Middle	Seedless, M pink berries on L tight clusters, non-adherent skin, medium vigor, trailing habit, susceptibility to A, BUN, BR, DM, PM, may be sensitive to S
Concord	Middle-Late	Central, South	Red	Fresh & Processed	Middle	American-type, M to large clusters and berries, vine vigorous, trailing habit, susceptible to BR, moderate susceptibility to PM, sensitive to S and Cu
Fredonia	Early	All	Red	Fresh & Processed	Middle	American-type, M-L clusters and berries, vine vigorous, trailing habit, susceptible to A, DM, & PH moderate susceptibility to PM
Jupiter	Early-Middle	South	Red	Fresh	Middle	Seedless, M-L purple berries on medium clusters, crisp texture, adherent skin, medium vigor, trailing habit, moderate susceptibility to BR, DM, PM, some berry shelling
Mars	Early-Middle	Central, South	Red	Fresh	Middle	Seedless, M-L purple berries on M clusters, non-adherent skin, vigorous, trailing habit, moderate susceptibility to A
Reliance	Early	Central, South	Red	Fresh	Middle	Seedless, L pink berries on L clusters, non-adherent skin, vigorous, trailing habit, susceptibility to A, BUN, BR, DM, PM, berries prone to splitting and shelling
Seedless Concord	Middle-Late	Central, South	Red	Fresh & Processed	Middle	Seedless mutation of Concord with smaller clusters and berries, sensitive to S
Sommerset Seedless	Early	All	Red	Fresh	Early-Middle	Seedless, M pink berries, S-M clusters, semi-adherent skin, medium vigor, moderate disease susceptibility
Steuben	Late	All	Red	Fresh & Wine	Middle	American-type, M-L clusters, vine vigorous, trailing habit, moderately susceptible to BR, may be sensitive to Cu
Swenson Red	Early	All	Red	Fresh	Middle	American-type, M-L clusters, vine vigorous, trailing habit, susceptible to DM, moderately susceptible to BUN, PM
Valiant	Early	All	Red	Fresh & Processed	Early	American-type, S compact clusters, vine vigorous, trailing habit, susceptible to DM, moderately susceptible to BUN, may have slight sensitivity to S
Van Buren	Early	All	Red	Fresh & Wine	Middle	American-type, Concord-like, S-M clusters, vine vigorous, trailing growth, susceptible to DM, berries prone to shatter, may be sensitive to S
Vanessa	Middle	South	Red	Fresh	Middle	Seedless, M pink berries on M clusters, adherent skin, M vigor, trailing habit, susceptible to BR, moderate susceptibility to DM & PM, ,may have slight sensitivity to CU
Brianna	Early	All	White	Fresh & Wine	Early	American-type, L berries, low sugar, vine vigorous, trailing growth, high yield potential, moderate disease susceptibility, may be Cu sensitive
Edelweiss	Early	All	White	Fresh & Wine	Early	American-type, L berries, low sugar, vine vigorous, trailing growth, good yield potential, moderate disease susceptibility, shoots susceptible to breakage, may be sensitive to S
Marquis	Middle	South	White	Fresh	Late	Seedless, L berries and clusters, non-adherent skin, vigorous, trailing habit, moderate to high susceptibility to PM, DM, A
Niagara	Middle	South	White	Fresh & Processed	Middle	American-type, L berries on M-L clusters, vine vigorous, susceptible to DM, PM, BR, may be sensitive to Cu

Grapes Used For Processing

Cultivar	Harvest Season	Region in Iowa	Color	Use	Budbreak	Remarks*
Beta	Early	All	Red	Fresh & Processed	Early	American-type, M clusters and berries, vine vigorous, trailing habit, good disease resistance
Bluebell	Middle	All	Red	Fresh & Processed	Middle	American-type, Concord-like flavor, M clusters and M-L berries, vine vigorous, trailing habit, good disease resistance
Catawba	Late	South	Red	Processed & Wine	Middle	American-type, L clusters and M berries, vine vigorous, trailing habit, susceptible to BR, DM, & PH, moderate susceptibility to PM, may be sensitive to Cu
Concord	Middle-Late	Central, South	Red	Fresh & Processed	Middle	American-type, M to large clusters and berries, vine vigorous, trailing habit, susceptible to BR, moderate susceptibility to PM, sensitive to S and Cu
Fredonia	Early	All	Red	Fresh & Processed	Middle	American-type, M-L clusters and berries, vine vigorous, trailing habit, susceptible to A, DM, & PH moderate susceptibility to PM
Seedless Concord	Middle-Late	Central, South	Red	Fresh & Processed	Middle	Seedless mutation of Concord with smaller clusters and berries, sensitive to S
Valiant	Early	All	Red	Fresh & Processed	Early	American-type, S compact clusters, vine vigorous, trailing habit, susceptible to DM, moderately susceptible to BUN, may have slight sensitivity to S
Niagara	Middle	South	White	Fresh & Processed	Middle	American-type, L berries on M-L clusters, vine vigorous, susceptible to DM, PM, BR, may be sensitive to Cu

Wine Grapes

Catawba	Late	South	Red	Processed & Wine	Middle	American-type, L clusters and M berries, vine vigorous, trailing habit, susceptible to BR, DM, & PH, moderate susceptibility to PM, may be sensitive to Cu
Chancellor	Late	South	Red	Wine	Early-Middle	M clusters, M sugar and acidity, medium vigor, semi-upright growth, very susceptible to DM & PM, may be Cu & S sensitive
Crimson Pearl	Middle	All	Red	Wine	Middle	M clusters, high sugar, lower acidity and more tannins than other hybrids, medium vigor, trailing growth, moderate disease susceptibility to BR
de Chaunac	Middle-Late	South	Red	Wine	Early	M clusters, M sugar and acidity, vine vigorous, semi upright, moderate disease susceptibility to DM and PM, may be sensitive to Cu & S
Delaware	Middle	All	Red	Wine	Middle	American-type, S clusters, M vigor, trailing habit, susceptible to DM & PH, moderate susceptibility to BR & PM, may be sensitive to Cu
Frontenac	Middle-Late	All	Red	Wine	Early-Middle	M clusters, high sugar and acidity, semi-trailing growth, fruit very pigmented, vine vigorous, moderately susceptible to BR, AN, PM, may have slight S sensitivity
Geneva Red (GR7)	Middle	Central, South	Red	Wine	Early	M clusters, trailing growth, M sugar and acidity, vine vigorous, moderately susceptible to BUN, DM, PM
Maréchal Foch (Foch)	Early	Central, South	Red	Wine	Early	S clusters, M sugar and acidity, variable vigor, semi-trailing growth, moderate disease susceptibility, sensitive to S
Marquette	Middle	All	Red	Wine	Early	M clusters, high sugar and moderate acidity, semi-trailing growth, low to moderate disease susceptibility, may have slight S sensitivity
Norton (Cynthiana)	Late	South	Red	Wine	Late	S clusters, vigorous vine, trailing growth, low to moderate disease susceptibility, very late harvest, sensitive to S
Petite Pearl		All	Red	Wine	Middle	S clusters, high sugar, lower acidity and more tannins than other hybrids, medium vigor, trailing growth, moderate disease susceptibility to BR
Sabrevois	Early-Middle	All	Red	Wine	Middle	M clusters, M sugar and acidity, vine vigorous, trailing growth, good disease resistance, sensitive to S
St. Croix	Early-Middle	All	Red	Wine	Middle	M clusters, M sugar and acidity, vine vigorous, trailing growth, moderate disease susceptibility
Verona	Middle-Late	All	Red	Wine	Middle	M clusters, high sugar, lower acidity and more tannins than other hybrids, high vigor, trailing growth, moderate disease susceptibility to BR, some berry splitting & shelling reported
Clarion	Early	Central, South	White	Wine	Early	M clusters, high sugar and moderate acidity, semi-upright growth, medium vigor, moderate susceptibility to PM and BR, new cultivar for trial
Frontenac blanc	Middle	All	White	Wine	Early-Middle	M clusters, high sugar and acidity, semi-trailing growth, vine vigorous, moderately susceptible to BR, AN, PM, may have slight S sensitivity
Frontenac gris	Middle	All	White	Wine	Early-Middle	M clusters, semi-trailing growth, high sugar and acidity, berries have a orange-bronze color, vine vigorous, moderately susceptible to BR, AN, PM, may have slight S sensitivity
Itasca	Early-Middle	All	White	Wine	Early	M clusters, high sugar and M acidity, semi-upright growth, vine vigorous, moderately susceptible to BR and A, some pink berries
La Crescent	Early-Middle	All	White	Wine	Early	Medium clusters, M to high sugar and high acidity, trailing growth, vine vigorous, moderately susceptible to BR, PH, DM, variable fruitset, berry shelling some years
La Crosse	Middle	All	White	Wine	Early-Middle	S-M clusters, M sugar and acidity, vine vigorous, semi-trailing growth, susceptible to BR, PM, DM, BUN,
St. Pepin	Middle	All	White	Wine	Middle	M clusters, M sugar and acidity, M vigor, trailing growth, susceptible to PM, moderate susceptibility to others, pistillate, needs a pollenizer
Vignoles	Late	South	White	Wine	Late	Compact clusters, M vigor, upright growth, very susceptible to BUN and PM, moderate other disease susceptibility

Last updated on

December 6, 2024