Growing Grapes in Montana
The history of growing grapes in Montana is still very young, which makes this space extra exciting for the growers willing to strike out into this relatively unknown territory. The more widely known European wine grape varieties require longer growing seasons than Montana can offer, so the Western Agricultural Research Center -- along with other universities and growers in the colder northern regions of the United States -- are conducting research and making recommendations for growing an expanding category of hybrid, cold-hardy grape varieties. In these guides, you'll find advice for both starting a new vineyard from scratch and managing your existing vineyard. This information has been gleaned from our own vineyard research at WARC, as well as from many other universities and growers throughout the state and country. We also work with local wineries and stakeholders, like the Montana Grape and Wine Association, to do our part in benefitting the burgeoning wine industry in Montana.
We welcome community feedback, questions, and drop-ins. If you have an interest in what we're doing with grapes here at WARC, please reach out to Zach Miller, zachariah.miller@montana.edu.
Establishing a new vineyard
- Site Selection
- Preparing the Soil
- Variety Selection
- Choosing a Trellising System
- Planning Your Rows
- Planting and Caring for New Vines
Managing your vineyard
- Fertility
- Irrigation
- Pruning and Canopy Management
- Weed, Pest, and Disease Management
- Harvesting Quality Fruit
Grape and wine research at WARC
External resources
- Northern Grapes project - a collaboration of multiple universities to support grape growing and wine making in colder regions of the U.S.
- Montana Grape and Winery Association
- University of Minnesota Grape Program
- An Iowa State University review of cold climate grape cultivars
- Minnesota Grape Growers Association-information on hardy wine and table grapes
- University of Wisconsin-Grape growing guide
- North Dakota State University Grape growing guide
