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Grape Geek

Welcome to Grape Geek! 🍇

About This Project

Grape Geek is my project dedicated to shining a light on hybrid grape varieties grown in the chilly climates of the northeast US and eastern Canada. These grapes often fly under the radar compared to their well-known vinifera cousins. This region is moving fast and exploring different varieties and techniques. My hope is for this site to help everyone understand the state of winegrowing in the region. Are you a hobby enthusiast, a future winegrower looking for what to plant, or just a curious mind? This site will ideally help you find what is growing around.

How I Use AI

This site heavily uses AI for driving automated web research, data extraction and standardization. Making such wide research manually would not be financially viable, but with current technology, it makes it possible and hopefully will be profitable to the progress of northern viticulture.

For complete transparency about my AI usage, tools, and limitations, see the AI Usage page.

My Personal Perspective and Biases

Beyond the obvious non-vinifera bias, I want to be transparent about my own leanings:

Cold Climate Viticulture Focus: I have a strong preference for grape varieties that thrive with minimal intervention in our harsh climate. This isn't a judgment on other approaches—I have huge respect for everyone growing grapes for a living with all the risks involved, whatever their methods. My focus on hardy varieties is grounded in a very long-term, multi-generational goal of finding wine grapes that can naturally resist local diseases, survive winters without protection, and flourish in our challenging conditions. I have the luxury of not doing this for money, which allows me to take this longer view.

Quebec Bias (and Maritime Canada): I have a clear Quebec bias, and even more specifically toward maritime Quebec (yes, very niche), because, well, it's where I live. That said, I'm actively trying to include other regions in northern America because many did and still are making massive contributions. The grapes created by the great northern US hybridizers were and still are key to Quebec's success.

About the author

My name is Philippe Gagnon, and my day job is Technical Director at Ubisoft in the gaming industry. In 2023, I initiated an experimental project near Rimouski, Quebec to understand which varieties could be successful here. In past years, climate change has opened many possibilities for viticulture by providing enough heat during the summer. The proximity to the large Saint-Laurent River (40+ km wide) helps stabilize the season, prevent early or late frost, and make winter a little less harsh (all relative!).

In short, I am living on the edge of northern viticulture, but a promising edge. This experimental micro-vineyard started with testing 20 varieties. At the time, while shopping for them, I found out how different the regions in Quebec are and how little knowledge and experience exists in my immediate region. Grapes are lovely fruits to grow, and when the genetics of European grapes get cross-pollinated with local species, wonderful things happen! You can get delicious and easy-to-grow fruits.

This grape evaluation project slowly moved toward not only evaluating grapes but also wondering what if these qualities from this grapevine could be mixed with this locally thriving variety that could get a little improvement in this other aspect. Grape breeding is a very slow process and this site is nearly therapy for me while waiting for the next step.

Locally, I want to share these findings with fellow cold-climate growers, and globally, I hope this site helps advance northern viticulture for anyone passionate about growing grapes in challenging climates.

Grape Geek in summary

  • Focus on Hybrids: I'm all about hybrid grapes that thrive in colder regions. Unlike vinifera grapes (which have loads of existing info), hybrids are less documented and often full of surprises.
  • Casual Yet Transparent: I blend careful sourcing and citations with a friendly, approachable tone. The idea is to make learning about these grapes enjoyable for everyone, from wine geeks to curious gardeners, while promoting the resources where I found the information.
  • Facts and Stories, No Forced Conclusions: Some parts will be more fact-based (technical growing information, climate data), while others will focus on stories from growers and winemakers sharing their real experiences. Because the world of hybrid grapes is still evolving, I emphasize showcasing different experiences and testimonials rather than claiming definitive truths.