Photo credit Theresa Durning

Michael Peddlesden

Manager of Operations

For technical data on varietals, root stocks, etc. please click on the links below:

Diana Vineyard

Isabella Vineyard

Northfield Vineyard

Gracefield Vineyard

New Vineyard

Victoria Block

The Soils

The Grange of Prince Edward vineyards are planted on fertile but largely shallow soils known as Hillier clay gravel. Depths on our farm range from 12 inches to 24 inches with the exception of the Northfield vineyard planted in 2004 which has depths closer to 36 inches. The underlying bedrock common to all of Prince Edward County is calciferous limestone. On our farm, at least, it is non construction grade; meaning it fractures easily, allowing for improved drainage and some drought protection as the mature plants’ roots can penetrate the soft bedrock.

The Plantings

Varietal plantings include Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Gamay, Pinot Gris, Cabernet Franc, Riesling and an experimental block of Sauvignon Blanc.

Our vineyards were planted over several years, beginning in 2001 with 12 acres. In 2002 an additional 17 acres were planted followed by 15 acres in 2003 and 5 acres in 2004. We did not plant in 2005 or 2006 to give our current vineyards time to mature and develop while we learned how best to farm them. By 2007, with a successful harvest under our belt, we began planting again with another 10 acres. Our total vineyards which encompass 6 distinct blocks now total around 60 acres and over 72,000 vinifera.

Harvestin’ the Grange 2003 - 2007

Harvesting began in early October, 2003 when we learned an important lesson - raccoons can eat almost 3 tonnes of fruit in a weekend. This fact considerably reduced our 2003 harvest to about 3 tonnes. We harvested around 10 tonnes in 2004 but were experiencing some difficulty with winter survival, ripeness and the raccoons. We harvested 24 tonnes in 2005 with losses due largely to a late spring frost that damaged many of our primary buds. Another lesson learned, we installed inversion fans in April of 2006 and harvested almost 90 tonnes of fruit that fall, despite knee deep mud caused by the non-stop rain. The 2007 harvest, which began in in late September, yielded a record of almost 150 tonnes,which will produce more than 12,000 cases of wine. We anticipate the 2008 harvest, which began in late September, to yield 180 tonnes.