Suitable Winery and Vineyard

Locations in Wisconsin
__________________________________
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Proposed by
Josie Markham

Josephine Markham

Suitable Winery and

Vineyard Locations in
Wisconsin

Project Proposal
The question that is being proposed: where is the best place to build a new winery with an
adjoining vineyard in the state of Wisconsin? This question is being posed because, although
Wisconsin has been mostly known for its dairy production, there is a new industry that has been
growing in the last decade, which is the winery and vineyard industry. A winery is a place where a
wine is produced and may be sold. Whereas a vineyard is the space where grapes are grown that
can be used to produce wine or to eat. In this aspect not every winery has a vineyard on site, nor
does every vineyard have a winery on site. However, some do have the two together in order to cut
production costs. This project will look at environmental reasons (terroir). A terroir can be defined
as the holistic concept that relates to both environmental and cultural factors that together
influence the grape growing to wine production continuum (Jones et al. 2004).
The study area will include the entire state of Wisconsin and the suitability model will
narrow down that area. The suitability will ultimately help potential viticulturists, wine enthusiasts,
and people considering wine production, as well as Wisconsin wine and vineyard organizations.
These people will then be able to use the data that is produced to set up a new winery or vineyard
based on where the best locations are in the state.
Objectives:
1. Gather a table of variables needed
2. Create a descriptive model of the variables for the vineyard
3. Use zonal statistics to build a descriptive table of where wineries are located
4. Run suitability model based on the values from the zonal statistics
Data
Soil Characteristics
Soil characteristics are some of the most important items in evaluating a wine region
because soil characteristics determine drainage. According to Gregory V. Jones, et al. drainage is
thought to be the most important soil factor in establishing and maintaining a vineyard and is
influenced by many structural issues such as texture and depth (2006. p. 3). Also Gregory Jones,
et al. (2006) states that a soils water holding capacity (AWC) is just as important as drainage

Josephine Markham

Suitable Winery and

Vineyard Locations in
Wisconsin

because it is important as those soils with adequate water holding capacity are at an advantage,
giving vines the greatest ability to tolerate periods of moderate drought. Both drainage and AWC
can be found by investigating different soil characteristics. Soil characteristic data will be
downloaded from the NRCS SSURGO website (United States Department of Agriculture 2013).
Condition
The soil conditions that grapes can tolerate has a wide range (Yau et al. 2014). When soils
hold water very well they can lead to stunting vine growth, hindering operation in a vineyard, and
promoting root diseases (Yau et al. 2014. p. 89). Soils that hold water well are soils with smaller
particles (silt and clay) have a larger surface area than those with larger sand particles (Samuel
Roberts Noble Foundation 2016). Draining relatively well, soils maintain oxygen concentrations
near roots and facilitate moderate water stress with proper irrigation management (Yau et al. 2014.
p. 89). Condition is important to this project because the condition will help determine what kind of
soil will be important in determining a healthy vineyard.
Clay content
Clay content is important to determining where a good winery site might be because clay
influences water holding capacity and drainage of the soil (Irimia et al. 2014. p. 149). Clay is
important to this project because it will help rule out soils that hold water too well.
Humus content
A humus content that is too low hinders the yields but produces quality wine grapes (Irimia
et al. 2014). Too high of a humus content stimulates good health as well as increasing yield but
delays ripening and limits quality (Irimia et al. 2014). By using humus content, a range of content
that vines like to grow in can be implemented.
Gravel content
Gravelly soils are considered to produce the best wines, no matter the climate (Irimia et al.
2014. p. 149). Gravels make the best soil because they allow water to drain favorably and exercises
influence on soil temperatures in cold climate vineyards (Irimia et al. 2014). Gravel is very

Josephine Markham

Suitable Winery and

Vineyard Locations in
Wisconsin

important to this project because it is the ideal growing soil for a vineyard to be placed in, and will
in essence narrow down the search.
pH
pH of a soil can indicate the fertility and nutrient balance of a vineyard, with the most ideal
soil pH being between 5.5-8.0 (Jones et al. 2004, 2006). Since nutrients to the vines are important,
pH levels in soils are important to this project because pH can determine if a soil can properly
provide for a vine.
Topography
Topography is also important to vineyard location because it influences many things that
make a good vineyard site. Microclimate and physical access to a vineyard can be determined by
the topography (Yau et al. 2014). Gregory Jones, et al. states that topographic factors that exert the
greatest influence on a sites climate include elevation, slope, aspect, hill isolation, and how it
affects air drainage, and proximity to bodies of water (2004, p. 168). By investigating topography,
a site will be able to determined, that is best suited for vineyards based on slope, aspect, and
elevation. Topographic data will be downloaded from the USGS website (United States Geological
Survey 2012).
Slope
Slope can be defined as the slant of the land that can influence cold air drainage and the
angle of incidence of solar radiation (Jones et al. 2004, 2006). The best slope for a vineyard to be
located on, based on past research, is between 5-15% slope (Jones et al. 2004, 2006; Irimia et al.
2014). Slope can be used to determine if the land is too steep or too flat to plant vineyards on.
Aspect
Aspect is the direction in which the slope of the land faces (Irimia et al 2014). Slopes that
face south, southeast, and southwest are most suitable for vineyards because they get the most solar
radiation, (Jones et al. 2004; Irimia et al. 2014) according to authors that have done similar projects.

Josephine Markham

Suitable Winery and

Vineyard Locations in
Wisconsin

Solar radiation is important because it effects the ripening potential of the grapes (Jones et al. 2004).
Aspect is important because it will determine where grapes will ripen the best.
Elevations
Elevation is important for siting a new vineyard because elevation ranges that are ideal,
makes sure that heat accumulation is warm enough for ripening of grapes (Yau et al. 2014). Ideal
elevations also avoid pockets of frost that are caused by cold air flows (Yau et al. 2014).Elevation
will be used to help determine an area that does not freeze easily.
Climatic
Climate is a huge part of determining a vineyard site, and can be the limiting factor in the
final decision (Yau et al. 2014). Climate data over time can lead to determining a wine style, which
is controlled by climate variability (Jones et al. 2004). The variation in climate can lead to a change
in quality of the grapes as well (Bowen et al. 2005). Climate is a large part in defining this project
because of how cold can affect the vineyards. GDD data was downloaded from NOAA website
(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 2010) and the Midwestern Regional Climate
Center (Midwestern Regional Climate Center 2016) to get FFD.
Frost free days
Frost free days (FFD) is the time span between the last spring frost and the first autumn frost
(00C) (Yau et al. 2014). FFD determines a suitable area for grape production because of being able
indicate the length of a growing season and determines the period that wine grapes have to ripen
(Yau et al. 2014). FFD will be important because they ultimately decide if a vine will freeze and be
inefficient or grow and be prosperous.
Growing degree days
Growing degree days (GDD) are calculated by taking the average of the monthly maximum
and minimum temperature normals, subtracting a base temperature of 100C, and multiplying by the
number of days in the month (Yau et al. 2014). GDDs are important because variation in climate
can have a very wide range annual and can lead to differences in wines (Bowen et al. 2005). GDD

Josephine Markham

Suitable Winery and

Vineyard Locations in
Wisconsin

will be important to this project because they will decide how many days the vine has to grow and
mature grapes each year.
Land Use
Land use is important in the model being produce because it can incorporate agriculture
development into the project and determine sites that are actually zoned for agriculture purposes
(Jones et al. 2004). Parcels zoned for agriculture, farm/forest transition or mixed agriculture, and
rural residential (Jones et al. 2004) will be pulled out and used. This data will be downloaded from
GeoData @ Wisconsin (University of Wisconsin Madison 2014).
Project Approach
To find the best site for a vineyard and winery location in Wisconsin, a suitability model
needs to be created to pick out the best location. The ideals for this model will be constructed from
information on current vineyards situated in Wisconsin, based on how productive the adjoining
winery is, and should be similar to what has been found in past models.
The first part of this project is to geocode current wineries and vineyards in Wisconsin and
then look at what kind of slope, aspect, elevations, soil, and climate the site is located on. This will
then be used to create the ideals for the suitability model.
For the topography DEM that is downloaded three different tools will be used. The first tool
that will be used on the DEM is the slope tool. The slope tool calculates the maximum rate of
change between each cell and its neighbors (ArcGIS 2015). The slopes will then be reclassed to
make 5-15% slopes the ideal slope locations for vineyards. The second tool that will be run on the
DEM is the aspect tool. The aspect tool identifies the downslope direction of the maximum rate of
change in value from cell to its neighbors (ArcGIS 2015). It can also be looked as the direction in
which the slope faces. The aspect will then be reclassed so that South, Southeast, and Southwest
slopes are considered the best aspects for vineyard locations. The final tool that will be run on the
DEM is a reclass to select elevations that are between 400-and 799 feet.
For the soil data that is downloaded from the web soil survey website three different
reclasses will need to be done. The first reclass will be based on soil parent type and how well it
drains. Soils that drain better like gravel will be consider more ideal than those that dont drain well

Josephine Markham

Suitable Winery and

Vineyard Locations in
Wisconsin

and hold water like clay. The second reclass will pull out the soils that have the most ideal AWC.
This reclass can be done after calculating AWC which is done by computing the mean value for
each soil layer, summed over the layer for each component, and then weighted by the percentage of
each component per map unit (Jones 2004). The final reclass that will be done to the soil data is
on pH. pH levels that are between 5.5-8.08 are considered the most ideal.
Parcel data downloaded from GeoData will be reclassed so that parcels that are zoned for
agriculture, mixed agriculture, farm/forest transition, and rural residential are considered for these
sites. The reclass is possibly after selecting all sites that fall under one of these four categories and
then converting the parcels to a grid to be overlaid.
The GDD and FFD will both need to have hot spot analysis run, in order to take points of
data and create a model that overlays the state as whole. Then both GDD and FFD will be reclassed
so that ideals can be set.
After everything has been reclassed the site factors (Topo, soil, and land-use) will be
combined into a suitability grid (Jones 2004). The suitability grid then will be masked by the
climate grid in order to pull out the best vineyard and winery sites (Jones 2004).
Expected Results
The expected result of this suitability model will be a map of locations that are best suited
for winery and vineyard locations based on the ideals set for each factor. The result will showcased
in a PowerPoint presentation that will be presented to the GIS III class at the end of the semester.
The outcomes will also be combined with tourism data to create ideal locations that will do well due
to people being able to get to this place easily for a final capstone project. All data will be
presented to the Wisconsin Wine Growers association during the summer of 2016.
Conclusion
Locations for vineyards and wineries in Wisconsin can be hard to find because of our unique
climate and soils present. There are many factors that go into creating an ideal location though and
all the factors need to be reclassed to find the best site. By creating a model that highlights good
locations in Wisconsin, Wisconsin may be able to become a player in the wine industry and give
wine enthusiasts a new region to travel to.

Josephine Markham

Suitable Winery and

Vineyard Locations in
Wisconsin

References Cited
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24 February 2016).

Josephine Markham

Suitable Winery and

Vineyard Locations in
Wisconsin

United States Department of Agriculture. 2013. Web soil survey.

http://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/HomePage.htm (last accessed 18
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