I believe valiant and beta are pretty well the hardiest, but maybe they offer the others as there is sort of two ways to grow grapes. For valiant, at least in my yard, I don't bother to remove from the trellis and it seems to survive fairly decent.

I tried growing a grape like himrod, however, and even winter protected it died back to ground level. It survived two years before dying, but I didn't help as I moved it after one year.

Maybe they offer more grapes because people like variety (beta and valiant are seeded blue grapes) and maybe people don't mind removing from the trellis and doing the annual winter protection thing if it's a decent green or red grape.

I would like to know others experience. Are any of the above grapes as hardy as beta and valiant where one might not winter protect?

Glen

Valiant is best of the lot -- ripens earlier than Beta and has better fruit production and is hardier. The others you could google for hardiness, but I think even if they survived the winter I suspect our summers aren't long enough to ripen the fruit. Might work if you had a greenhouse though.

Ten years ago I took a course on growing fruit in Edmonton. The instructor mentioned one variety that isn't on your list but sounded hardy -- Freedonia. Checking my notes, he said the fruit is "bigger than Valiant, better taste, less foxiness". He said he tasted some the previous season from a grower in Edmonton, but that had been a particularly hot summer and was the first year the grapes had ripened in the 15 years the grower had been growing them. (Wow, that's patience, I would have ripped them out long before then).

Valiant is easy though, no need to take down the vines in winter, and the fruit ripens in late August in Edmonton.