Suitable grape variety for UK

Question

I plan to train grape vines up and over the top of a pergola to create a shaded, outdoor dining area. I am more interested in the aesthetic of the vines and their shade giving properties than in growing crops. Getting decent fruit would be a mere bonus. I am pretty unlikely to make wine from them regardless of how they turn out.

My question is what variety to choose and what I should consider in terms of planting?

The climate is Southern England.

The location of planting would likely be an existing soil bed along the side of a fence. This would mean the roots would be in shade all day long and the vines would only get sunshine once they had neared the roof of the pergola.

Answer 1

I live in west Essex and have a very nice grape vine called 'Phoenix' growing over our pergola. To quote an online descripition, 'Phoenix' is "A reliable vine, good disease resistance and large fruits that are both good to eat and to make delicious wine." It's a vigorous vine, so you do need to prune it properly with a permanent framework allowing the current season's growth to be trained along the pergola horizontal rafters.

Answer 2

I sort of did that in zone 5 in US. I used concord grapes ( My wine grapes were in another area). Concord is a prolific fruit ( jelly ) grape. They grew very well in poor clay and gravel soil. When big enough , second year , they have many flowers that the bees love. Then they make many grapes that the bees love. Then any grapes you don't pick fall on the ground , and the bees love that. I was not picking most of the grapes by the third year( Concord is prolific). I had a 10 X 10 by 10 ft high trellis at the front door; the bees were not a problem but we avoided them as much as possible. I suggest putting your grape trellis in the yard and plant flowering vines on your pergola.