Two experiments were conducted to determine differences in sensitivity to temperature among cold-climate grapevine genotypes in fall-acclimation response. One experiment utilized a growth chamber to compare grapevine plantlets under reducing photoperiod in two static temperatures through the quantification of seven predictor variables. Reduction models were compared for their effectiveness in interpreting the interaction among cultivars, traits, photoperiodic times, and temperatures. All models identified three similar axes relating the genotypes. Tucker decomposition was better able to separate wild genotypes from hybrids, was more consistent in the subspace defined, and was more readily interpretable, thus was preferred over SVD. Adapted types, V. riparia and ‘Frontenac’, showed increased tip responsiveness to temperature while V. riparia and ‘MN 1131’ more temperature response in their relative active growth to tissue maturation compared with marginal types including ‘Marquette’. Overall, it seems at least one strategy for temperature adaptive response is required in addition to early onset of acclimation for successful adaptation to the Northern Plains Region. In a second study, mature plants of three locally important cultivars were evaluated under five environmental conditions for similar acclimation traits along with fruit maturation traits under naturally decreasing photoperiod and temperature regimes. Reductions of phenotypic and temperature trends lead to a correlation between axes contrasting investigated years. Unique responses to temperature reduction were found in all cultivars, while ‘Marquette’ was additionally more responsive under temperature increases as it reverted to an active growth state. These alterations were speculated to be caused by differential partitioning of phloem resources within the plant through control of stomatal conductance. Lastly, a unique genotype was discovered. The genotype was determinate in both growth and reproduction in contrast to the indeterminate vining growth habit that defines members of Vitis. The natural mutant may have use in research on plant reproductive and vegetative growth regulation. Overall, insight was gained into the contrasts among acclimation processes within Vitis hybrids, and the use of growth chamber based evaluations of V. riparia derived progeny for background selection may lead to more rapid introgression of adaptive traits into favorable quality backgrounds in cold-climate Vitis breeding.