Updating Information Under the Tabs

Today, I spent some time to update information under the "Starting a Vineyard" and the "Viticulture" Tab you see located just above the blogposts. Before I put a "Search" function on this blog, this was the way that I collated blogs with information on the same topic. Here is the new look under the "Viticulture" Tab. I hope that this will be another way to look at relevant information at a glance.
Grapevine Phenology
Eichhorn-Lorenz Grapevine Phenology
Vine Growth
The Mysterious Life of Grape Buds
The Perilous Journey to Fruitset
Cold Tolerance and Grape vine Phenology
Vine Balance
Approaching Veraison---Grapevine Internal Clocks
Chemistry of the Grape Berry
Grape Berry Composition at Harvest
Assessing a Vineyard's Optimum Ripeness
MOG and the Grape Harvest
Periderm Formation
Grapevine Hormones
Partial Rootzone Drying
Assessing Grapevine Nutritional Status
Grapevine Pests
Grape Pest in Connecticut---The Spotted Wing Drosophila
Brown Marmorated Stinkbug---A New Vineyard Pest
David Gadoury's Presentation on Grape Powdery Mildew
Grapevine Genetics
Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay: Where Do They Come From?
The Fox Grape
Teinturier Grape Varieties
East Coast Weather and How It Affects Grape Growing
Recapping the Growing Season in 2011
Assessing and Managing Cold Damage
Effect of Heat Wave on Grape Leaf Stomata
Soil Texture and Water Holding Capacity---Part 1
Evapotranspiration and Irrigation---Part 2
Precipitation in Connecticut
Ways to Measure Vineyard Water Status
Video on How to Use a Pressure Chamber

Laser Guided Planting of Tall Grafted Vines at Rathfinny

My husband and I are always on the lookout for people using tall grafted vines in their vineyards. Recently, he came upon a video that showed tall grafted vines being planted on Rathfinny Estate:
Rathfinny is located in the UK. I went to their website and sent an email and received a very nice response from Elizabeth O'Neill, PA to Mark Driver who gave me permission to use the video.
Our feeling is, if tall grafted vines can be planted in the UK, we should be able to get someone to help us with that here in the States.

Long Island Wine Lineup in Saveur

Innocent of turkey on this Thanksgiving 2012, struck down by some insidious version of the flu, I consoled myself by flipping through the November Saveur and came across an article written by Betsy Andrew called 37 Great American Wines, subtitled, Nowadays, our favorite bottles don't only come from the West Coast. The 37 featured wines came from the Viriginia Mountains, the Texas Hills and Plains, the New York Finger Lakes and Long Island, New York. And there among the bevy of wines, was Paumanok's 2011 Chenin Blanc!

This is really well deserved recognition of the wineries and some stellar wines being made on the East Coast and Texas. Congratulations to Charles Massoud and his family and all of our vino-oenophile friends on Long Island!

Deconvoluting the Meaning of Our Soil Tests

It's one thing to get the soil tested, it's another thing to understand the results and what to do about it. We first got our soil tested in 2009, but recently, with all of the work going on to prepare our land for spring planting, we decided to get our soil tested again. We took a sample from our North field before the onset of derocking commenced and then took another sample after the top soil had been turned and the rocks removed from the top soil. We sent our soil samples to two different laboratories and were really perplexed at the different numbers that came back. In order to try to figure out what was going on, I turned to the Internet and found a really good presentation called Grapevine Nutrition presented by Mark Chien of the Penn State Cooperative Extension. The first number that is really important is the pH of the soil. This is because the availability of the macro- and micronutrients to the vines are very pH dependent as shown in this diagram:

In Mark Chien's presentation, he recommends that the pH for growing grapevines be between 5.5-7.0.
Our soil analysis also included values of the phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, boron, iron, manganese, copper, zinc, aluminum and organic matter content of our sample. Mark Chien recommends the following values:

We will use the above information as a guide to amending our soils this fall. (I know, it is getting late!) The other thing was that because we had analyses done by two different laboratories, the information for one came back as pounds per acre and the other one as parts per million (ppm). How does one do that conversion? I looked at the chapter on Nutrient Management in Wine Grape Production Guide for Eastern North America and found out how to do it on page 157. I'll try to summarize the information:
In metric units there are:

1,000,000 milligrams (mg) in 1 kilogram (kg)
1,000,000 micrograms (μg) in 1 gram (g)

Therefore, 1mg/kg = 1μg/g = 1ppm (1 part per million)
One acre-furrow slice in agriculture is defined as 2,000,000 pounds of soil, so, to get the conversion from metric to pounds/acre, or pounds/acre to metric do the following:

ppm x 2 = pounds/acre
pounds/acre ÷ 2 = ppm

Now, back to looking at our soil analysis results.

Mysterious Flavor of One Bottle of Chardonnay

On October 6, I wrote this blog on the Wine Flaws Aroma Kit and mentioned a Chardonnay that had a fruity aroma but was undrinkable and wondered what was the cause of this phenomenon. I came across what might be the answer to this mystery on a Cornell Site called Ask Barry Waite:
Dear Barry Waite:
I have a 2009 Chardonnay I made this year that tastes unlike any Chardonnay I have ever made or tasted and I don’t mean in a good way. I know it is 100% Chardonnay, but it taste like it has some strange but fruity aromas and flavors. Can you help me with this puzzling dilemma?
Signed, Funky Fruit in Fredonia
Dear Funky:
Thank you for your question. First, it is always easier and more accurate if I can smell and taste your wine. Sensory analysis is gratis to New York State Wineries at the New York State Wine Analytical Laboratory. That being said, I believe from your description that you are describing a non-Saccharomyces yeast fermentation. Spoilage yeasts such as Kloeckera and Zygosaccharomyces like low temperatures and Saccharomyces do not. If you encourage the growth of Kloeckera you will also end up with a wine with a high acetic acid content and a fruitiness that does not come from the grapes, but instead from acetic acid esters. Starting fermentation temperature for white wines should be 20 degrees C (68 degrees F) and for red wines 30 degrees C (86 degrees F). I believe your wine was fermented by non-Saccharomyes species giving it the fruity esters and non-varietal aromas and flavors.
May the Chardonnay you might drink today be fermented by Saccharomyces cerevisiae or S. cerevisiae bayanus.

2009 Philippe LeClerc Bourgogne

We had this Bourgogne with the best pizza in our area on Sunday, our ritual while watching the Sunday night football game. I already forgot who played but I loved the combination of this Bourgogne with the plain tomato and cheese pizza. It was inky, purple in color and even though it's still young, the flavors were a perfect balance of fruit and tannins. I recognized the cork and I when mentioned to my husband that we've had this wine before, he told me that we brought a 1990 Philippe LeClerc with us to California in 2006 when we went on a tour of wine country. It's kind of sad to admit that while I recognize the cork and forget the wine, my husband has a steel trap memory of wines that he has had. This wine is an excellent buy at between $20-$26.

The Importance of Nitrogen in Wine Fermentation

After hearing Dr. Sara Spayd speak about "Nitrogen Nutrition in Fermentation", it recalled to mind the UC Davis lectures on nitrogen, so I went back to my lecture notes as well as the internet to find references regarding nitrogen in ferementation.
It is important to know the initial nitrogen status of a juice or must, because it affects the growth of yeast and the fermentation of sugars, and contributes to wine flavour. When talking about the nitrogen content in grape must or juice, you might run into the following acronyms:

FAN = Free Amino Nitrogen -- all amino acids except proline
PAN = Primary Amino Nitrogen - same as FAN
YAN = Yeast Available Nitrogen = [FAN or PAN + Ammonia]

The amino acid proline can be one of the major nitrogen containing compound in the must, but because proline is a secondary amine and not a primary amine, the nitrogen is not available to yeast under aerobic conditions.

Both the total available nitrogen and the balance of amino acids and ammonia can significantly affect the production of different groups of fermentation-derived volatile compounds.

When adding diammonium phosphate (DAP) to the must, it is important to add the appropriate amount. The amount of DAP to add is dependent on the Brix level of the must or juice. Too little nitrogen may lead to a stuck fermentation, while too much addition of DAP will lead to the over production of hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) as well as ethyl acetate, leading to unwanted organoleptic characteristics in the finished wine.
Additional reading:
1. AWRi Report: Nitrogen management is critical for wine flavour and style
2. FAQs About YAN Chris Gerling, Enology Extension Associate, Cornell University - NYSAES.

Notes from the Eastern Viticulture Workshop---Part 4

The last two lectures were given by Dr. Tim Martinson from Cornell University who brought us up to date on the "Northern Grapes Project" and Dr. Paul Domoto from Iowa State University who spoke on "Grapevine Nutrition".
Dr. Tim Martinson provided an update on the Northern Grapes Project.

He also provided information regarding webinars that are held monthly at noon and 7 p.m. The archived webinars can be found here: Recorded Webinars.
Dr. Martinson also mentioned that Viticulture 2013 will be held in Rochster, New York during February 6-8.
Dr. Paul Domoto's talk was on "Grapevine Nutrition". He began his talk with the properties of soil and the importance of soil analysis before planting the vineyard. He recommended that petiole analysis can be taken when the vineyard comes into production. Dr. Domoto gave detailed information on the macronutrients, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium as well as information on the micronutrients including calcium, magnesium, sulfur, boron, copper, manganese, zinc, and iron. The nutrients also can interact with each other. For example, high magnesium blocks potassium uptake. This information was extensive so members of the audience asked Dr. Nail if the presentation could be circulated. Once I receive the presentation, I will summarize it and put it on this blog.

Notes from the Eastern Viticulture Workshop---Part 3

Following a nice break for lunch, Charlie Koines spoke about "Risk Management and Crop Insurance Programs". He gave us a handout that summarized all of his presentation so that it was quite easy to follow. He asked if any in the audience had crop insurance. This was a trick question because he knew that no one in Connecticut currently has crop insurance for their grapes. Connecticut growers do have the ability to insure their crop if the grapes are grown for wine or juice. At this time, table grapes are not insurable. The insurance period begins on November 21. The information sheet provided by Charlie Koines can be accessed at: Grapes New York Risk Management Agency. This pdf is a concise summary of the information regarding grape crop insurance.
Dr. Sara Spayd gave the only enology talk of the session. Her presentation was entitled "Nitrogen Nutrition in Fermentation." Nitrogen is important for the following processes:

• Yeast require nitrogen for growth
• Vitamins including thiamine and biotin necessary for yeast growth contain nitrogen
• Fusel alcohols that contribute to wine flavor contain nitrogen
• Pyrazine compounds contain nitrogen
• Amines contain nitrogen

The must should be tested for nitrogen content. Yeast assimilable/available nitrogen (YAN) is a measure of ammonium and α-amino acids. The appropriate amino acid measurement is important because proline can be one of the more abundant amino acids in the must, however, proline is not a primary amino acid and the nitrogen is not available to yeasts. It is also important to know the arginine concentration of the must because arginine metabolism leads to the formation of citrulline and ornithine, which can form urea. Urea in combination with ethanol forms ethyl carbamate or urethane, which is a minor carcinogen.
YAN necessary for fermentation:

• Minimum 150 mg YAN/L for white wine fermentation at 55 ^oF
• Healthy 400 mg YAN/L
• Australian standard 600 mg YAN/L

Nitrogen can be added to fermentation in the form of diammonium phosphate (DAP). Most enologists that Dr. Spayd spoke with preferred to add DAP rather than correct nitrogen deficiency in the vineyard. She mentioned that in addition to having a pH meter in the laboratory, a spectrophotometer can be very helpful in measuring amino acid concentration as well as phenolic content of the must.

Notes from the Eastern Viticulture Workshop---Part 2

Dr. Bruce Reisch from Cornell University was the third speaker on the agenda and his topic was "Breeding New Cultivars for Cool Climates". Dr. Reish said that not all hybrids are crosses between Vitis lambusca x V. vinifera. Here in the United States, we also have Vitis riperia, V. cinera, and V. aestivalis to use in creating hybrid cultivars. One of the successful releases has been Cayuga White which is a cross between Seyval x Schuyler released in 1972. It has good disease resistance and if harvested early, the labrusca character can be minimized. I also learned that Traminette, released in 1996 has Gewurztraminer as part of it's parentage. There is a new release called NY76084424 which was created from a cross between Traminette and Ravat 34. Dr. Reisch said that they are currently in the process of selecting a name for this new release. Dr. Reisch's current research is focused on developing disease resistant varieties. More on this research can be found at Vitisgen.org, which is a federally funded project.

Next on the agenda was Dr. Imed Dami from Ohio State University who spoke on "Cold Hardiness and Winter Protection". Dr. Dami's talk was a very timely one. He began by asking if anyone had the publication entitled, Winter Injury to Grapevines and Methods of Protection. What a coincidence, I thought because that was one of my blogposts prior to coming to the Eastern Viticulture Workshop. Dr. Dami is one of the authors of the publication and it was great to see and hear his talk in person. Dr. Dami began with defining cold hardiness and freezing injury and walked us through the U-shaped curve of cold acclimation and deacclimation. Dr. Dami said that there are cultural practices such as creating vine balance and limiting overcropping that will enhance the cold hardiness of the grapevines. His current research involves using abscisic acid for getting grapevines to enter into dormancy earlier. Much of what Dr. Dami spoke about is contained in the publication "Winter Injury to Grapevines and Methods of Protection". It costs approximately $15.00 and is a must have for Northeastern grape growers.

Notes from the Eastern Viticulture Workshop

On November 13, 2012, William Nail hosted the Eastern Viticulture Workshop at the Mystic Hilton in Connecticut. Dr. Paul Read was the first speaker and he spoke about "Fifteen Years of Evaluating Cold Hardy Grapes in Nebraska". Dr. Read mentioned that growing grapes in Nebraska poses the following challenges:

• Spring cold weather events
• Disease
• Phenoxy herbicide drift i.e. 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid or 2,4-D (See Grapevine Hormones for the chemical structure of 2,4-D)
• Abrupt and early fall temperature drop
• Winter temperature minima---this determines what grapes can grow

Dr. Read's talk was focused mainly on hybrid varieties and their budbreak and hardiness characteristics. He mentioned that although Frontenac has a good hardiness rating, the budbreak occurs in early spring and therefore can be susceptible to spring frost events. He also mentioned that wines made from the hybrids have done very well in competitions and the combination of Marquette and Frontenac can taste like Cabernet Sauvignon.
The next speaker was Ms. Sue Sim from the UC Davis Foundation Plant Services. She spoke about the National Clean Plant Network (NCPN). Ms. Sim runs the tissue culture lab where they test grapevines for virus diseases which include the following:

• Nepovirus
• Leafroll Virus
• Rugose Wood Virus

Ms. Sim mentioned that the National Clean Plant Network (NCPN) was created in Farm Bill 2008 section 10202. There are 5 NCPN sites in the United States that include facilities in California, Washington State University, Florida, Missouri State and Cornell. The NCPN is charged with pathogen diagnosis and elimination.
More information from the Eastern Viticulture Workshop will follow in future blogposts. Please stay tuned.

New Print Widget on Blogposts

This morning, while we were getting ready to go to the Eastern Viticulture Workshop, I thought that it might be a good idea to print out the agenda on the blogpost, but much to my dismay, I discovered that the output was WYSIWYG, so the EnoViti header as well as all of the information on the right hand side of the blog was part of the printout and was distracting. So, the first thing that I did after coming home from the workshop was to put a Print Friendly Widget on each blogpost. This way, if you ever want to print out any one blog, you can. The Print widget is at the bottom of the blog post as in this example:

Information on what I learned from attending this workshop will be presented in future blogposts. It was a very good workshop to go to, not only for the scientific content but also for the opportunity to meet and connect with people in the business.

Winter Injury to Grapevines and Methods of Protection

If you live in the eastern half of the United States, a handy publication to have is this one from Michigan State University Extension called "Winter Injury to Grapevines and Methods of Protection".
This has been an unusual weather year for the Northeast, to say the least. Prior to Hurricane Sandy and the Nor'easter there was a freeze event on the early morning of October 13th that caused damage to grape leaves that were still green and photosynthesizing and I wanted to know what effect if any, this loss of leaves would have on the grapevine entering into dormancy. I turned to this publication that explains the process of cold acclimation of a grapevine for some answers. Cold acclimation is the process of transition of the grapevine from a cold-tender to a cold hardy state.
The potential for a grapevine's cold hardiness is determined by:

• The environment
• Cultural practices
• Genetic makeup of the cultivar

There are two stages of cold acclimation: (1)The first stage occurs in the late summer to early fall before any freeze events and is a response to the shorter days and lower temperatures. At this time, buds have not reached their maximum cold hardiness. (2) The second stage is induced by below freezing temperatures and coincides with the first killing fall freeze when temperatures drop below 32 ^oF.
As the temperature drops, the grapevines prepare for dormancy by:

• Formation of the periderm
• Mobilizing carbohydrate reserves to canes, trunks and roots
• Isolating dormant buds from the vascular tissues in canes and trunks
• Redistributing water in bud tissues leading to dessication

This is a very comprehensive publication that runs the gamut of topics from the economics of winter injury to how to manage winter-injured grapevines. Certainly a good book for me to read before we plant our grapevines and begin to deal with reality!

Eastern Viticulture Workshop

We recently received some information regarding a workshop to be held in Connecticut convened by Dr. William Nail of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. Here are the details:
EASTERN VITICULTURE WORKSHOP Tuesday, November 13, 2012 Hilton Hotel, Mystic, CT
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, the Connecticut Farm Wine Development Council, the USDA Risk Management Agency, and the University of Rhode Island are hosting a viticulture and enology workshop on Tuesday, November 13 at the Hilton Hotel in Mystic, CT. We will have some of the preeminent scientists in the field gathered for a project meeting, and we are unlikely to have such a “dream team” assembled in New England in the foreseeable future, so I hope we get a good turnout for such a unique event. The speakers have well over 100 years of combined experience in viticulture and enology. I strongly encourage multiple representatives from vineyards and wineries.
The registration fee is $60, and includes lunch and break refreshments in the morning and afternoon.
The final schedule and titles are subject to change, but confirmed speakers and approximate topics are:
8:30     William Nail---The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
          Welcome and introduction
8:45     Dr. Paul Read---University of Nebraska
          Fifteen Years of Evaluating Cold-Hardy Grapes
9:30     Ms. Sue Sim---Foundation Plant Services, UC Davis
          The National Clean Plant Network
10:15-10-30  Break
1030-11:15   Dr. Bruce Reisch---Cornell University
          Breeding New Cultivars for Cool Climates
1:15-12:00    Dr. Imed Dami---The Ohio State University
          Cold Hardiness and Winter Protection
12:00-1:00   Lunch
1:00-1:45    Charlie Koines---University of Rhode Island
          Risk Management and Crop Insurance Programs
1:45-2:30     Dr. Sara Spayd---North Carolina State University
          Nitrogen Nutrition in Fermentation
2:30-2:45     Break
2:45-3:30     Dr. Tim Martinson--- Cornell University
          The Northern Grapes Project
3:30-4:15     Dr. Paul Domoto---Iowa State University
          Grapevine Nutrition
The registration deadline has passed, but you can still come and pay at the door, but please e-mail your registration form in ASAP or e-mail me to let me (William Nail, information follows) know that you will be coming, as we have to let the hotel know final head-count by Thursday, Nov. 8.
I hope to see as many of you as possible next Tuesday!
Thanks,
Bill
William R. Nail, Ph.D.
Assistant Scientist II
Department of Forestry and Horticulture
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
123 Huntington Street, P.O. Box 1106
New Haven, CT  06504
(203)   974-8491
FAX   (203)   974-8502
Many thanks to the Connecticut Farm Wine Development Council, the University of Rhode Island, and the USDA-Risk Management Agency for their sponsorship and support.

2002 Schleret Riesling Herrenweg

We had that 2002 Riesling recently. For a 10 year old wine, it was decidedly youthful and tasted of green apples and was not in the least bit cloying. We knew even before opening the wine that we would be in for a treat because Neal Rosenthal is the importer. If you like the wines of a known importer such as Neal Rosenthal, it's a good bet that even if you are not familiar with a specific wine, chances are that if you find a wine that he imports, you will like it as well. And this Charles Schleret Riesling was a case in point for us.
On the Madrose Group Website (Neal Rosenthal Wine Merchant), there is more information on Domaine Schleret. Herrenweg is the name of the vineyard where this Riesling has been planted. The website mentions that the vineyard is characterized by well-drained alluvial, silt and granite soil that lies on relatively level land where it benefits from exceptionally long hours of sunshine. The soil warms very quickly which leads to precocious growth and homogenous ripening. Charles Schleret retired in 2007 so if you want to taste a Charles Schleret wine you need to get one where the vintage date is 2007 or earlier. The cost of this Riesling was approximately $25.00! I definitely would buy this wine again.

The Great CT Wine Swindle

I was surprised to receive an email from Jean Kincaid-Ross who recently helped me to get information regarding the Connecticut Farm Winery. She sent me a link to an article from The Hartford Advocate entitled The Great CT Wine Swindle?. According to the law formulated in 2004, it requires that only 25 percent of a winery's wine be made using in-state fruit. This law also gives growers seven years from the time they get their winery permit to reach that 25 percent mark. In addition, if a change of ownership occurs, a winery's 25 percent-Connecticut-grapes clock is restarted and the new owners get another seven years to meet the standard. This was something that I wasn't aware of.
What this indicates to me is that consumers of Connecticut wines must be aware of the implications of the label. So, to reiterate:

• For a Farm Winery, 25% of the grapes must come from the Farm Winery
• For the wine label to say "Connecticut", Federal law requires that 75% of the grapes must be grown in Connecticut
• For the label to read Estate grown and bottled, 100% of the grapes have to be planted on the Farm Winery property. Federal law also stipulates that when using "Estate" on the label, the farm must be in a designated AVA.

Back to Work

Although our power is still out, we were really spared the worst of Sandy. There was a bit of seawater in our basement and it had dried when we checked yesterday, Halloween. When we went to check on our land on Monday, we learned that Jeff had been there on Sunday! My husband and Jeff are back turning the soil to pull out the larger boulders, working on preparing the soil in order to put in the tiling.
Regular blogging will return shortly. Meanwhile, we've been spending the time with our friend who had power all throughout hurricane Sandy. We are totally in her debt.