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.