Statewide Viticulture Extension Program

At NYS Agricultural Experiment Station vineyards in Geneva, NY, bagged grape flower clusters are a familiar sight in mid June.  Grape Breeder Bruce Reisch’s program emasculates and cross-pollinates grape flowers to produce hybrid seeds for further planting and testing by the program.  Up to 5,000 seedlings are produced from about 40 crosses each year, and less than 5% meet the necessary criteria for further testing by the program.  Data on vine performance is collected for at least 5 growing seasons, and test wines are made and evaluated at the same time.  After 15 to 30 years, the most promising seedlings may be named and released as new grape varieties.  Pollen from Vitis cinerea will soon be applied to this cluster of ‘Horizon’ as part of an ongoing genetic study on the inheritance of powdery mildew resistance, an important objective in the wine grape breeding program.