Statewide Viticulture Extension Program

Veraison to Harvest Archive Moved

tim martinson — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:47:04 +0000

Veraison to Harvest is a weekly newsletter published from early September through the end of October. It includes articles on managing grapes and winemaking issues during the crucial post-veraison ripening period. It also includes laboratory analysis of fruit chemistry from sites across New York. It is distributed electronically to winemakers, winery owners, and grape growers across New York.

Current and past issues are available at:

http://www.grapesandwine.cals.cornell.edu/extension/vtoh.php

Research Focus: UV Light and Powdery Mildew

tim martinson — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:33:24 +0000

Plexiglas roofs shield vines from UV light

Driving west from the NYS Agricultural Experiment Station, you will see these plexiglas roofs constructed over the top of Chardonnay vines. Their purpose is to prevent ultraviolet radiation from reaching the leaves and clusters. Dr. Wayne Wilcox, plant pathologist, and his graduate student Craig Austin are using this setup to study the impact of UV light on the powdery mildew fungus. Over the past 2 growing seasons they have found more powdery mildew under the plexiglas roofs than on uncovered vines exposed to UV light. Their conclusion? UV light kills some of the powdery mildew fungi, greatly reducing powdery mildew development – and underscoring the importance of canopy management to increase sunlight exposure as part of an integrated management program for powdery mildew. Indeed, in rows without plexiglass protection, cluster disease on VSP-trained vines was reduced by 35% in 2008 when one leaf was pulled above and below each cluster 2 weeks post-bloom compared with Umbrella Kniffen-trained vines where no leaf pulling was practiced.

Research Focus: Grape Breeders Bag Clusters

tim martinson — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:41:58 +0000

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.

Greg Loeb Insect and Mite Pest Management Article 2009

tim martinson — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:08:52 +0000

Dr. Greg Loeb, Department of Entomology, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Cornell University writes an annual vineyard insect and mite pest management article. Here it is (pdf):

vineyard-insect-management-loeb-2009

Wayne Wilcox 2009 Annual Disease Management Article

tim martinson — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:00:27 +0000

Dr. Wayne Wilcox, Professor of Plant Pathology, writes an annual grape Disease Management article for growers. Here’s the 2009 version:

wilcox-grpdis-409

Total Quality Focus Project Summaries

tim martinson — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:25:08 +0000

The New York Wine and Grape Foundation’s Total Quality Focus program funded 13 research and extension projects in 2007 and 2008, ranging from support for Veraison to Harvest newsletter to targeted research projects in enology/winemaking technology, viticulture, insect, disease, and weed management, and Concord/Niagara juice quality.

The pdf document linked below briefly describes all the projects funded in 2007 and 2008

total-quality-focus-projects

Canopy Management for Hybrids

tim martinson — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:29:28 +0000

This article appeared in June issues of Finger Lakes Vineyard Notes, Lake Erie Vineyard notes, and Hudson Valley Vineyard Notes, and describes canopy management and thinning options suitable for hybrid wine varieties trained high with procumbent (downward or drooping) growth habit:

canopy-management-for-hybrids

Grapevine Leafroll Survey

tim martinson — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:51:46 +0000

The article posted below describes results of a survey of 95 vineyards in the Finger Lakes for presence of grapevine leafroll virus, and an additional survey tracking the impact of leafroll on fruit maturity:

grapevine-leafroll-virus-an-increasing-problem.pdf

A Day with Germplasm Resources Workshop Highlights Grape Genetics and Breeding work at Geneva

tim martinson — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 02:52:15 +0000

Geneva, NY.Â Â A group of 35 extension educators, Cornell scientists and graduate students, and industry people from throughout the Northeast, Midwest and Ontario converged at Cornell’s New York State Agricultural Experiment Station August 11 and 12 for a workshop highlighting grape genetics and breeding research at Geneva.

The workshop, organized by Senior Extension Associate Tim Martinson, USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists Peter Cousins, Chuck Simon, Amanda Garris, and Cornell scientist Bruce Reisch, Dept. of Horticultural Sciences at Geneva, featured morning lectures and a full afternoon of field tours of grape collections and breeding program field evaluation sites at Experiment Station vineyards.

“With establishment of the USDA’s Grape Genetics Research Unit, continued characterization and expansion of the Plant Genetics Resource Unit’s cool-climate grapevine collection, and Cornell’s successful grape breeding program, the resources devoted to understanding grapevine genetics at Geneva have expanded greatly over the past five years,” said Martinson.Â “We wanted to show participants how this effort – from DNA sequencing through field evaluations of new cultivars – works together to ultimately incorporate improved traits into new varieties to benefit the industry.”

The morning program featured presentations on the PGRU’s Grapevine Germplasm collections by grape curator Chuck Simon, Â presentations by Gan-Yuan Zhong (Overview of GGRU), program leader at Grape Genetics Research Unit (GGRU), GGRU scientists Peter Cousins (Rootstock Breeding) and Â Amanda Garris (Grapevine Genomics ), and Bruce Reisch (Cornell Grapevine Breeding Program).

The afternoon was devoted to field visits to grapevine blocks at three field locations.Â First stop was at the McCarthy farm to see the Grapevine Germplasm collection (led by Peter Cousins and Chuck Simon) and the no-spray breeding program nursery (Bruce Reisch, Steve Luce, and Pat Wallace).Â The group then visited the ‘No-spray’ evaluation block at the Robbins Farm.Â Final stop was at Research South, where Justine Vanden Heuvel talked about her 2006 field planting established to test spacing, training, and other viticultural aspects of new selections and varieties, including Noiret, NY76.0844.24, and Â NY95.0301.01.Â The group finished the day at Bruce’s ‘Demo Block’, which includes heritage varieties, named Cornell varieties, and examples from other breeding programs.

The workshop was preceded by a ‘Welcome Barbecue’ in the Jordan Hall Pavillion, featuring commercial Finger Lakes wines made from Cayuga White, Melody, Traminette, Noiret, Corot Noir, and Valvin Muscat – all products of the Cornell breeding Program.

Pictures from ‘A Day With Grape Germplasm’ workshop

tim martinson — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:03:36 +0000

Here are some Photos from ‘A day with Grape Germplasm Resources’ workshop held at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY on August 12.

Peter Cousins, USDA ARS scientist with Grape Germplasm Research Unit in the Grapevine Germplasm Collection at the NYS Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva

Dr. Bruce Reisch, grape breeder with Dept. Horticultural Sciences at the NYS Agricultural Experiment Station, demonstrates differences in grapevine resistance to downy mildew at his ‘no-spray’ grapevine nursery, where new crosses are evaluated.

Attendees at the August 12 A Day with Germplasm Resources Workshop held at the NYS Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY.

For Full sized photo click on thumbnail below: