Wine & Grape Grower 6.12

GROWER

Wine & Grape

The NEWSPAPER for the wine and grape industry June/July 2012

www.wineandgrapegrower.com

In This Issue

Patience pays off at Leonard Oakes Estate Winery Page 18 Classifieds ~ Page 20-21 Tasting Rooms Section ~ Page 8

Silenus Vintners ~ Page 2

Volume 1 Number 4

Silenus Vintners’ custom crush business is booming

by Kelly Gates It took Silenus Vintners of Napa, CA, many years and several different owners to evolve into the custom crush company that it is today. According to General Manager Scott Meadows, when the property was initially purchased it was a walnut orchard that was then converted into a vineyard.

The 20-acre vineyard was planted with cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir grapes, with the harvest being sold to Robert Mondavi Winery, Inglenook and Clos Du Val. Eventually, a winery was built on the land, marking the beginning of several decades of wine production at the property.

“Today, we use our excess wine making capacity to make wines for custom crush clients throughout the region,” explained Meadows. “The tasting room that was once just for the winery’s brand has been rebuilt as a collective tasting room. It has become a place where small boutique wineries can have their wines made, sampled and sold.”

Silenus Vintners grows an assortment of its own grapes on 10 acres — cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot and cabernet franc are among them. The company processes around 160 tons per year for its house brand. An additional 320-340 tons are processed for clients, most of whom contract production of 300 to 500 cases annually.

Having such a wide array of clients translates to a multitude of different blends. “From a production standpoint, the exchange of ideas makes the job very exciting for our crew,” said Meadows. “Each client has a unique winemaking style, which allows us to learn even more about the many different ways that wine can be made.”

The hands-on research and development opportunities are priceless. It is quite challenging, however, to coordinate such a massive influx of grapes from multiple sources each year.

This job falls to Silenus Vintners’ Wine Maker, Bradley Smith. Smith is charged with the task of continually communicating with the 21 growers who have their grapes turned into wine at the Napa facility.

He must precisely coordinate the harvests of each vineyard to ensure that the processing tanks are available when the grapes begin arriving each September.

“Brad is in constant contact with the growers to determine when they plan to harvest and

Celebrating the first crush lot of the harvest are, from left, General Manager Scott Meadows, Matthiasson Wines winemaker Steve Matthiasson, an unidentified worker, administrative assistant May Hua, Cellar Master Marcos Reyes, cellar workers Rich Miller and Bobby Gonzalez, and facility winemaker Bradley Smith.

Photo courtesy of Silenus Vintners when we should expect to receive their grapes,” Meadows told Grower Wine & Grape. “He also tracks which tanks are in use, since each batch takes around a week to 10 days to process. Typically, each tank gets used twice, so he has to make sure they are used, emptied and ready for the next round before it comes in.”

Silenus Vintners has a variety of different fermenters in house. They range in size from two-ton tanks to 18 to 20 ton tanks, with most clients in need of five to six ton fermenters.

The inbound grapes are first de-stemmed before being run through an auger that moves them into the fermentation tanks. The company has a standard processing fee for reds and another for white wine varieties. Clients also have the option of adding cus-

tom steps upon request.

“All of our clients provide their own yeast and barrels.

Because there are so many to choose from, the slightest difference from one to the next can significantly change the overall finished product,” said Meadows. “We do standard pumpovers twice daily, but some want us to do this even more often. And sometimes, a client prefers that we use a shaker table and not just the de-stemmer.”

While the company has an extensive amount of equipment, it does not have an onsite bottling plant. Instead, clients have their wines bottled by a mobile bottling truck.

The semi pulls up to the processing facility and a hose is connected to the finished wines stored inside. The wine is then pumped to the truck where it is bottled, corked, foiled, labeled

Ramon Chavez, at left, and vineyard manager Bill Munk supervise the cabernet sauvignon grape harvest.

Photo courtesy of Silenus Vintners

and packaged into cases.

Much of the wine is kept at Silenus Vintners and sold through the collective tasting room. Unlike most similar operations, this collaborative offering allows customers to sample a large selection of wines at once.

“Someone might only be able to try a Cabernet Sauvignon or two at other wineries, but here, they can sample many different brands at one place,” he noted. “And each one has a

completely different flavor profile due to the winemakers’ different styles and the different parts of the valley where the grapes are grown.”

On average, there are about 40 different wines available for sipping at the tasting room.

For many clients, it’s the only outlet for sales of their boutique brands.

As for Silenus Vintners, it sells plenty of wines through the tasting room — pinot noir, chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, zinfandel, sauvignon blanc and merlot are among the many. The winery also ships overseas, selling through a closely tied distributorship in China.

“In 2010, Silenus Vintners was purchased by an investor in China, a woman in her early 40s who had established herself as a successful real estate developer in Asia,” said Meadows. “She has a great love for wine and decided to diversify by buying this business and opening a distributorship of her own in China. Now, we export a portion of our wine for sale there.”

With 21 clients ordering custom crush services annually, a tasting room that attracts locals and tourists year round — open seven days a week — and an ever-growing overseas market, Silenus Vintners has created a unique niche as a producer and purveyor of unique boutique wines. It is this niche that will undoubtedly enable the company to thrive for many more years to come.

Winemaker Bradley Smith is surrounded by barrels in Silenus Vintners’ wine cellar.

Photo by Bruce Button

Vineyards owner took the leap from brewer to winemaker

by Kelly Gates Georg Marti, co-owner of New Ulm, MN-based Morgan Creek Vineyards, has always had an affinity for fermentation. His family owns the August Schell Brewing Company, one of America’s oldest breweries. Marti even worked for the family owned and operated beer business for a number of years.

But over time, Georg, along with his wife, Paula, were drawn in a different direction.

According to Paula, the couple was inspired to establish a vineyard back in 1993, shortly after purchasing a 10-acre parcel of land in New Ulm, MN and eventually building Minnesota’s only underground winery, an eco-friendly facility for production, tasting, and giftshop.

“In the early 1990s, there were very few vineyards in Minnesota and even in 1998, when we officially opened our winery, we were one of only five in the entire state,” she told Wine & Grape Grower. “Initially, we did-

n’t know that we would end up growing grapes here. We just knew that we wanted to take on some sort of growing endeavor.”

A family friend suggested grapes as an option.

He had traveled throughout Europe and lived in Germany for a stint, noticing the abundance of small-acreage vineyards that dotted the landscape there.

Paula’s desire to learn more about produce that grew well in the south central Minnesota region also prompted her to contact local experts for advice.

“One of the professors at Mankato State University, Don Gordon, had written books on growing fruit in the Midwest and he was also a columnist in the Mankato Free Press as the go-to person for anything related to farming and horticulture,” explained Paula. “I called and asked him what might grow well here and he suggested that we contact the Minnesota Grape Grower’s

The Great Annual Grape Stomp was voted Southern Minnesota’s Best Event. The annual stomp draws more than 3,000 visitors.

Association [MGGA].

After talking to [MGGA], we dove in feet first, all the way up to our necks.”

Indeed, Georg and Paula submersed themselves in the association.

They became members and began attending meetings. They also went to seminars and conferences. Eventually, Georg served on the Board of Directors and Paula took on the role as the editor of the Minnesota Grape Growers Annual Report, a title she held for five years. Later, she became secretary of the newly organized Minnesota Farm Winery Association.

While gathering, recording and reporting the annual grape production results of growers throughout the Gopher State, Paula had the opportunity to assess which varietals faired well and which did not.

“We then decided to jump in and plant a diversity of vines so we could determine what would do well in our unique location,” she said. “We planted mostly vinifera and a few hybrids.”

The types of grapes planted at Morgan Creek Vineyards were determined by the types of wines that the Martis enjoyed drinking.

Eventually, when cold hardy varieties were proven viable for the region, Frontenac, LaCresent, and Marquette were added.

The winery now produces a long list of white and red wines including, Seyval, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Saint Pepin, Zeitgeist, Relativity, Vignoles, Morgan Creek Myst, Sweet E, Black Ice, Puck’s Pride, Saint John Reserve, Redtail Ridge, Nova, Colure, Fox Run and Saint Wenceslaus.

These range from dry and semi-dry to semi-sweet, sweet and sweet dessert wines.

Managing the array of grape vines planted there is a laborious process.

Being a small acreage vineyard and an organic one at that, nearly everything is done by hand, said Paula.

“We plant one-year rooted vines with twobud stalks by hand in grow tubes and water the new vines for the first

The Marti family, from left to right, are Ben, assistant wine maker; Paula, owner and general manager; Georg, owner and wine maker; and Adam, regional sales director.

Photo courtesy of Morgan Creek Winery couple of months. After that, we leave them alone to grow,” she explained.

“All we do is implement weed control and vine maintenance, ensuring that they grow upward onto our two-wire trellising system.”

Copper sulfate and herbal tea sprays are used as organic herbicide and weed control applications. A small herd of sheep act as nature’s pruners, effectively maintaining a clearance near the ground while leaving the cordons safely intact.

By the end of the first growing season, newly planted vines at Morgan Creek Vineyards have typically reached the second wire of the trellis. As those are grown on to maturity over the next few years, older vines with ready-to-pick clusters of grapes are harvested.

“Our grapes are harvested by hand. Each variety is picked at a different time by a crew of around 10 people,” noted Paula. “The harvested grapes are brought to the crush floor in our barn and combined with the same varieties of grapes from contracted local growers before being processed.”

Contracting with other growers encourages more vineyards to be established in the region and enables the winery to efficiently make an assortment of red and white wines. The winery barn crush floor is equipped with a crusher-destemmer, and two, three-quar-

ter ton presses.

The crusher-destemmer is fed freshly picked grapes producing an abundant amount of must. When making red wines, the must is filtered through a series of hoses and into the fermentation tanks to add depth of color and flavor. For white wines, the must is pumped into the threequarter ton press and layered with rice hulls, then pressed to desired extractions.

Eventually, all the seeds, stems and skins in the must extracted from Morgan Creek Vineyards’ winemaking equipment is put into a compost pile that is used to naturally fertilize the grapes when needed.

“All of our fermentation tanks are Italian made, variable lid, and stainless steel.

We make a very small amount of oak-infused wine, but for most of that, we use an oak additive like staves, chips or sawdust,” said Paula. “Our bottling line includes an eight-spigot filler and an Italian corker, which is the best piece of equipment we have. It makes corking so quick and easy.”

A labeler is used to apply Morgan Creek Vineyards’ labels before capsules are shrinkwrapped by employees.

At times, custom labels are made for wedding parties and local organizations, like New Ulm Turner Hall, a Germanbased social group that recently commissioned its own private label

wines from the company.

Because of its serene setting and the natural draw of the onsite tasting room and related facilities, Morgan Creek Vineyards hosts a number of private and public events.

Maifest takes place there each spring to celebrate the return of the growing season. This year, guests received free garden hats with a purchase. The vineyard’s wood oven was fired up to prepare gourmet appetizers and Swiss Raclette, Pizzette and other specialty cheeses were available for tasting along with wine by the glass or bottle — each priced separately.

The winery also hosts a poetry festival, food tasting events, jazz nights, wine tastings and dinners. And, it has a fully stocked gift shop filled with its own wines, wine accessories and gifts.

“We’re approaching our 15th year now and it’s edifying to see how much we’ve grown during all this time,” said Paula. “In the future, we hope to increase our organic wine production with help from the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service [MOSES], we hope to become more involved with the organic and biodynamic aspects of growing. Not only for ourselves, but to help find and train growers who also want to make the transition to organic and sustainable growing operations.”

Direct shipping now a reality in New Jersey “We are pleased to finally put to an end the nearly decade-long debate over direct shipment of wine,” Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa said. “New Jersey residents will now have another convenient way to purchase the excellent wines offered by our many fine Garden State wineries, as well as wineries throughout the country.”

As you know, on Jan. 17, 2012, Governor Chris Christie signed S-3172, legislation which permits direct shipping of wine to New Jersey residents from small wineries only, defined as those wineries that produce 250,000 gallons or less of wine per year. This historic legislation enables the state’s wine industry to expand and continue to produce award-winning wines, further enhancing New Jersey’s national image as a major wine growing state.

The direct shipping legislation also provides New Jersey wine consumers access to many more wines from New

Jersey and around the nation, which are not available on the shelves of New Jersey wine retailers. And, the legislation stimulates agri-tourism, preserves farmland, and creates jobs. As provided in the legislation, S-3172 takes effect on the first day of the fourth month after enactment, which was May 1.

“This is truly an historic day that was a long time coming. We can now begin a period that will allow our wineries to reach a broader audience and expose our award-winning wines to consumers throughout the state and country,” said Ollie Tomasello, Chairman of the Garden State Wine Growers Association and owner of Plagido’s Winery in Hammonton.

• As of May 1, any New Jersey winery can ship up to 12 cases per year to any state resident 21 years of age or older.

• Any New Jersey winery, if it chooses to do so, may apply for a direct ship-

Cover photo courtesy of Silenus Vintners Tasting room Manager Scott Turnnidge, behind the counter, chats with guests at the tasting bar in Silenus’s tasting room.

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ping license in any of the 38 other direct shipping permissible states.

License permitting, New Jersey wineries may also directly ship up to 12 cases per year to an out-of-state resident 21 years of age or older.

• Applications and instructions are available with the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) and the Division of Taxation for an outof-state small winery to directly ship up to 12 cases per year to a New Jersey

resident 21 years of age or older.

This is a major turning point for New Jersey’s wineries and consumers, which could never have been accomplished without the efforts of thousands of UnCorkNJ supporters, who let their elected representatives know daily of their commitment to passing the legislation. UnCorkNJ thanks all of its supporters for their efforts.

Visit www.uncorknj.com for more information.

Vineyard pruning safety

by Eric Stafne, Mississippi State University Safety procedures while working in the vineyard are primarily linked to common sense. One period where safety becomes an elevated concern is during pruning. Vines can be pruned manually or mechanically, but prudent safety measures should be used regardless of the method. When pruning manually, follow a few easy tips to prevent injury: • Provide (or attend) a pruning safety training.

• Wear eye protection at all times.

• Wear leather (or other) appropriate gloves.

• Keep pruning equipment (pruning shears, loppers, saws, etc.) sharp and clean.

• Conduct post-pruning maintenance on equipment to keep it in working order.

• Visually identify non-vine material such as fingers, wires, and posts before making a cut.

• Keep fingers away from cutting source and the material to be pruned.

• If appropriate, sterilize equipment after pruning disease-infected material.

• Pruning done in the dormant season, when the weather can be cold and

Identify non-vine material before making a cut.

damp, can lead to a potential for hypothermia. Be sure to dress appropriately for any weather condition.

• Summer pruning during hot, dry conditions may lead to heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Take water breaks and rest in the shade.

• Have an emergency plan in place in case an incident occurs. Crew leaders should be familiar with first aid procedures and perhaps be required to have a first aid certification.

• Be familiar with and meet state requirements for placement of bathroom accommodations with adequate hand-washing facilities.

Source: www.extension.org

Kathy La Scala joins Lee Publications PALATINE BRIDGE, NY — Lee Publications announces the addition of Kathy LaScala to its sales and marketing team. In her role as Digital Media Manager, Kathy will focus on digital product development for the family of Country Folks publications, which serve a variety of agriculture markets. In addition, Kathy will be a part of the sales team, providing agriculture focused companies a platform of regional and national opportunities to extend multi-channel communication and marketing efforts.

Prior to joining Lee Publications, Kathy was a national accounts manager at Vance Publishing. She brings extensive experience in sales, strategic positioning, marketing and project development to the team.

A native New Yorker, Kathy earned her bachelor’s degree in animal science, with a focus on dairy, from Cornell University.

Please join Lee Publications in welcoming Kathy to the Country Folks team!

Lee Publications produces Country

Kathy LaScala joins Lee Publications.

Folks, Country Folks Grower, Country Folks Mane Stream, Wine & Grape Grower and Small Farm Quarterly, along with a line of publications reaching the construction and quarry market.

Wisconsin Ledge earns designation as an AVA

After seven years of hard work petitioning the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, Steve J. DeBaker of Trout Springs Winery has gained federal recognition for Northeastern Wisconsin grape-growers and wineries.

On April 23, the Wisconsin Ledge became the 203rd American Viticultural Area recognized by the federal government, setting aside just under a quarter of a million

acres to be recognized as a unique grape growing region.

Wisconsin ranks 16th in the nation as wineries per state, with approximately 85 to 90 bonded wineries now in existence. As the 12th largest AVA in the nation, The Wisconsin Ledge boasts just under 400 acres of wine grapes planted within the vineyards of the region and 15 bonded wineries will share this new appellation of origin.

Based on the geomorphic land mass known as the Niagara Escarpment, The Wisconsin Ledge is a unique region where terrior is experienced through the karst, and dolomite bedrock, and specific tills known to be the deposits of the glaciers that formed this region millions of years ago. Based on climatological data taken from the last 125 years, DeBaker proved that the average cu-

mulative temperatures within the region were on average 7-20 degrees warmer than 60 miles in any direction. These warmer temperatures translate into longer growing seasons, allowing longer hang times for grapes to ripen. This can extend the growing season as much as 45 days longer than surrounding areas, and give a unique advantage to producing riper fruit, higher

brix, and lower acidity on French-American hybrid grapes; the predominant planting in this region.

With the birth of this new AVA status, wineries like Trout Springs will continue to produce award-winning wines, which compete consistently on the national level, garnering medals, and attention to one of the newest, and promising grape-growing regions in the United States.

Study: Virginia wine industry’s economic impact has doubled

RICHMOND, VA — A newly released economic impact study shows that Virginia’s burgeoning wine industry contributes $747 million annually to Virginia’s economy, an increase of 106 percent over the figures from the last economic impact study conducted in 2005. All major economic drivers examined in the comprehensive study showed significant double-digit percentage growth.

“The Virginia wine industry has seen tremendous growth over last few years,” said Gov. Bob McDonnell. “From beautiful new wineries starting up to more and more retail outlets and restaurants adding our wines to their shelves

and menus, the growth has been very evident even to the casual observer. However, this study clearly quantifies that growth with empirical data and shows the significant economic impact that the industry is having across the Commonwealth. I congratulate our winery owners and grape growers for these achievements, and I look forward to working with them as we continue our efforts to make Virginia the preeminent East Coast destination for wine and winery tourism.”

The 2010 Economic Impact Study of Wine and Wine Grapes on the Commonwealth of Virginia, which was completed by Frank, Rimmerman & Co., a

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nationally recognized accounting and consulting firm that specializes in wine industry studies, was commissioned by the Virginia Wine Board (VWB) and completed in January 2011. The 2005 economic impact study showed that the Virginia wine industry employed just over 3,100 people and contributed more than $360 million to the Virginia economy on an annual basis.

The study reflected the impact of approximately 130 wineries in 2005.

In comparing the figures from 2005 and 2010, the full economic impact of wine and wine grapes on the Virginia economy has more than doubled, from $362 million to $747 million, a 106 percent increase.

The number of wineries increased from 129 in 2005 to 193 in 2010, a 49 percent increase.

The number of full-time equivalent jobs at wineries and vineyards rose from 3,162 to

4,753, a 50 percent increase, and wages from jobs at wineries and vineyards increased from $84 million to $156 million, an 86 percent increase, during the same time period.

The report showed significant growth during the five-year period examined in the number of grape growers and grape bearing acreage as well as taxes generated for state and local governments.

For example, the number of grape growers climbed from 262 to 386, a 47 percent rise over the same period.

The number of grape bearing acres increased from 2000 in 2005 to 2,700 in 2010, a 35 percent climb.

The amount of taxes paid to the state and to local governments grew from $21 million to $43 million, a 105 percent increase.

The study also highlights the significant impact that tourism is having on the Virginia wine industry, with the

number of wine-related tourists visiting Virginia increasing from 1 million in 2005 to 1.62 million in 2010, a 62 percent increase. Expenditures related to winery tourism are up dramatically as well, with $57 million in 2005 versus $131 million in 2010, a 130 percent increase.

“The Virginia wine industry is one of the fastest growing segments of Virginia’s diverse agricultural industry,” said Todd P. Haymore, Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry. “Most of the investments made, jobs created, taxes generated, and tourism driven expenditures around the wine industry are in rural areas, where they are making a big impact on local economies. This is especially good news for those regions, and the study shows what powerful economic drivers agriculture and tourism, two of Virginia’s largest indus-

tries, can be for the overall economy.”

Raising the profile of Virginia wines and wine tourism are key components of the governor’s economic development and jobs creation initiatives.

The governor has promoted Virginia wines at the Virginia Executive Mansion and throughout Virginia, on domestic business recruitment visits and on international trade and marketing missions to India, Israel and countries in Europe and Asia. First Lady Maureen McDonnell has also incorporated wine and wine tourism promotions into her First Lady Initiative Team Effort or FLITE. Sales of Virginia wine reached a record high in fiscal year 2011 with more than 462,000 cases, or more than 5.5 million bottles, sold.

This volume marks a sales increase of more than 11 percent over the previous fiscal year. Virginia currently ranks fifth in the number of wineries in the nation with 210.

Virginia is also the nation’s fifth largest wine grape producer.

The 2010 Economic Impact Study of Wine and Wine Grapes on the Commonwealth of Virginia study delves further into all the aforementioned areas and other key economic drivers. The study also highlights the support by state and regional organizations, including the VWB, Virginia Wineries Association,

Virginia 6

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Farm Credit East’s annual Winery Benchmarks program kicks off

ENFIELD, CT — Farm Credit East’s Winery Benchmarks program will hold its annual meeting in the Finger Lakes Region on Aug. 8.

The focus at this year’s meeting will be a better understanding of the interaction between the retail and wholesale sides of the business.

Farm Credit East is excited to announce the 2012 Winery Benchmarks guest speaker will be Nicolas Quillé.

Quillé has studied winemaking in various locations throughout the world, including Dijon, Burgundy and Reims, Champagne and will share his expertise in marketing wine and his knowledge of the

various wine grapes he has worked with, including Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Today he works primarily with Riesling as the Winemaker and General Manager of Pacific Rim Winery in Washington.

“The Farm Credit East Winery Benchmarks program is a unique way to measure one’s business against industry peers” said Gregg McConnell, director of the benchmark program. “Participants receive in-depth financial and operational analyses of their business, interact with other successful winery owners, take part in dialogue to better understand the industry and

gain constructive feedback from an experienced Farm Credit East consultant.”

Data collection for this year’s program is currently underway.

Results will be compiled in July and individual benchmark reports will be provided to each of this year’s participants just in time for the annual meeting.

For more information on the Farm Credit East Winery Benchmarks program contact Gregg McConnell at 800-929-7102 or visit the following link: www.farmcrediteast.co m/winerybenchmarks.aspx In addition, Farm Credit East is the

Virginia from 5

ciation, and Virginia Vineyards Association. In addition, the study noted the significant support from Virginia state government over the last few years, including mentions of the winery and vineyard establishment/expansion tax credit program created by McDonnell and approved by the Virginia General Assembly in 2011 and the increase of appropriations into the Virginia

Wine Promotion Fund for wine-related research, education and marketing. McDonnell requested the funding increase and the General Assembly approved it in 2010.

For the full 2010 Economic Impact Study of Wine and Wine Grapes on the Commonwealth of Virginia, visit the Virginia Wine Marketing Office’s website at www.virginiawine.org/ or call 804-344-8200.

largest lender to the wine and grape industry in the Northeast, lending more than $90.7 million to wineries and grape growers across New England, New York and New Jersey.

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Mature vine training

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er in the day if moisture is a concern, and allows for better spray penetration for disease and insect control. This should be done after fruit set. The later leaf removal is done, the greater the possibility of sun scald damage on fruit, and the effects on fruit ripening and composition diminish.

6. Both vertical and lateral hedging are frequently employed on VSP and related systems to prevent leaf and fruit shading and reduce between-row crowding. Top hedging, especially if done earlier in the season, tends to result in increased lateral shoot growth. Lateral shoot growth can be undesirable as it increases canopy density. Reducing vine vigor, if possible, helps to mitigate or reduce the need for hedging. If more than two passes of hedging are normally required during a season, you should try to decrease vine vigor in subsequent seasons. Removal of lateral shoots on the main shoot can be conducted; this is done to avoid shading and to help prevent the development of secondary clusters. Depending on the training system, laterals may be beneficial if maintained on the vine, as they provide younger leaves that are more efficient in photosynthesis. Assessment of whether to remove laterals depends on your vineyard management budget as this can be an expensive operation if done with manual labor.

7. Remove late developing or excess clusters, if appropriate to your growing situation, to improve ripening and fruit quality. If done post-veraison, it should be done as soon afterward as possible to allow the vine to direct all its resources to the retained fruit. Doing the thinning at veraison also helps you determine which fruit is lagging behind as the color development is behind as well as berry size and softening (e.g., green clusters among clusters that are further along in coloring). Note that installation of bird netting largely inhibits late-season training, so all training should be done prior to netting.

Source: www.extension.org

Half of EWE exhibit space already sold 10 months out LANCASTER, PA — Exhibit space is selling briskly for the Eastern Winery Exposition (EWE) March 6-7, 2013 at the Lancaster County Convention Center and

Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square. The trade show floor space has expanded by 25 percent to 242 booths total compared to 181 for 2012 — which sold out

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Practices common to both training systems These may need to be adapted to your local conditions, and are listed in approximate chronological order: 1. Thin shoots to four to five fruitful shoots per linear foot of row. Selectively remove non-fruitful shoots before fruitful shoots. This is best if done before bloom when inflorescences are visible and the shoot is short (less than 6 inches in length).

If the shoots are too long, they can not be removed as easily and may result in problems with shoot removal.

2. Remove all young shoots from the trunk — those growing between the base of the vine and about four to six inches below the fruit zone.

This is easily done by rubbing gloved hands up and down the trunk(s). Renewal shoots at the base and in the fruit zone may be reserved, depending on your management practices.

3. Thin fruit post-fruit set if the crop is too large to maintain desired fruit quality or vine balance.

Selective removal of distal clusters is usually preferable, as they develop slightly later than basal clusters. In some cases, removal of the distal cluster may be preferred to position fruit so clusters are not touching (avoid disease development).

4. Train shoots up (for VSP) or down (for HRU).

Multiple passes are usually necessary to achieve proper season-long shoot positioning. For VSP, shoots are tucked in or tied to trellis catch wires.

Depending on the trellis, shoots are either tucked under or tied to permanently placed wires, or catch wires are moved into position in the trellis as the shoots grow. Downward positioned shoots are “combed” into place on both sides of the canopy. In both situations, shoots should be vertical and not allowed to grow horizontally along the vine row.

5. Remove leaves in the fruit zone if desired.

This exposes fruit to sunlight, which can be beneficial to fruit quality, especially in cool growing areas. Leaf removal also allows fruit to dry earli-

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by William Nail, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station Goals of mature vine training The goals of training mature vines are to complement the pruning strategies employed. The principal goal is to expose as much leaf surface area, and usually fruit, to as much sunlight as possible. Well-exposed leaves are photosynthetically active, resulting in increased fruit quality and vine health. Shaded leaves do not contribute significantly to whole-vine photosynthesis, and may even become a carbon drain on the vine.

Fruit exposed to sunlight increases berry metabolism during the ripening process through a combination of increased temperature and, especially with red cultivars, direct sunlight effects.

The exact practices employed to achieve these goals will depend on the training system being used. The examples used are designed for the two simplest and most common training systems, vertical shoot positioning (VSP) and the high wire Hudson River Umbrella (HRU). The principles can be adapted to other training systems, such as those described in Sunlight Into Wine (Smart and Robinson, 1991). The principles are applicable to both spur-pruned (cordon) and cane-pruned vines in most training systems.

Growers can adapt these principles to their own growing situations, depending on practical matters such as local environmental conditions, available labor or mechanization, and desired yield and fruit quality.

Mature vines grow very rapidly early in the growing season. If certain management activities are not completed on time, they can become unmanageable within a week, so attention must be paid to vine phenology. If growth gets out of hand, it can cost the grower more money in management and may lead to over-crowding, disease infection, etc.

five weeks in advance.

At this writing there are 73 companies signed up to exhibit at EWE in 2013, with over 50 percent of the trade show floor already sold out 10 months in advance.

Exhibitors include vineyard and winery suppliers and major equipment suppliers Prospero and Criveller.

Seven companies who exhibited in 2012 have increased their exhibit space for 2013.

An updated list of 2013 exhibitors is available online at www.easternwineryexposition.com. To reserve space for the 2013 show, contact show manager Bob Mignarri at 401-8858788, ext. 11, or e-mail

him at bob@easternwineryexposition.com.

About Eastern Winery Exposition The Eastern Winery Exposition is an eastern-focused wine industry trade show and conference designed to provide the eastern U.S. and Canadian wineries and vineyards with an easily accessible, lowcost professional meeting with a large number of winery and vineyard suppliers. Wines & Vines is the primary show sponsor. A strong seminar program, exhibit hall featuring suppliers relevant to the region’s business of wine making, networking events and state association participation are all integral components of EWE.

by Mark Chien, Pennsylvania State University The two management areas that can most affect the outcome of grape quality in a growing season are proper canopy and fruit zone management. This article focuses on canopy management: what it is, how it’s done, and when it makes economic sense.

Canopy and yield management begin before vineyard establishment. The concept of vine size and balance are important to achieving a manageable canopy and fruit zone. The grower is trying to balance the vegetative and reproductive processes of the vine, and the first steps are choosing the correct site, correct cultivar/rootstock, and the correct vine spacing.

On a site with deep, fertile soils with high water holding capacity, it is likely a large vine will emerge with lots of foliage and fruit, which meets the needs of larger production vineyards. In winegrape production, a small- to moderate-sized vine is preferred, where energy is used less on producing leaves and more on ripening fruit. In any production scenario, a balanced vine is required to produce optimum fruit quality that a given site will support, and will define the wine style and price point objectives.

What is canopy management?

Vines have to be managed according to the targeted style and price point of the wine being produced. In the best of all worlds, the resulting vines are in perfect balance and very little intervention or manipulation must be done, but this is the rarely the case. Canopy management is necessary in inverse proportion to the qualities of the vineyard site — poorer sites usually require more intervention. In the absence

Fundamentals of canopy management of natural canopy and crop balance, the grower must apply viticultural practices to guide the vine and fruit into balance, with the result being perfectly mature fruit for wine making.

Winegrape growers have two key objectives: To produce optimal mature fruit for wine making To acclimate vines fully to maximum cold hardiness (especially in cold-winter wine growing regions) In practice, canopy management involves: • pruning • shoot thinning • sucker and watersprout removal • shoot positioning • leaf and lateral removal • hedging and any other practice that manipulates shoots and leaves Good canopy management begins with careful and proper vine training with special considerations given to canopy architecture, such as overall canopy height and fruit wire height. These dimensions will have great implications for the performance of canopy and fruit. The choice of training and trellis system, e.g. cane or cordon, VSP or high wire, single or divided systems, will impact canopy design, performance and management.

Pruning Pruning sets the tone for canopy and crop levels. Pruning severity will affect just about every parameter of the canopy during the growing season from shoot number and length, to distribution of shoots and clusters within the canopy.

Pruning is the first attempt in the season to balance the vine’s foliage with the crop size.

Shoot thinning As shoots begin to grow, suckering and shoot thinning allow the grower to adjust shoot numbers to achieve optimal distribution, density and leaf

area to ripen the expected crop. It improves canopy configuration by limiting shoot density and is the first effort after bud break to regulate crop size.

Shoot positioning Shoot positioning will improve the canopy performance of almost any training system, whether single or divided, vertical or horizontal. As with shoot thinning, shoot positioning seeks to improve canopy configuration and reduce the amount of shading created by overlapping shoots.

Wire moving is also a key part of shoot positioning. If it is done properly and in a timely manner, it can greatly enhance canopy architecture and reduce the amount of hand positioning needed. Timing is probably more critical for wire moving than any other canopy management practice.

Wires are moved when shoots are rapidly growing. If done too early, the shoots will not stay in place. If too late, it becomes necessary to bend and tuck shoots, which often leads to breakage. Movable catch wires are preferred over fixed wires so they can be pulled away from the canopy and used to sweep shoots inside the wire and into an upward position. In most cases, two to three pairs of movable catch wires are adequate for this task. Shoots can be held in place with wire, plastic clips, or branch locks.

Leaf and lateral removal The purpose of leaf removal is to open up the interior of the canopy to light and air to help promote fruit ripening, reduce disease pressure and increase spray coverage.

If conducted correctly, the benefits to grape quality can be dramatic as exposure can enhance fruit and wine flavor, color and wine texture.

Cooler regions tend to pay much closer attention to leaf removal, early in the season for disease control and later for fruit ripening benefits. In some cool areas such as Long Island of New York or the Willamette Valley of Oregon, as the ripening period stretches into mid- to late October and the sun lowers on the horizon and days are cool, the fruit zone will be completely stripped of leaves to increase the temperature of the berries. The additional heat helps to drive temperature-dependent metabolic processes responsible for the maturation of flavor, color, and phenolic compounds, as well as continue to dissipate methoxypyrazines.

In hot areas, leaves are retained to provide shade and a cooler environment for fruit and may be removed later in the season, even after veraison as the temperatures become cooler, but always with the threat of sunburn if there is an unexpected heat spike.

Leaf removal can also take the form of lateral removal, which is sometimes preferred to retain basal leaves that protect fruit from sunburn while opening the interior of the canopy.

Tunneling is a practice

where lower, interior leaves are removed.

This must be done by hand and is time consuming and expensive.

It may be required where vines have high vigor and bigger canopies.

There are a variety of mechanical leaf removers with different removal mechanisms: pulsed air bursts to shred leaves, fans and blades that cult leaves, and rollers that pull leaves into cutting knives. The trick is to remove the correct amount of leaves in the proper location and avoid damaging fruit in the process. It is easy to bruise berries if they are brushed by a hand or machine, depending on the stage of application.

Other considerations On a vertical shoot position system, other late-season canopy management practices include hedging, often on the sides and top of the canopy. The application of bird nets will also have an effect on canopy configuration and needs to be taken into consideration.

It may be necessary to repeat these canopy management practices later in the season to achieve the desired effect. For example, leaf removal may require an early, mid- and lateseason pass. Crop thin-

ning may also require multiple passes to get the crop size just right.

Insect, disease, and other abiotic causes such as frost, hail, lightning, and wind damage will also impact the vine canopy during the growing season and must be accounted for when considering the amount of leaf area necessary to ripen the grapes. If excessive damage occurs, the crop must be adjusted to reflect the remaining foliage’s ability to fully ripen that fruit.

Summary Canopy and fruit zone management are two distinct concepts and practices that are intertwined and anything done to one will affect the other. Crop size can affect vigor of a vine and is sometimes used to slow down vegetative growth. The canopy represents the solar panels that catch sunlight to convert to sugars and enhance ripening. The sugars also are used for energy to drive plant metabolic processes, including those that synthesize flavor, color, and phenolic compounds that characterize each variety. Manipulation of the canopy has a direct effect on fruit chemistry, composition, and quality.

Source: www.extension.org

A tasting room that’s outside the box

by Sally Colby Dave and Kathy Reid are experienced fruit growers in the Buchanan Valley region of Adams County, Pennsylvania, but growing wine grapes, making wine and selling directly to consumers through a tasting room is a relatively new venture for them.

“For the past 35 years, we’ve grown tree fruit

and small fruits for farmers’ markets,” said Dave Reid. “I’ve been growing Concord and American-type grapes for the market, then in 2002, I put in wine grapes.” In addition to the 20 varieties of table grapes for the fresh market, Reid grows about 20 varieties of wine grapes ranging from classic vinifera to

Sagrantino, an Italian variety from the Umbria region of Italy.

Although Reid wasn’t an experienced winemaker when he first put vines in the ground, he had been a hobby winemaker for many years.

“As we saw the potential for a business,” he said, “I realized that even though I liked red wines, fruit wines would be the

Jeanne Crossland, on left, explains one of the dry red wines offered at Reid’s Orchard and Winery to a visitor from New York.

other half of the business for people who aren’t naturally wine drinkers.”

Reid makes fruit wines with only fresh fruit, including their own strawberries and blueberries whenever possible.

Once the Reids had wine to sell, they created a tasting room on the farm. However, they realized their location wasn’t drawing the customers they knew were seeking wine. “As sales progressed at the home farm, we knew there was no way we would get people out here unless we built something dedicated here, or we could take advantage of the location of Gettysburg,” said Reid. “We’re trying to catch more of the potential sales with the crowd in Gettysburg, so with the tourism trade, it was a natural mix.

What really got us in the door was when we hooked up with the Mason-Dixon Wine Trail.”

The Reids’ tasting room, which is a house located in historic Gettysburg, is now starting its third season. But it isn’t just an ordinary house — it was built in 1820, and is the birthplace of Jenny Wade — the only civilian casualty of the American Civil War Battle of Gettysburg.

The house is a typical 1800s-era building — just what visitors to Gettysburg expect to see — with wide-plank flooring, narrow hallways and small rooms filled with simple yet inviting period décor. As visitors step inside, a greeter provides a bit of a history lesson, then invites guests to try wines. “As people come in, we ask them their preference,” said Reid. “We try to get a feel for what they prefer. We have both dry wines and sweeter dessert wines, so if someone isn’t a dry red drinker, we’ll steer them toward our fruit wines such as blueberry, strawberry or cherry. We try to put people at ease — that’s our focus whether the person is someone who has been to France and back, or just starting to drink wine. We try to find something they’ll like.”

Wine names are reminiscent of Civil War time and place, such as a selection of reds that includes Richmond’s Rebel, Seminary Ridge Red and Angels of the Battlefield. Reid says that people can be easily intimidated by the wealth of knowledge that goes with wine tasting, so the staff aims to put guests at ease and make

wine tasting an enjoyable experience. “We want people to keep an open mind,” said Reid as he explained how staff helps guests taste and select wine. “Sometimes people go out the door with a red wine because they found something they like.”

Downstairs, visitors can view the selection of wines and sample what they like. The upstairs includes a sewing room — Jenny Wade was a seamstress — and the other room is referred to as the upper salon, the room in which Jenny Wade was born. An outdoor patio area behind the house provides an inviting fresh-air spot for wine tasting. Reid noted that it took a year or two to entice customers to visit their intown location, but this season has picked up considerably.

Reid has found that winemaking involves hard science, trial and error, common sense and a lot of reading. “At first we focused on production, then on quality,” he said. “We’ve learned over the years to take it one step at a time.”

Visit Reid’s Orchard and Winery on line at www.reidsorchardwinery.com

The tasting room for Reid's Orchard and Winery is the birthplace of Jenny Wade, located in the historic section of Gettysburg, PA. Photos by Sally Colby

Tasting room traffic and direct to consumer sales mean big money

by Amy Chiurco, The Personnel Perspective Spring is here and as the sun shines down, people look to get out of the house and enjoy the outdoors. What better place to do that than wine country! As they make their way to your tasting room ask yourself this, do you have the right team in place?

Will your staff provide your guests with a memorable experience, one where they leave the tasting room with a better understanding of your wines, and a few bottles to enjoy down the road?

The direct-to-consumer sales channel in the U.S, is set to drive the growth of wine consumption over the next 10 years, with sales rising from 7 million 9-liter cases in 2011 to around 22 million by 2021, according to a new report.

A successful Direct to Consumer program is a

top priority in achieving your winery revenue goals. Just last year, wine industry Direct to Consumer sales grew in value by almost 9 percent. Cutting the “middleman” out and selling wine directly out of the tasting room, through a wine club, from your website, or from phone orders means increased profit.

Having the right person or people handling these responsibilities is essential to achieving revenue success.

Some key roles include: Director of Retail Operations, Hospitality Director, Tasting Room Manager, Wine Club Manager and Director of Direct to Consumer Sales. These are the people representing your brand, selling your product, creating a memorable experience, enticing the customer, and driving your revenue stream.

These people need to be “stars.”

Take a good look at your staff and determine whether you have the team you need to drive continued success. Ask yourself the following questions: Are there any key positions that need to be created? Does any staff member carry too much responsibility?

Do workloads need to shift? Does this mean a new hire is necessary?

It may be time to fine tune your organization in preparation for a successful year.

Keep in mind the skill set you are looking for. For example, a person with a background in fine dining or tourism may be a great candidate for your Director of Hospitality as they will have had practice in creating an experience for their customers. They may also be great un-

der pressure, having run a busy section at a restaurant, or they may have a vast knowledge of the area from their time in tourism, especially the hotel industry. These traits will carry over into their role in your tasting room, allowing them to handle a busy Saturday with ease and field questions like a pro. Looking outside the wine industry can sometimes lead you to that perfect fit.

Now is the time to make sure you maximize on all that you have. Take advantage of your tasting room and the traffic; turn it into profit! With the right team in place and a good Direct to Consumer program you will do just that.

The Personnel Perspective is a wine industry recruiting and HR consulting firm. They are able to help you

Monterey County, California sees rapid growth in wine tasting room visits

Monterey Wine Country has experienced an enormous 40 percent increase in tasting rooms open to the public over the last year. This growth has also contributed to an increase in tasting room guests in Monterey Wine Country, as well as wine tasting being an increasing motivation for travelers to visit the region.

The Monterey County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau Visitation Study, conducted in 2011, noted that 21 percent of visitors participate in wine tasting while in Monterey. The increase in motivation to come to Monterey for a wine country experience is up 50 percent, while those who participated in a wine country experience once in Monterey rose by 40 percent over the same study conducted in 2009.

Guests to the area certainly have more knowledge and access

to the tasting rooms through several new navigational tools that have been developed by the Monterey County Vintners & Growers Association. These include a mobile phone application, wine trail signage, online maps and guides, and artistic murals that depict that viticulture region and are located at key access points along the well traveled Highway 101.

“For winegrowers and winemakers, Monterey is a hotbed of new activity,” said Rhonda Motil, executive director of the Monterey County Vintners & Growers Association. “While many of them have been singing the praises of this region’s unique terroir for decades, others are witnessing it for the first time and are pleased to discover the quality and growth of the region.”

Carmel by the Sea has experienced the strongest growth in

tasting rooms over the last year with the addition of Figge Cellars, Caraccioli Cellars and Coastview Vineyards, while Scheid Vineyards and Wrath Wines have added additional tasting rooms in the picturesque village. In neighboring Carmel Valley, Holman Ranch, Silvestri Vineyards, Dawn’s Dream and Chock Rock Vineyard have joined the scores of others who call the Carmel Valley their home. Additionally, McIntyre Vineyards has opened a tasting studio at the Hyatt in Monterey, Marin’s Vineyard opened their tasting room in Lockwood and Talbott Vineyard’s second location on River Road has added another option along the River Road Wine Trail.

Additional details are available by visiting www.MontereyWines.org or by calling 831-375-9400.

identify the skills needed to meet your goals based on your Direct to Consumer program and

assure you are hiring top performers who will have an impact on your bottom line.

Increasing customer satisfaction improves tasting room sales

Miguel Gomez, assistant professor, Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Manangement, Cornell University, conducted a study measuring customer satisfaction based on attributes of 12 winery tasting rooms in the Finger Lakes region of New

York in 2010. The study showed that customer satisfaction is directly tied to increased sales.

Excellent service and a suitable tasting room increased customer satisfaction, which led to increased wine purchases (on average one more bottle per visit).

Tasting room man-

agers should focus on five areas to improve customer satisfaction and sales: • service, • atmosphere, • tasting experience, • retail execution, and • tasting protocol.

Source: www.extension.org

The study showed that customer satisfaction is directly tied to increased sales - on average one additional bottle per visit.

Photo courtesy of Silenus Vintners

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Wineries Unlimited Trade Show and Conference

by Karl H. Kazaks RICHMOND, VA — Wineries Unlimited, the largest wine trade show in the eastern U.S., held its 36th conference and trade show March 27-29 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. Attendance numbered in the thousands, with well over 200 exhibitors from throughout the U.S. as well as from Canada and Europe. This year’s theme was “Eastern in Scope, Diverse in Flavor.”

The first day of the event was a day-long marketing and customer service seminar billed as Winery DIY. It was led by Elizabeth Slater, founder of In Short Direct Marketing, a consulting business that has for almost 20 years helped wineries and the wine industry build direct sales. She spoke in the day’s first session about designing a messaging strategy.

Messaging, Slater said, is “getting the right information through the right channels to the right people at the right time.” Being consistent and repetitive in your messaging is critically important, she said.

When designing your messaging strategy, Slater advised attendees to think about what sets them apart and to use those unique qualities to build their messaging campaign.

There are several types of messaging. Image messaging includes messages you want customers to remember for a long time. Spot messaging are messages specific and possibly time-limited. Outside mes-

Well over 100 people attended Winery DIY, a day-long how-to seminar on marketing and customer relations for members of the wine industry. Winery DIY was held on the first day of the three-day Wineries Unlimited conference and trade show. sages are messages sent through channels outside of your own business. Inside messages are messages sent through your business itself — how an employee answers the phone, the overall feel of your tasting room, the cleanliness of the parking lot, the information provided by tasting room staff during a tasting, etc.

When designing a message, remember what Slater calls the “Four C’s.” Messages are most effective when they are clear, concise, consistent, and connective — connective meaning they connect the message to the person to whom you are addressing the

Frédéric Kuhlmann, Directeur Général of the Alsatian bottling company Costral, brought one of his multi-closure bottling units to the show. This bottling line can easily switch to accommodate screwcaps, corks, glass stoppers, crowns and a variety of other sealers.

message, getting that person invested or involved in the image you are trying to create.

When messaging, Slater said, it is useful to delineate and define subsets within your target audience. Some messages are more appropriate for different groups (one such group, for example, is the members of a wine club).

Think about how the trend in Internet advertising is to provide targeted advertising to each individual’s recorded preference. Make a record of the preferences you find noteworthy, and tailor your messages based on those preferences.

When planning events, the proper timeline is to send out a save-the-date announcement six months in advance, an invitation three months in advance, a postcard thereafter to those who did not respond to the invitation, and then a reminder e-mail a week in advance. This way you can target not only those who plan well in advance, but also those who wait until the last minute to plan.

When sending e-mails or when working with computer messaging, remember to be unique and distinctive. What’s more, be concise — use white space. Also, create different emails for different target audiences. Finally, always measure your open and click through rates to see what is working in your messaging and what is not.

Later in Winery DIY, Chrysalis Vineyards proprietor Jennifer McCloud spoke about some of her tips to drive tasting room sales. “The goal is not to foster distribution sales,” she said, “but to sell direct.”

At her tasting room, she offers two types of tasting —

Estate and Reserve. The Estate tasting involves seven wines, the Reserve tasting 12 wines. A different size tasting glass is given to different types of tasting customers — that way her tasting room associates will know automatically which type of tasting the customer has purchased.

Ideally, all customers will wait no longer than 15 minutes before starting their tasting. When the wait is longer than that, McCloud will give them a complimentary glass of wine — “something to mollify them.”

Every month Chrysalis sends out an e-newsletter, with various sections, including a guest chef section, reports from The Tasting Room, the Winemaker, and the Vineyard, and a Note from Jenni.

John Springer, a consultant on leadership and teambuilding, spoke about how to foster those qualities in your winery

team. “We start every staff meeting with accolades,” he said, “Who got caught doing it right. I’m telling you people loving hearing their name.” At the end of such meetings, he also asks his team to describe what went right at the meeting — what was effective and what wasn’t, what suited their learning styles, and what would they change about the meeting. Being sensitive to that feedback can create a more involved and productive team.

Later in the conference, a number of sessions were held on marketing, viticulture, and enology. Topics covered at the viticulture sessions included early season leaf removal as a way to reduce bunch rot, vine nutrition effects on grape and wine quality, canopy management, and recent advances in winter protection of grapes.

Enology topics included the influence of yeast strain selection on malolactic fermentation and cryoextraction techniques for sweet production.

Presenters at the informational sessions included a number of leaders in the eastern wine industry, including Michael Shaps, Lucie Morton, Chris Hill, Shep Rouse, and many more, as well as experts from California, Michigan, and beyond.

Wineries Unlimited also included a Tour de Vin where attendees shared bottles of their wine, a Grand Gala with wine tasting and a “Taste of Virginia” menu, as well as wine tasting happy hours in the trade show hall. In short, the event was another successful vintage of Wineries Unlimited.

The 37th Wineries Unlimited is scheduled for March 5-7, 2013, at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.

Francis Durand, left, Master Cooper with Tonnellerie Radoux USA, explains some of the intricacies of cooperage to Robert Jerman, Vice President of Markel, which sells, inter alia, filtration products.

Wineries Unlimited Trade Show and Conference

Trade show attendees take a break from visiting the booths and lectures by partaking in a mid-afternoon wine tasting.

Seth McCombs, winemaker at AmRhein’s Wine Cellars, of Bent Mountain, VA, visited the show with AmRhein’s owner Russ AmRhein.

Bill Hatch, center, of Zephaniah Farm Vineyard of Leesburg, VA, inspects a new Jacto A500 Airblast Sprayer. With him are Steve White, Jacto Regional Sales Manager, at left, and Jim MacKenzie of MacKenzie Ag Consulting of Winchester, VA, a Jacto sales agent.

Photos by Karl Kasaks

John Springer, a leadership and teambuilding expert, spoke about how to foster those traits in winery staff members.

Heiko Beckers, at left, of the German wine industry supplier Clemens, with U.S. offices in Woodland, CA, meets with members of the East Coast wine industry.

Robert Butz, center, is a farmer who grows grapes — planted high-density — in Poolesville, MD. Shep Rouse is the owner and winemaker at Virginia’s Rockbridge Vineyards.

Chris Kearney, marketing manager with Hanna Instruments, at left, talks about lab equipment with Breaux Vineyards’ General Manager Christopher Blosser and Winemaker David Pagan Castaño.

John McLarty, owner of Eaglestone Vineyards in Novia Scotia, at left, looks over a pump with Todd Rausch, MG Newell salesman from Greensboro, NC. The Waukesha Cherry-Burrell PD pump has a unique close coupled design that works well in wineries. Eaglestone Vineyards grows primarily hybrid varietals, due to its northerly location.

Workshop attendees encouraged to take starting a new vineyard, slowly at first

by Jon M. Casey “Start slowly, one or two acres at first,” ad-

vised Mark Chien, Viticulture Extension Educator for Penn State Uni-

versity Cooperative Extension, during a daylong “New Grape Grower Workshop,” held following the Eastern Winery Exposition in Lancaster, PA. Chien, who along with Dr. Joe Fiola, Viticulture and Small Fruit Specialist for the University of Maryland, and Drs. John and Noemi Halbrendt of the PSU Dept. of Plant Pathology, emphasized the pitfalls of starting a new vineyard in the Mid-Atlantic growing area by reminding everyone that the money from grape growing comes primarily from the production of wine.

“In the 10 years that I have been in Pennsylvania, the number of vineyards has shrunk by 50 percent,” said Chien.

“People realize that the money is in wine. Routinely most people who start a vineyard are planning to have a winery.” However, Chien also said a grower who does an excellent job of

Workshop 15

Dr. Joe Fiola, Viticulture and Small Fruits Specialist at the University of Maryland, encouraged participants to purchase the Wine Grape Production Guide for Eastern North America as an essential startup resource for the new vineyard grower.

Workshop from 14 growing quality grapes, will always be able to find a market for the fruit they harvest, even if they do not own a winery. “Winery operators always have a way of finding grape growers who produce a high quality grape.”

Chien went on to explain some of the things that growers need to start a vineyard, emphasizing that the new grower does extensive research before purchasing vines and establishing a crop. He stressed the importance of this,

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With tongue in cheek, Chien occasionally would ask the group if he had sufficiently discouraged any of the participants from beginning a vineyard. He wanted to know because he has recognized through the years that the degree of commitment required to oversee the successful

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Dr. John Halbrendt, nematologist, Dept. of Plant Pathology, PSU, discussed nematodes and grapevine viruses during one presentation.

establishment of a vineyard in this region, is extraordinary.

“It takes a lot of passion to grow grapes,” he said. “The moment you lose that passion, the moment you do not have the desire to go outside and tend the vines, the vines recognize that immediately and they reflect that in the quality of grape and the quality of the wine. That passion has to be enduring for you to be successful.”

Chien reiterated that growing grapes requires the grower's full attention, virtually yearround. “You will never have another summer vacation,” he said in all sincerity. He lamented the number of times he receives telephone calls from distressed growers who have returned from a time away from their vineyard, only to find the grower's plants are infested with disease or insects or other pests have devastated the crop.

Dr. John Halbrendt, a nematologist at the Penn State Department of Plant Pathology, agreed.

He went on to discuss

some of the plant viruses grape growers will eventually face should they choose to grow a vineyard in the Mid-Atlantic region. He said there are a number of ways viruses can be transmitted throughout the vineyard.

Those methods include being introduced by man in the form of grafting and root cuttings, via pollen and seeds, from insects and mites, from nematodes and through other forms such as root grafting, dodder and unknown ways as well.

“Broadleaf weeds may harbor these viruses and need to be controlled at all times.”

He highlighted symptoms of virus infection, which include foliar discoloration or deformity, changes in growth or maturity timelines, fruit deformation, lack of vigor and decline in the plant's growth, and the inability for the plants to cope with other stress factors. He suggested the grower be sure to kill an infected vine completely before removing it from the vineyard. He recommended drilling a hole in the infected vine and inserting a plant killing chemical in that one vine, to kill the roots and all, before pulling out the entire plant. In this way, the remnants of the plant will not live on to infect other plants or the vine that is replaced in the diseased plant's location. Prevention of virus infection is a must.

In an overview of the equipment, supplies and materials needs for the new vineyard grower, Chien provided extensive lists of small and large items a grower might inventory however, he encouraged the group to be cautious about rushing out to buy a lot of equipment before determining their individual need.

“Whether it is a pruning shear or a four-wheeldrive tractor that you are considering, they all are very important to consider when starting a vineyard,” he said. “You will want to purchase these things from a reliable source. It would be helpful to get recommendations from growers in your area so that you can have the kind of suppliers that will help

Workshop 16

California Agriculture License Plate to make its debut in 2013

by Karen Ross, California Agriculture Secretary We did it! Congratulations to the agricultural community, FFA and everyone who made this opportunity to create a California agriculture license plate a reality! We have collected 8,355 plate orders — surpassing DMV’s threshold of 7,500 applications to establish a California Special Interest License Plate.

The California Agriculture License Plate will support future generations of farmers and ranchers through agricultural education, career awareness,

career training and youth leadership programs.

Proceeds generated through plate renewal fees will be awarded to agricultural education groups to support youth education and enrichment. It is anticipated that the first funding for educational programs will become available in July 2013.

CDFA is still working with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to incorporate the license plate into official order forms and online registration — these should become available before the end of this year. Updates will be posted to the CalAgPlate

facebook and twitter accounts.

If you would like to join the agriculture community and order a license plate today, applications are being accepted and processed through the DMV. Simply complete the order form, print “CAL AG PLATE” at the top of the document, and follow payment and mailing instructions.

The Cal Agriculture License Plate is a great achievement for the agricultural community. Special thanks to all those individuals who made this initiative a success.

he said.

In other presentations throughout the day, the Drs. Halbrendt, Fiola and Chien covered several other important topics for eventual success in growing quality grapes.

Those included vineyard design and site preparation; trellis construction, planting and plant materials; early vine training, nutrition and care; diseases and disease control; and insect week and vertebrate pest management. In all, more than 60 participants concluded the day knowing that starting a new vineyard would ultimately need to be a “labor of love.”

For more information on future Grape Grower Workshops, contact

sion College of Agricultural Sciences, 1383 Arcadia Road, Lancaster,

Workshop from 15

you to have a successful vineyard. Always consider the service that you will get after the sale when the equipment breaks.”

Dr. Joe Fiola, Viticulture and Small Fruits Specialist at the University of Maryland, discussed the process of site selection and how to pick varieties of grapes and spacing to grow the best quality grapes. He recommended growers pick the varieties of grapes that consistently grow well in the grower's respective locations, rather than picking grape varieties based on the grower's favorite kind of wine.

“Remember, this is a business,” he said.

“You need to get grapes every year. Certain varieties will not tolerate local winters in the northeast and mid-Atlantic and they may not ripen properly. You want vines that will

provide high quality grapes every year. In this area, you will need to select varieties that will make it through the winter.”

Fiola emphasized that the growers become familiar with the science behind the sites that the growers select for their vines. “Do you ultimately want to produce a $10 bottle of wine or a $50 bottle of wine?” he asked. “In the selection of your varieties, it is best to know the quality that you are seeking so that you can find the right place and variety to plant and the difficulties that go along with raising these varieties.”

He reminded them that humidity, disease, temperature, rainfall, seasonal variances, micro-climates, and various other parameters will affect how well the growers do. “Remember, at the end of the growing season, you need living plants in your vineyard!”

Mark L. Chien, Viticulture Educator, Penn State Cooperative Exten-

PA 17601, Tel: 717-3946851 or e-mail at: mlc12@psu.edu.

Mark L. Chien, Viticulture Extension Educator for PSU, covered a variety of topics during the daylong event.

Photos by Jon M. Casey

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“This project has the potential to benefit every winery and food processor in California and across the nation,” according to Choudhury. “The development of green chemistry and

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groundwater, communities and the environment as a whole.”

The wastewater salinity and disposal issues are raising big questions about the future of wine making and food processing, particularly in the San Joaquin Valley of California because of ever increasing treatment costs, limited wastewater treatment capacity in some areas, and increased regulatory requirements. These challenges are mirrored in winery and grape processing facilities throughout the United States. Salinity discharge associated with cleaning and sanitizing food processors and wineries can account for nearly 50 percent of the total salinity discharged from a facility. If this source is effectively controlled, it will have a significant impact on the overall environmental impact of these types of operations.

The overall goal of the project is to test and adapt or develop green physical and/or chemical approaches to reduce wastewater salinity and fresh water use during cleaning operations in winery and food processing plants. The specific objectives are to: Review green chemicals and/or processes for cleaning plant and equipment in allied industries; Work with suppliers to modify green cleaning approaches to meet industry need and environmental standards; Develop analytical methods to determine soil load and successful cleaning operation; Develop new physical and chemical approaches for cleaning; Examine potential reduction of wastewater salinity and fresh water use; Determine economics of the green approaches; Facilitate industry-wide adoption; and Measure industry-wide impact.

Results of the research will be shared with the grape industry in California and across the U.S. Source: National Grape and Wine Initiative

Patience pays off at Leonard Oakes Estate Winery

Wine bottling is a small scale affair with a staff of three people. Alongside American White Oak and French Oak barrels, their vintage of Blanc d’Orleans will enter bottles, six at a time.

Oakes family expects to grape growing. When

by Jennifer Wagester LYNDONVILLE, NY — achieve profitability in possible, equipment alIf taste is an indicator of 2013 or 2014, a decade ready on the farm was success, Leonard Oakes after vines were planted. used to establish the Estate Winery has a The winery could have vineyard, and since bright future. This young purchased juice to begin grapes ripen when apwinery is about to winemaking immediate- ples ripen, picking crews change the way people ly. However, waiting for hired for the season view Cayuga White, their own fruit was worth along with many other it. The terroir has made Leonard Oaks 19 native grapes grown in all the difference.

Achieving top quality the Niagara Region.

Their secret: patience fruit has taken signifiand an excellent wine- cant trial and error. The Oakes family worked maker.

Leonard Oakes Estate with a Dunkirk area Winery is part of Ly- nursery to identify clinOaken Farms. The win- mate-adapted varieties. ery’s namesake, Leonard Sixteen were selected Oakes, established the and planted in the 2003 farm in 1918. Apples, test plot. Of those 16, the poultry and tomatoes top performers were were initially grown. In planted in an additional 1951, the farm shifted nine acres. Riesling, its focus to fruit, with Cabernet Franc, and apples as the main crop. Cayuga White performed Today, LynOaken Farms well. Pinot Grigio and grows 260 acres of ap- Sauvignon Blanc did not ples, 50 acres of tart take the cold. Pinot Noir cherries, 20 acres of proved high maintepeaches and 15 acres of nance.

Jonathan Oakes adgrapes. The grapes were planted in 2003 and are mits establishing a vinethe source of Leonard yard would have been daunting without L yOakes wine.

Patience can be nOaken Farms’ fruit proexperience. painful given the amount duction of capital needed to es- Techniques like site and tablish productive fields, varietal selection, soil harvest fruit, and trans- preparation and Inteform it into wine years grated Pest Management before producing a honed in apple producsaleable product. The tion lent themselves to

Winemaker Jonathan Oakes and his grandmother and family matriarch Wanda Oakes assist with bottling.

Kentucky grapes and wineries building momentum

COVINGTON, KY (AP) — Homegrown grapes and small wineries are returning to Kentucky and bringing back a tradition that made the Bluegrass State the country’s third largest grape- and wine-producing state before Prohibition.

In 1998, there were only 40 acres of wine grapes in commercial vineyards in Kentucky, but The Kentucky Enquirer reports (http://bit.ly/Iax8N8) that today more than 113 grape producers are growing 583 acres of grapes. There are also 60 small farm wineries in the commonwealth.

Vineyards cover part of the hillside above Mark Schmidt’s 19th-century stone home in Covington, where vines grew between 1877 and 1922. Late this year, he hopes to be making wines from the nearly two acres of red

dornfelder grapes, which produce inky red wines popular in Germany.

These modern-day wineries are dealing with all the same agricultural issues as other farmers in Kentucky including pests and weather.

Schmidt would have started producing wine two years ago, but birds started eating all the grapes. He installed a bird netting last year, but then faced another critter.

“The entire crop is gone,” he said.

“And I had over 2,000 pounds of grapes. I mean, I had a really nice crop.”

A fellow winemaker, Julie Clinkenbeard of Atwood Hill Winery, located about three miles south of Independence, helped solve his mystery missing fruit.

“She said, ‘Raccoons. They got

you,’” Schmidt recalled, laughing.

“Two-thousand pounds of grapes, in 10 days.”

Dennis Walter, president of the Northern Kentucky Vintners and Grape Growers Association, said raccoons are a common problem for the new vineyards in Kentucky. “They like grapes,” Walter confirmed.

But he said local growers are doing well at re-establishing grapes in the state.

“I think they’re all holding their own,” he said. “I mean, you don’t do something where you lose a lot of money very long.”

Walter, who also is chairman of the Kentucky Grape and Wine Council, said Kentucky’s wines have been winning medals and praise at wine shows, but he’d also like to see the

Kentucky State Fair become a showcase for the commonwealth’s wines and market them to visitors.

“The state fair, it treats wine kind of like it does a prize watermelon. Yeah, you win a blue ribbon and it sits out there and everybody looks at it, and that’s it,” he said. “It really has no lasting effect.”

The early spring brought more customers to local wineries looking for outdoor activities and views of the vineyards.

Walter, whose StoneBrook Winery makes a popular vidal blanc wine, said he’s bought more grapes locally than ever before because they are growing in sales.

“It’s our first grape we’ve ever planted, our first wine we ever made, and it’s been well received,” he said.

Wine industry tees up 12th Annual Wine Cup

CASHMERE, WA — The Washington Wine Industry Foundation (WWIF) tees up its 12th Annual Wine Cup® Monday, July 9, at Meadow Springs Country Club in Richland. The shotgun golf scramble begins at 1 p.m.

Wine industry supporters, golf fanatics, wine connoisseurs and anyone who just wants to have fun are invited to get their foursome together for one of the Foundation’s strongest annual fundraisers.

“Besides the golf, this tournament provides two substantial benefits to participants,” says Board Chairman Roger Gamache of Gamache Vineyards in Mesa, WA. “When you get involved in activities with the Foundation you support a resource for your company’s sustainability; essentially, you invest in your own sustainability. The networking,

with both industry and non-industry people — from all over the state — has its own value, too.”

The Wine Industry Foundation is a nonprofit that provides resources to meet the needs of the Washington wine industry through scholarships, education and research grants, funding industry needs, and offering a home to memorials.

Golfers get 18 holes of golf at the premier golf and country club in Washington, an evening wine reception, awards dinner, goody bag, and prizes — including getaways to top Northwest golf destinations — all for $125 registration.

This year, the Foundation has added events for non-golfers. Spend the afternoon wine tasting or cycling, and then join your colleagues for the awards dinner. “Bike tour options include a leisure-

ly 20-mile ride on the Sacajawea Trail that goes from Richland to south of Pasco along the river with a good pub at the half-way point,” says this year’s volunteer organizer of the non-golf activities, Bill Mundy of Mundy Farms, Cle Elum, WA. A wine tour to Prosser’s Vintners Village is also available. The bike tour is $75 and the wine tour is $85 and both include lunch and dinner.

Sponsorships are available and those signed up include: Champoux Vineyards, Lafitte Cork & Capsule, Chandler Reach Vineyards, Coventry Vale Winery, Stoel Rives, and Horse Heaven Hills Wine Growers.

To register a team, sponsor or donate prizes, contact info@washingtonwinefoundation.org or call 509-782-1108.

Leonard Oaks from 18

could help with grape harvesting.

These shared resources help keep costs down.

Jonathan Oakes is part of the fourth generation at L ynOaken Farms. He oversees grape production and is the winemaker. Jonathan’s patient vigilance comes out in every glass. Constantly monitoring grapes as they mature to harvest them at the correct time, and then selecting winemaking practices to match the result-

ing fruit, has allowed the winery to produce a sophisticated product from grape varieties many connoisseurs don’t take seriously.

Currently, Leonard Oakes bottles single varieties or blends to produce 23 different wines. Overtime this broad range will be pared down to a selection of signature wines. The Blanc d’Orleans, named for the winery’s home county of Orleans, is one that will stay.

This smooth, crisp wine is created by

treating Cayuga White like Sauvignon Blanc. Its fresh taste without a hint of grapey flavor sets it apart from traditionally processed Cayuga Whites. The Cabernet Franc and lesser known Frontenac are also keepers. The Cabernet Franc yields a silky fruit flavor that can be enjoyed alone or paired with food. The Frontenac’s bold, oakinflected taste lends itself to pairing with steak or Italian cuisine.

Wine production at Leonard Oakes is small at 6,000 cases a year. One of LynOaken Farms’ cold storage buildings was divided into three sections to house wine production. Each section has its own temperature setting to accommodate fermenting, aging, bottling, and storing a range of varieties.

Jonathan Oakes utilizes a selection of American White Oak and French Oak barrels in varying toasts. Medium toast adds vanilla and butterscotch like flavors while heavy toast contributes coffee and spice. French Oak, with its tighter grain, is for wines requiring a longer aging process. While the oak barrels are used primarily for reds, Chardonnay and other whites benefit from oak as well. Stainless steal is also used for wines requiring crisp, clean characteristics.

Bottling is a small scale affair. Six bottles fill at a time and are corked individually. The bottles are then packaged by hand into case boxes labeled with the wine’s name and vintage.

From there, each bottle is labeled and

then housed before being distributed.

Bottle labels include the wine’s placement on the International Riesling Foundation (IRF) scale, which helps consumers match wines to their tastes. The IRF scale moves from dry and medium dry to medium sweet and sweet based upon the wine’s sugar to acid ratio and pH. About 85 percent of Leonard Oakes wine is sold directly to the consumer.

Retail sales are conducted through the LynOaken Farms store, which includes a tasting room that is open to the public seven days a week. Wine is also sold at local farm markets and events. The remaining 15 percent of sales are to local restaurants and retailers. Leonard Oakes’ license as an on-farm winery allows it to distribute wine without outsourcing to a wine distributor.

While Leonard Oakes Estate Winery is new, the Oakes family is optimistic about its future. Their patience and focus on quality has been rewarded with unique wines with wide-appeal. As signature wines are established, careful expansion will be considered. However, Wendy Oakes Wilson, president of Leonard Oakes, does not foresee expansion beyond 11,000 cases. A modest size ensures their patience will continue producing wines worthy of bearing the name Leonard Oakes.

More information about Leonard Oakes Estate Winery is available online at oakeswinery.com.

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E-mail: classified@leepub.com

Fencing

Fencing

SHAMROCK FARMS (585) FENCING 669-2179

DAN FITZPATRICK

8408 CARNEY HOLLOW RD., WAYLAND, NY 14572 Sales & Installations Building Since 1981

• Posts • Board • Split Rail • HT Wire • Vinyl • Energizers

Lumber & Wood Products LOCUST POSTS, POLES, Split Rails, 6x6’s, 4x4’s, other hardwood boards and planks, custom cut. Also lots, land cleared, woodlots wanted.

518-883-8284.

Maintenance & Repair

POST T POUNDER R FOR R RENT

All your fencing supplies at one location

Calendar of Events Maintenance & Repair

Attention Building Owners

Treated posts of all sizes, high tensile accessories, energizers, gates and much more.

2033 Brothertown Rd., Deansboro, NY 13328 Phone: (315) 841-4910 Fax: (315) 841-4649 Hrs.: Mon.-Fri. 8am-4pm; Sat. 8-Noon www.williamsfarmfence.com

Don’t tear down Your failing structures.

We can repair them.

Supplier of Organic Feed and Fertilizer

Fencing

STABLE FENCES & VINEYARDS LLC

POST POUNDING

3 Board • Split Rail HT Wire • Ag Fence Chain Link • Vinyl Residential • Commercial www.stablefences.com

585-349-4119 Fertilizer & Fertilizer Spreading SCHAFER LIQUID FISH FERTILIZER, 100% Organic OMRI listed. For pricing call WIGFIELD FARMS, Clyde, NY 14433, 315-727-3910

Do You Grow or Sell Fruits, Vegetables, Greenhouse or Nursery Crops?

If You Answered Yes You May be Interested in Our

Country Folks Grower T M T P F C H HE ONTHLY RADE APER OR OMMERCIAL ORTICULTURE

CALL

888-596-5329 For a Free Sample

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After

Performing structural renovations and general construction since 1965. With having been involved in over 30,000 projects we feel confident we can solve your problems

Woodford Bros., Inc. Box 108, Apulia Station, NY 13020 1-800-OLD-BARN WWW.1-800-OLD-BARN.COM Orchard Equipment

Scales

FOR SALE: New Hy-Lo orchard heaters, $70.00 each.

434-263-5392

SCALES: All types of scales, new & used, special 4x4, 5000x1-pound. Legal for trade. $1,400. 800-200-9970, 916-600-8336

E-mail announcements of your regional event(s) to: jkarkwren@leepub.com. We must receive your information, plus a contact phone number, prior to the deadline that’s noted under the Announcements heading at the beginning of these Classifieds. *****

AUG 16 International Cold Climate Wine Competition University of MN Continuing Education Conference Center.

On Internet at www.mn grapegrowers.com/competition NOV 28 International Cold Climate Grape and Wine Conference Germany. Details soon: International Association for Northern Viticulture.

JAN 29-31 Unified Grape & Wine Consortium Sacramento Convention Center, Sacramento, CA. On Internet at

4 EASY WAYS TO PLACE A WINE & GRAPE GROWER CLASSIFIED AD 1. PHONE IT INJust give Peggy a call at 1-800-836-2888

2.FAXForIT INyou MasterCard,Visa,American

Express or Discover customers.. Fil out the form attached completely and fax to Peggy at (518) 673-2381

3.

Real Estate For Sale For Sale

Generators

NOBODY beats our prices on Voltmaster PTO Alternators, Sizes 12kw-75kw. Engines Sets and Portables Available.

MOELLER SALES 1-800-346-2348

For Sale

Horse Equipment 3 SETS LEATHER Draft Horse harnesses w/lines, $800/set, E.C. Collars/halters & bridles available. 607-2444927/607-647-5702

CHRISTMAS TREE FARM and split level house. Unique entrepreneurial opportunity, earn a second income, fourth bedroom off family room and office, large closets and pristine floors, open kitchen atmosphere, 2½ baths. $249,900.00 Bloomfield,CT 860-989-2783 ORGANIC DAIRY FARM/ CREAMERY, 318 acres. 8 miles from Cooperstown,NY. Two 3 bedroom homes, 100 cow freestall, Double 6 milking parlor. Many outbuilding for young stock, hay & equipment. New cheese room, aging facility & solar electric system. 200 acres fenced for grazing. $998,500. 607-2869362

4.

Sprayers

Parts, Sales & Service for Durand-Wayland & Myers Arendtsville Garage 135A Main St. • Arendtsville, PA 17303

717-677-7416

www.unifiedsymposium.org JUL 29 Minnesota Grape Growers Association Annual Picnic Round Lake Vineyard, 30124 State Hwy 264 Round Lake, MN. On Internet at http://mngrapegrowers.com /mgga-annual-picnic1 FEB 7 Midwest Grape & Wine Conference & Trade Show St. Charles, MO Convention Center.

On Internet at www.midwestgrape andwineconference.com FEB 21-23 Minnesota Grape Growers Association (MGGA) Cold Climate Conference Crown Plaza, St. Paul. MN. On Internet at http://mngrapegrowers.com /conference MAR 6-7 Eastern Winery Exposition Lancaster County Convention Center & Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square, PA. On Internet at http:// easternwineryexposition.com MAR 12-14 Wineries Unlimited Greater Richmond Convention Center, Richmond, VA. On Internet at www.wineriesunlimited.com

MAIL IT IN Fil out the attached form, calculate the cost,enclose your check or credit card information and mail to: Wine & Grape Grower Classifieds PO Box 121, Palatine Bridge,NY 13428

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$14.95

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Regional Horticulture

Country Folks Grower is the regional newspaper for all segments of commercial horticulture since 1991. Each monthly issue is filled with important news, information, and advertising for the Greenhouse, Nursery, Garden center, Landscaper, Fruit, Vegetable Grower and Marketers.

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LEE PUBLICATIONS PO Box 121, 6113 State Hwy., Palatine Bridge, NY 13428 800-218-5586 • FAX 518-673-2381

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MISCO puts laboratory bench-top precision in the palm of your hand

The Palm Abbe line of handheld digital refractometers provides an instant digital “field” determination of grape ripeness, grape-must concentration, grapemust density, and sugar content, as well as the po-

tential and actual alcohol content of the finished wine. Measurements are made with a precision comparable to mid-range bench-top refractometers costing thousands of dollars more.

“With the Palm Abbe, we are able to break price and performance barriers previously unattainable by handheld digital refractometers,” says Michael Caminer, MISCO Director of Marketing. “These wine refractometers represent the most complete line of dedicated wine testing instruments ever assembled.”

Certain models display prompts and measurements in English, Spanish, French, German, or Russian. Other models are available with scales for various international units of measure including Baume, Brix, Oechsle, KMV, Babo, specific gravity, alcoholic strength, etc. Users have the flexibility to mix and match up to five different scales on some Palm Abbe models, giving them the ability to create truly custom wine testing instruments.

Protection against inaccurate readings due to temperature differences, a major concern in refractive index measurement, is assured with nonlinear temperature compensation specific to grape juices. Temperature compensation is automatic for fluids read between 0 and 50 °C (+32 to 122 °F).

The stainless-steel sample well requires only a couple of drops of fluid to take measurements. A simple, user-friendly interface consists of two buttons: one to take readings and the other to step through various menu options. A large, dual-line, multilingual LCD display is easily read, even in dim light.

The digital refractometer removes the subjectivity associated with analog refractometers that require users to interpret where a boundary line crosses tiny scale divisions. Calibration of the Palm Abbe is automatic and does not require special calibration solutions or tools; they automatically calibrate themselves to water.

MISCO 24

LIVE program receives international endorsement

The Northwest-based Low Input Viticulture and Enology (LIVE) program was awarded an official international endorsement of its independent, third-party sustainable vineyard and winery certification program from the International Organization for Biological Control of Noxious Plants and Animals (IOBC).

The IOBC promotes the use of sustainable, environmentally safe, eco-

Misco from 23

The following standard instruments and scales are available: VINO1 - Brix, Baume, Oechsle, KMV, and Sugar Content (g/L) VINO2 - Brix and Sugar Content (g/L) VINO3 - Baume and Sugar Content (g/L) VINO4 - Oechsle and Sugar Content (g/L) VINO5 – Mass Fraction, Sugar Content (g/L), Estimated Alcohol, Actual Alcohol, Specific Gravity VINO6 – Brix, Sugar Content (g/L), Estimated Alcohol, Actual Alcohol, Specific Gravity PA201 – Brix Only For more information, please call (216) 8311000, or visit MISCO’s website at www.misco.com.

A world leader in the refractometer field, MISCO is headquartered in Cleveland, OH, home to the company for more than 55 years. MISCO designs, manufacturers and sells a variety of refractometers, including: digital bench-top laboratory refractometers, inline process control refractometers, digital handheld refractometers, and traditional handheld instruments.

The Danville Edger allows chemicals to be applied precisely around vineyard plants with no drifting onto plants.

Roller is 6" tall with dense paint roller material attached to it.

Tank capacity 5 quarts Interchangeable rollers: 4" 6" 12" and 18"

From $199.90 0 to o $205.90 Price includes freight

Danvillee Industriess 124 West Main Harper, KS 67058 800-662-4212 / 620-896-7126 www.danvillenodrift.com MC/Visa/Discover/Check

nomically feasible and socially acceptable control methods of pests and diseases.

LIVE is the certification of limiting raw material inputs including pesticides, fertilizer, water, chemicals and fuel used in vineyard and winery production. LIVE has over 25,000 farm acres enrolled throughout Oregon and Washington. Producers must complete two years of membership

under rigorous standards before achieving certification. Members must undergo third-party inspections to verify their practices.

Each year, LIVE must apply for endorsement by the IOBC to continue operating under its standards of sustainable winegrowing. This international endorsement proves compliance to GLOBALGAP standards (www.globalgap.org), a recognized

and highly-regarded standard for agricultural production. Certified LIVE members are also internationally certified by the IOBC. Registered as a non-profit in 1999, the Oregon-based LIVE program has been certifying vineyards since 1997. The mission of LIVE is to preserve human and natural resources in the wine industry of the Pacific Northwest.