Mark Chien's Wine Grape Information for the Region

Notes from the newsletter follow.
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Contents:

• Pennsylvania Research Symposium on May 23 at Penn State
• Grape IPM guides and information
• BIG research at work: solving grape growing and wine making challenges
• Do you know eViticulture?

Penn Research Symposium: To be held Wednesday, May 23rd, 8:30am to 5:30pm. Get up to date on the latest in V & E research from around the region including controlling vine vigor in the Eastern US, YAN and fermentation, cold climate viticulture practices, spotted wing drosophila and grape berry moth, sensory and wine chemistry research at Penn State, and a tasting of wines from the wine grape variety trial.

Grape IPM Guides: Changing weather patterns make for a challenging season. "After a burst of warm weather it has cooled considerably which can cause new and emerging shoots to stall, leaving them susceptible to damage from insects and diseases, and early spring nutrient deficiencies."
Recommended IPM guides mentioned:

• NY-PA Pest Management Guidelines for Grapes
• Vineyard Pest Management Tool Kit (Jeanette Smith)
• Developing an Effective Fungicide Spray Program for Wine Grapes in Ohio (Mike Ellis, Ohio State)
• Workbook for Developing a Successful Fungicide Spray Program for Wine Grapes in Virginia  and Virginia Grape Diseases Update Blog (Mizuho Nita)
• Long Island Fruit and Vegetable Update (Alice Wise, Cornell)
• Practical Winery and Vineyard has updates on Controlling Powdery Mildew, Overcoming fungicide resistance, Use of Horticultural Oils in Chardonnay (Wayne Wilcox, Cornell)

Big Research at Work - solving grape growing and wine making challenges:
Two significant multi-region trans-disciplinary projects funded by the USDA-NIFA Specialty Crops Research Initiative are underway in the East:

• Improved grape and wine quality in a challenging environment: An eastern US model for sustainability and economic vitality (Tony Wolf, VT, project director) Cover crop usage; Understanding the complex relationships between light and temperature, canopy and yield metrics to "design" the ideal balanced vine for high quality wine grape production.
• Northern grapes: Integrated viticulture, winemaking, and marketing of new cold hardy cultivars supporting new and growing rural wineries (Tim Martinsion, Cornell, project director) Check out the monthly webinars on managing acidity in wines, canopy management, grape disease management (focus on anthracnose). Planned webinars - stabilizing sweet wines on May 8, winery sanitation on June 12.

e-Viticulture: A collaboration of viticulture extension educators to place collective knowledge and experience in one place.