Here is the situation so far at various reporting weather stations across the state in our commercial growing regions. Station GDD (50F base) Lexington 1578 Owensboro 1898 Louisville 1689 Quicksand 1578 Maysfield 1898 Covington 1578 You can also get growing degree day accumulation reports at the following URL: http://wwwagwx.ca.uky.edu/cgi-bin/generic_dd_www.pl for more locations throughout the state. These data are courtesy of the Agriculture Weather Center at the University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture.
Cultivars are at post-berry touch for wine grapes. Marquis and Mars are at 20% veraison in Lexington. Pictures of grape phenology (growth stages) can also be found at Michigan State's Grape Pages, maintained by Mark Longstroth, MSU Cooperative Extension: Concord: http://web1.msue.msu.edu/fruit/concrdgw.htm Chardonnay: http://web1.msue.msu.edu/fruit/chargrw.htm
UK Hosts First Viticulture Field Day with Kentucky Vineyard Society
By Aimee Nielson
LEXINGTON, Ky., (July 11, 2007) - When Robert Miller started reorganizing the Kentucky Vineyard Society in the early 1980s, Kentucky only had two bonded wineries. This was a stark difference from the state's heyday before prohibition when grapes were a more popular crop than tobacco. In the last 20-plus years, growers have increasingly returned to grapes and the industry has made a comeback. Now with more than 40 licensed wineries in the state and more than 700 acres planted in wine grapes, growers look to the University of Kentucky to provide guidance and expertise in getting the highest quality crop possible.
Recently UK hosted its first Viticulture Field Day at the Horticulture Research Farm in Lexington. Kaan Kurtural, UK viticulturist said the turnout for the event was exceptional. "We only had about 45 people sign up," he said. "But, more than 90 actually showed up and that speaks well of this growing industry. People are excited about growing grapes and making wine in Kentucky and they are looking to us at UK to show them how to do it right."
Kurtural is in his third year at UK, along with enologist Tom Cottrell. Both came to UK's horticulture department in 2005 thanks to funding from the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board through the Kentucky Grape and Wine Council. UK Department of Horticulture Chair Dwayne Ingram hopes the positions will both be made permanent. "We're just touching the tip of the iceberg in what we can do in the industry in this state," he said to the crowd gathered at the July 7 field day. "We have had cooperation from horticulture, plant pathology and even landscape architecture and others. They say 7-7-07 is a lucky day. To me, lucky is when preparedness meets opportunity and we are becoming prepared for opportunities in this industry."
Participants listened to grape and wine experts from Kentucky and other states and also got out in the vineyard to learn about canopy management, crop estimation, vineyard mechanization and spray machinery. They also learned about managing insects and pests like the Japanese beetle. After the Easter freeze, many growers suffered significant vineyard losses. Plant pathologist John Hartman talked to growers about the importance of managing diseases in a year with little or no-crop. Kurtural stressed the importance of French-American hybrid varieties in surviving and thriving despite Kentucky's unpredictable weather patterns. In between sessions and at lunch, growers pulled out vine samples to show the experts and get opinions on problems they may be having in their vineyards.
Kentucky Vineyard Society President Chuck Smith said there is a lot of excitement among the state's grape growers and wine makers about the future of the industry. He also said there's a lot of work to do. "I used to be a dairy and tobacco farmer. This isn't as hard as milking cows, but man sometimes I wish I had a crop of tobacco," he said to a response of laughter. "It's a challenging business and you have to make sure you do your research before you jump in with both feet." The day ended with a supervised educational tasting of UK and other Midwestern wines conducted by Cottrell.
For more information about grapes and wine in Kentucky, contact Kurtural at 859-257-1332, Tom Cottrell at 859-257-0037 or the Kentucky Vineyard Society at http://www.kentuckyvineyardsociety.org.
Leaf pulling is one of the steps in canopy management. It is done well before veraison but never after to avoid sun burn and berry cracking. The leaves on the shade side of the canopy are pulled. If the vineyard runs North-South, pull leaves on the East side of the canopy. If the vineyard runs East-West, then pull the leaves on the North Side. One to three basal leaves are removed around the cluster to ameliorate, exposure of clusters, air flow hence drying time and spray penetration into the canopy. Leaf pulling can be done by hand or mechanically. The figures below depict how the canopy looks before and after leaf pulling.
The American Society for Enology and Viticulture Eastern Section's annual technical conference and symposium will be held near Allentown, Pennsylvania on July 15-17. The site for the meeting is the Holiday Inn Conference Center in the heart of the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail http://www.lehighvalleywinetrail.com/
This is the best opportunity of the year for growers and researchers to interact and learn what the other is doing in the lab and in the field! The conference begins with a bus tour of four wineries in the Lehigh Valley on Sunday, July 15. At each site the proprietor will lead a tour of the vineyard and winery and offer a tasting. A special lunch and dinner with local wines are part of the program. July 16 and 17 are devoted to the business of ASEV-ES, that is, presenting the latest in homegrown viticulture and enology research that will have a direct benefit to the wine industry in the Eastern Section region.
The theme for this year's symposium is "Soil Moisture and Vine Vigor." Grape growers in the Midwest and East know that vine vigor, usually too much of it, is a constant challenge to achieving a balanced vine and high wine quality. A distinguished group of researchers will address this issue. Graduate student and invited papers will fill out the program.A full program and registration will be mailed and on the ASEV-ES web site soon.
One of the society's key functions is to award graduate scholarships. Thanks to a successful benefit auction at Wineries Unlimited there are funds to distribute to successful scholarship candidates this year.
ASEV-ES is all about good food and wine and celebrating our industry. The awards banquet will be held on Monday and a Pennsylvania wine lunch on Tuesday. There will be plenty of wines from around the Eastern Section region to be tasted.
While grapes and wines will be the focus for three days there are plenty of activities for those who want something else to do. Nearby attractions include Dorney Amusement Park and the Crayola Crayon Factory in Easton and Pennsylvania Dutch country. The Holiday Inn Lehigh Valley Conference Center (http://www.hilehighvalley.com/) will be the location for our meeting. It is very conveniently located near the junctions of I-78, Rt 100, the PA Turnpike (I-476). A special ASEV-ES conference room rate is being offered (mention this when making your reservation). Please reserve now as summer rooms will fill quickly. Find registration forms and more information at http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/fst/asev/
Dr. Murli Dharmadhikari, ASEV-ES President, Iowa State University
Next issue of this e-newsletter is going to be released around 1 August
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S. Kaan Kurtural, PhD
Viticulturist N 308D
Dept. Horticulture COAS- North
University of Kentucky Lexington,
KY 40546-0091
USA Tel: 859 257 1332
Fax: 859 257 2859