Wine-Grower-News #97 August 14, 2009 (Next Newsletter in One Week!)

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1 Wine-Grower-News #97 August 14, 2009 (Next Newsletter in One Week!) Midwest Grape & Wine Industry Institute: Information in this issue includes: From VINES to WINES A Book Review Wines of The World New Class at VESTA this Fall It s Grape Sampling Time Northwest Iowa Grape Growers Host Harvest Preparation Workshop New Iowa State Fair Vine/Wine Display has been a HUGE Success We now have 5 mechanical grape harvesters in Iowa Show n Tell Comments from Readers Quote of the Week Articles of Interest Neeto-Keeno WWW Stuff From VINES to WINES A Book Review From VINES to WINES The Complete Guide to Growing Grapes and Making Your own Wine by Jeff Cox, copyright 1999 is a book I have been slowly reading through over the last few months. I purchased this paperback book for $18.50 from Mary Jo of MDT & Associates at their vendor booth when they attended the Iowa Wine Growers Association s March, 2009 annual meeting in Des Moines. They always have an excellent display of vine/wine books as part of their vendor display. This 236 page book is oriented as a hobby winegrower/winemaker overall guide, but is thorough enough to be read by commercial winegrowers/winemakers. It covers all the bases a hobby winegrower/winemaker needs to consider to get started. It starts with picking the vineyard site and takes the reader through planting the vineyard, trellising, growing, pest control, winemaking, bottling, and cellaring. It has an excellent section on pruning. It covers both vinifera and American/French hybrids. Jeff Cox, the author lives in Sonoma where he 1

2 has a hobby vineyard and is a hobby winemaker. He has written over 17 books on food, wine and gardening. You can read more about him and his other books here: I would definitely recommend this book to the hobby winegrower/winemaker or commercial winegrape grower. The winemaking portion is pretty basic, so I would NOT recommend it to a commercial winemaker to read. Wines of the World New Class at VESTA this Fall Viticulture Enology Science and Technology Alliance (VESTA)is pleased to introduce Wines of the World, VIN 274, to the course curriculum beginning in the Fall 2009 semester. The Fall class enrollment deadline is This course, taught by VESTA instructor Ray Johnson, is intended for those individuals who wish to further their understanding of wine styles and builds on the knowledge developed in VIN 266, Sensory Evaluation. It is appropriate for commercial winemakers who wish to understand how the wines that they produce compare and contrast with the most popular and important wine styles around the globe. It will also be of benefit to the wine enthusiast who is interested in reaching advanced levels of appreciation and an understanding of global benchmarks. Students will practice sensory analysis at home to further their sensory evaluation skills and techniques. Please visit for complete details including the course syllabus, registration information, and class times. For further information contact Emily Gray, VESTA Graduate Assistant: Ph: or Emily323@MissouriState.edu Northwest Iowa Grape Growers Host Harvest Preparation Workshop When: 7 9 p.m. Tuesday, August 18, 2009 Where: ISU Extension Calhoun County office, th St., Rockwell City, Iowa Who: Scott Schweers of Spotted Horse Vineyard and Winery, Arcadia, Iowa: Sponsored by: Northwest Iowa Grape Growers Association: Cost: $12 each. Comments: Scott Schweers will lead a discussion of harvest parameters and concerns for harvesting your grape crop. He will explain what wineries are looking for in terms of grape sugar levels, PH levels, and acid levels in harvested grapes, and show you how to monitor ripening of your crop. As we do at every meeting, we will end the evening with a tasting of local Iowa wines. Two more workshops are planned for this year, a winemaking and winery issues discussion on September 22, and October 20, which we hope will be a winery tour. Walk-in's are always welcome, if you know that you will be attending this workshop, please Contact Norm Lewman so that they can have adequate materials on hand at: nwiaagrapegrowers@yahoo.com 2

3 It s Grape Sampling Time Grape harvest is here. Edelweiss grapes are are now being harvested in southern Iowa. Marquette and GR-7 will soon follow. Make sure you take a good berry sample when determining your harvest date. A correct sampling procedure per cultivar sampled should take into account: a. Sun exposed clusters b. Shaded clusters c. Berries from top, middle and tip of cluster (berries at tip of cluster ripen last) d. Berries from either side of row (Above) Crushed Frontenac berries in a e. Berries from different parts of the canopy Zip Lock bag with refractometer. f. Berries from primary, secondary or third clusters on cane (If you are not going to harvest the green clusters, don t sample them!) g. Avoid sampling from vines at end of row or from odd vines. h. Sample at the same time of day Page 145 of the Midwest Grape Production Guide suggests sampling a minimum of 100 berries from multiple clusters on at least 20 vines. Page 576 of General Viticulture, Winkler, Cook, Kliewer and Lider recommends berry sampling over cluster sampling and suggests taking berry samples from 20 random sampled clusters. Sampling should start 2-3 weeks prior to harvest. Page 69 of Growing Grapes in Missouri, recommends collecting a random sample of 200 berries representing the entire crop. Sample different cultivars and areas separately. Start sampling 3 weeks prior to harvest every 3-4 days prior to harvest. Collect samples the same time of day. Crush the grapes and extract the juice to test. Page 97 of From Vines to Wines by Jef f Cox recommends taking two separate 100 berry samples, testing separately and averaging the results. I would suggest using the following procedure for berry sampling: 1. Start sampling 3 weeks prior to harvest every 4-5 days, shortening your sample times the closer you get to harvest. 2. Sample the same time each day 3. Randomly select 20 vines. (no vines at end of the row) 4. Randomly select 1 berry each from the middle of 5 randomly selected clusters on each of the vines. 5. Place the 100 berry sample in a plastic ziplock bag and hand crush 6. Sample the juice poured from the bag. 3

4 Taking a good representative sample of clusters instead of berries is also a recommended practice by some winemakers. Paul Tabor of Tabor Home Vineyards & Winery at Baldwin, Iowa recommends this procedure to his growers. He feels that cluster or bunch samples are far closer to the actual parameters for Brix, ph and TA in the must than berry sampling. His experience has shown that berry sampling tends to show the vineyard to be riper than it actually is. The cluster sampling also shows the vineyard to be a little riper than it actually is from measurements taken from the must, but much closer than berry sampling. New Iowa State Fair Vine/Wine Display has been a HUGE Success There is new Iowa vineyard and winery display at the Iowa State Fair this year. Grandfather s Barn and surrounding grounds have been turned into a large walk through Wine Experience fairgoers can stroll through. Barb Rasko, publisher of MakeMineWine magazine is the barn superintendent. Over 35 volunteers have signed up to help staff this display (Thank You!). Kevin Smith (Turkey Time Concessions & Middle River Vineyard), Randall Vos (DMACC) and myself have also been helping with this display. FEEL FREE TO STOP BY AND VOLUNTEER A FEW HOURS IF YOU ARE VISITING THE STATE FAIR we have been VERY busy! This Wine Experience has been VERY successful so far. This has been the largest attendance at any Iowa vine/wine activity that I have ever been involved with. I thought it was amazing when people picked up over 2,250 Iowa Wine and Beer Promotion brochures during the 3 days of the Farm Progress Show held in Boone, Iowa last year. Fairgoers have picked up over 3,500 of these brochures in the first 2 days of the fair this year. Conversations with people visiting this display have been absolutely amazing. The comments and discussions have ALL been very positive. I can t tell you how many times Iowan s have come into the barn and expressed how excited they are about the growth of our industry. Many have great stories to share about wineries they have visited and the wines they have tasted. I think our Iowa vine/wine industry has now been officially accepted by Iowans. You can see the PRIDE in their eyes when they walk through the display and talk with their friends. These are some of the things people can see and do when visiting the Wine Experience: a. Taste Iowa wine. b. Buy bottles of 2009 State Fair labeled wine. c. Three rounds of Grape Stomping at 5:30 p.m. each day. d. Special topic speakers at 2 p.m. each day. e. View the winners of the amateur wine and beer competition. f. View the winners of the commercial wine competition. g. Watch videos about our industry. h. Watch how we test grapes for ph and Brix. i. View the many exhibits. The Iowa State Fair opened on Thursday, and will run through Sunday, They expect to have over 1 million people attend again this year. Feel free to stop by and spend some time talking about our industry as people come through. Grandfather s Barn is the large white barn on top of the hill on the east side of the Fairgrounds. The Des Moines Register listed the Wine Experience as the #5 pick to visit at the Iowa State Fair. I guarantee that you will enjoy this experience. 4

(Above) Flat screen display in foreground and

selling bottles of wine and signing people up for

(Above) Roxy Braband of Tassel Ridge Winery helps

(Left) Three rounds of grape stomping starts at 5:30

Winners are selected based on the amount of juice

5 (Above) Flat screen display in foreground and Midwest Grape & Wine Industry Institute display in the background. (Above) Barb Rasko and her husband, Frank were selling bottles of wine and signing people up for the grape stomp at this exhibit. (Above) Roxy Braband of Tassel Ridge Winery helps out during the wine tasting. (Left) Three rounds of grape stomping starts at 5:30 p.m. each day. Winners are selected based on the amount of juice they collect. ( Below) visitor checks out old wooden basket press that was donated by Baxter s Winery in Nauvoo, IL. (Above) Visitors exiting Grandfather s Barn via a long wooden ramp. 5

(Above) Visitors check out commercial and amateur wine

Barn. (Above) Fred and Cindy Ver Schuure s of Oskaloosa,

(Above) Small demonstration vineyard planted to Edelweiss

(Above) Randall Voss, Viticulture Instructor at DMACC

(Above) 3,000 gallon redwood barrel head donated by

6 (Above) Visitors check out commercial and amateur wine awards and amateur beer awards inside of Grandfather s Barn. (Above) Fred and Cindy Ver Schuure s of Oskaloosa, Iowa completely restored 1977 Lewis Clipper grape harvester. This has everyone stopping and scratching their heads! (Above) Small demonstration vineyard planted to Edelweiss and Frontenac this spring. (Above) Randall Voss, Viticulture Instructor at DMACC doing a Vineyard 101 talk with a group of visitors. (Above) 3,000 gallon redwood barrel head donated by Ackerman Winery, Amana, Iowa on display at Grandfather s barn. (Above) GR-7 grapes at Summerset Winery, Indianola, Iowa being used in the grape stomp. (16.2 brix, 2.90 ph). 6

(Left) 8-14-09 visitors check out the new 2009 Iowa map of vineyards and wineries in Iowa. This can be found here: http://www.

org/ We now have 5 mechanical grape harvesters in Iowa (Above) 8-12-09 Corey Goodhue of Carlisle, Iowa stands next to a 1985 Braud

(Above) Cindy & Fred Ver Schuure of Oskaloosa, Iowa stand next to their completely restored 1977 Lewis Clipper.

7 (Left) visitors check out the new 2009 Iowa map of vineyards and wineries in Iowa. This can be found here: ne/resources/iowasvineyardgrowth. htm Come visit us at the 2009 Iowa State Fair: We now have 5 mechanical grape harvesters in Iowa (Above) Corey Goodhue of Carlisle, Iowa stands next to a 1985 Braud grape harvester he purchased from a vineyard in Long Island, NY. He will start harvesting Edelweiss this weekend. (Above) Cindy & Fred Ver Schuure of Oskaloosa, Iowa stand next to their completely restored 1977 Lewis Clipper. They will use it to harvest their 20 acres of grapes growing on a Geneva Double Curtain (GDC) trellis system. The rear cart has a hydraulic drive to assist the harvester up hills. 7

(Above) 8-22-08 1974 Up-Right Grape Harvester running at George Fischer s vineyard at Norwalk, Iowa.

harvester. http://www.blackcreekvineyards.

8 (Above) Up-Right Grape Harvester running at George Fischer s vineyard at Norwalk, Iowa. (Above) Vi & Larry Engbers of Black Creek Vineyards of Pella, Iowa stand next to their 1995 BEI grape harvester. (Left) New Korvan Grape Harvester owned by Tassel Ridge Winery at Leighton, Iowa. Comments from Readers Mike - Based on the recommendation in your newsletter a week ago, I picked up a copy of "The House of Mondavi." What a great read! Look forward to seeing you out here at the Fair. Hope to get up to Grandfather's Barn today or tomorrow and see what's going on there --- Jerry P., Ankeny, IA 8

Show n Tell (Right) 8-10-09 Hay bale netting used by Gary Harman on his vineyard north on Indianola, Iowa.

(Left) 8-12-09 Vineyard herbicide weed sprayer built by Corey Goodhue of Carlisle, Iowa.

Nukeaweed spray hoods are attached to both sides of this sprayer.

com/ (Above- left and right) The Wine & Cheese Garden at the State Fair has been very busy.

9 Show n Tell (Right) Hay bale netting used by Gary Harman on his vineyard north on Indianola, Iowa. LaCrosse grapes growing on a Vertical Shoot Positioned (VSP). (Left) Vineyard herbicide weed sprayer built by Corey Goodhue of Carlisle, Iowa. This unit sprays herbicides on both side of the grape row. Nukeaweed spray hoods are attached to both sides of this sprayer. The entire unit mounts on a front mounted 3- point attachment and straddles one row at a time. (Above- left and right) The Wine & Cheese Garden at the State Fair has been very busy. Twelve wineries are serving wine in the garden this year. Customers are able to purchase wine by the taste, glass or bottle. Wine-a-Rita s, a selection of cheese and other munchies are also available. Need to sell or buy some grapes? Make sure to use the Iowa Wine Growers Association FREE grape exchange classified ads here: 9

10 Quotes of the Week The intrigue of wine is unlimited. --- TimMondavi (Robert s son) The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do Galileo Articles of Interest 1. Iowa Wine and Beer Take "Tipsy" Top Honors at State Fair, , Iowa State Fair: 2. Iowa Wine Business Booming, KCCI.com: 3. Midwest becomes the new Napa Valley, , QUAD.com: Neeto-Keeno WWW Stuff 1. Virtual Grape by Dreamweaver UC Davis: Patent description of Marquette Grape Cultivar: 3. Preserve the Harvest, , Utah State University Extension- excellent publication on how to process grapes in jams, jellies, pies, juice, and syrup. Good recipes included. : Post & View Classified Ads here: Past issues archived as html and/or pdf here: Total Circulation of 1,120+ recipients in CA, CO, FL, OH, IA, IN, IL, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, ND, NE, NY, OR, PA, SD, VA, VT, WA, WA DC, WI, Australia, Canada & Norway 10

Michael L. White, ISU Extension Viticulture Specialist 909 East 2nd St. Suite E, Indianola, IA 50125-2892 ph: 515-961-6237, fax: 6017 or mlwhite@iastate.

(Above) 8-15-09 this group from Scott County, Iowa were really enjoying their prime rib and wine served at the Cattleman s Beef Quarters.

11 Michael L. White, ISU Extension Viticulture Specialist 909 East 2nd St. Suite E, Indianola, IA ph: , fax: 6017 or To Subscribe to this FREE newsletter, just include the word subscribe in the Subject Line. To Unsubscribe Please reply with the word "unsubscribe" in the Subject Line. (Above) this group from Scott County, Iowa were really enjoying their prime rib and wine served at the Cattleman s Beef Quarters. Wine & Prime at the Iowa State Fair $75 per couple Couples seated from 6-7 p.m. each evening. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Many materials can be made available in alternative formats for ADA clients. To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC or call

Wine-Grower-News #96 August 7, 2009 (Next Newsletter in One Week!)

Wine-Grower-News #96 August 7, 2009 (Next Newsletter in One Week!) Midwest Grape & Wine Industry Institute: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/wine Information in this issue includes: Veraison is Here Veraison