Wine-Grower-News #88 June 12, 2009 (Next Newsletter in One Week!)

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1 Wine-Grower-News #88 June 12, 2009 (Next Newsletter in One Week!) Midwest Grape & Wine Industry Institute: Information in this issue includes: Wine Grape Production Guide for Eastern North America Review Losing Lottery Tickets Worth Their Weight in Wine Free Online Tool: Vineyard Crop Calculator Northey: $242,767 to Iowa Through Specialty Crop Block Grant Adapting the Canopy Management at Roetta BP Vineyard June 16 - Northwest IA Grape Growers Canopy Management Workshop 2009 US Winefest in Woodbury, MN, July 30 to August 1, 2009 BBC TV is Looking for a Farm Family to be in World s Strictest Parents Help Select U.S. National Wine Day Date Grape Flea Beetle Show n Tell Quote of the Week Article of Interest Neeto-Keeno WWW Stuff MWPS MidWest Plan Service Homepage Grape Yield Estimation Form Wine Grape Production Guide for Eastern North America Review Lucky me! I landed a FREE copy of the new book, Wine Grape Production Guide for Eastern North America. The MidWest Plan Service at Iowa State University gave me a hardcopy to review to see if this publication was pertinent to the Midwest. The MidWest Plan Service (MWPS) is a universitybased publishing cooperative dedicated to publishing and disseminating research-based, peerreviewed, practical, and affordable publications that support the outreach missions of the 12 North Central Region land-grant universities plus the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). You can find them Online here: This new 336 page grape production book came out in December of 2008 from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The book is composed of large glossy pages bound together with a spiral binding. The many charts, graphs, and colored pictures make it very easy to read and understand. The editor of this book, Dr. Tony Wolf at Virginia Tech did a good job of having experts from several different Universities and Surry College work together to author the different chapters. Not to belittle all the great information in this book, but the chapters that I personally found were enlightening included: 1

2 Chapter 3. Wine Grape and Rootstock Varieties (Wine descriptors given for each variety) Chapter 7. Crop Yield Estimation and Crop Management (Simple explanation of determining yield and importance of managing crop load.) Chapter 8. Nutrient Management (Good target soil and petiole test values in chart form) Chapter 9. Grapevine Water Relations and Irrigation (Best overall how-to summary of vineyard irrigation methodology I have come across.) Chapter 10. Spray Drift Mitigation (Fantastic info on sprayer selection criteria.) Chapter 11. Disease Management (Excellent detailed summary of the major grape diseases.) Chapter 15. Grape Purchase Contracts and Vineyard Leases (Short but concise with an example grower contract that can be tweaked for personal use.) Chapter 16. Wine Grape Quality: When Is It Time to Pick (Excellent summary for the book.) I would consider only a small amount of the information in this book not pertinent to the Upper Midwest. Overall, I would highly recommend this book for any commercial grape grower in the Upper Midwest. This book can be purchased for $75 plus shipping & handling either at Midwest Plan Service here: You folks located in the Northeast U.S. can also purchase this book for the same price and terms at the Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service (NRAES) here: PS: This would be and excellent companion book to the Midwest Grape Production Guide Bulletin 919, 155 pp. published in 2005 by Ohio State University: Losing Lottery Tickets Worth Their Weight in Wine Starting TODAY! ( ) Losing Iowa lottery tickets can be cashed in for a free wine glass at EIGHT Iowa wineries. Whoo hoo! Through a partnership with the Iowa Tourism Office and the Lottery Office, losing lottery ticket holders can go to < download a coupon form, attach their losing lottery ticket and visit one of the EIGHT wineries to receive their glass. The EIGHT wineries participating are: Brush Creek Winery: Dale Valley Winery: Swan Lake Winery: Prairie Crossing Winery: Rosey Acres Winery: Sugar Clay Winery: Two Saints and White Oak: The summer fun is just beginning! LuAnn Reinders Research and Welcome Center Manager, Tourism Office Iowa Wine & Beer Promotion Board Iowa Department of Economic Development 200 East Grand Des Moines, IA Contact at or luann.reinders@iowalifechanging.com 2

3 Free Online Tool: Vineyard Crop Calculator By: Randall Vos, Viticulture Instructor, Des Area Community College (DMACC) Contact: or One comment I heard most frequently last year was that there were inaccurate yield estimations in the vineyards. While estimating vineyard yield does not require very complex calculations, it does require putting in some time and effort into getting accurate numbers from the vineyard. There are some great resources for this on the Michigan State University website. One of these is Crop Adjustment in Wine Grapes ( The question you might be asking is, why are we worried about crop estimation this early in the season? Right now we might still be shoot thinning and in some cases there is hesitation to shoot thin due to the perception that you might be losing too much yield. By going through some very basic estimates you can see how many clusters you might need to get the yield you think is adequate for your vines. This can help in seeing how many shoots you can afford to lose. In some regions of the Midwest the vineyards are also going through bloom. In a few weeks we will likely be having fruit set and the berries per cluster will have been determined and this allows for accurate cluster weight estimations. There are 2 major ways to estimate yield. One is by using the average cluster weight from the past. Tons/acre= (vines per acre) X (clusters per vine) X (average cluster weight in lbs)/2,000 This method is the easiest; however cluster weights can vary a lot between different growing seasons, so this is not the most accurate method. A more accurate approach is often by taking a representative number of clusters and counting the berries on them (it takes less time than you might think) and then using that information in the following equation: Tons/acre= (vines per acre) X (clusters per vine) X (berries per cluster X g per berry/454g per lb)/2,000 The reason this might be more accurate is because berry weight varies less per year than cluster weight does. In some cases cluster weight can vary by about a third between different seasons while berry weight is less variable. The larger change between growing seasons is the number of berries per clusters. By estimating the vineyard yield you have on your vines you can determine if you need to thin, and how much you need to thin off. Wineries want accurate yield estimations as well so they can determine how much space they need and how much fruit they are getting from their growers. So, don t like math or think this is a pain? This winter we worked on developing an online calculator to help assist grape growers and wineries with calculating yield. It s a free online calculator found at: While you still need to go out and get accurate averages from your vines, it can take some of the frustration out of the calculations. Keep in mind the estimation from the calculator is only as good as the accuracy of the information you enter into it! Below is what the program looks like. Take a look, go through the instructions, and get some practice using it. If you have any questions please contact me at rjvos@dmacc.edu 3

4 Northey: $242,767 to Iowa Through Specialty Crop Block Grant Iowans Invited to Comment on Priorities for Funding, Participate in Review Committee to Help Evaluate Proposals Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey today announced that the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is eligible to receive $242,767 through the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program. The grant funds are designed to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops, which are defined as fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits and horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture. To ensure that funds are used in the most efficient manner possible, the Department is encouraging specialty crop stakeholders to consider submitting public comment to identify their priorities for the Program and is also establishing a new Review Committee to help review, evaluate, and make recommendations on grant proposals submitted to the Department. Understanding the priorities of the specialty crop producers will be helpful as we develop and support creative and appropriate outreach efforts, Northey said. Through the public comments and Review Committee, organizations and individuals representing various segments of Iowa s specialty crop industries will be better able to participate in the decisions surrounding this program. 4

5 Iowans interested in submitting comments on the priorities for the program can do so online by ing or by mail to Horticulture and Farmers Market Bureau, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, 502 East 9th, Des Moines, Iowa, Those interested in participating in the Review Committee should have knowledge of specialty crops, and/or grant writing or grant management experience, and the ability to devote the necessary time to complete the review process. Additional information about reviewer responsibilities, meeting dates and an application form can be found at: Reviewer applications are due by June 26, 2009 by 4:00 p.m. Information on how to apply for funding through the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program will be released in the next few days. Adapting the Canopy Management at Roetta BP Vineyard By Richard Black (Roetta BP Vineyards), Jerry Chizek (ISU Extension)& Randall Vos (DMACC) Last year some changes were made in the Roetta BP Vineyard, owned by Richard Black near Farnhamville, Iowa. High vigor was an issue that had been challenging to deal with at the vineyard, but some different management techniques were used with varying success on the mature Frontenac, LaCrescent, and St. Croix vines. Due to the high vigor of the vineyard, the yields were increased to get the vines back in balance. This increase in yield did not decrease fruit quality and still maintained sufficient vigor in the vineyard. The amount of canopy management work needing to be done was decreased, partly due to increasing the crop load, which decreased the vegetative vigor. Probably with biggest change in the vineyard was a decision not to skirt the high wire cordon-trained vines. In the past, skirting was done in late July where the shoots were cut about a foot from the ground, and again took considerable time. The rationale for skirting in the past was to increase air flow through the canopy and facilitate late season weed control. In the past, the biggest result of skirting was large production of laterals, especially with La Crescent. This extreme growth of laterals created even more canopy management work as they largely shaded the fruiting zone. La Crescent especially responded negatively to high levels of shade on the fruit. In 2008, with much hesitation, the decision was made to not skirt the vines, and it paid off. By not skirting, there was not the excessive amount of laterals formed, especially on La Crescent. There were some laterals that still formed but not to the extent as when the vines were skirted.. Though there were concerns about increased disease due to having shoots on the ground, and not having a direct channel for air flow under the vines, it appeared that this wasn t a large concern even in 2008 which was a relatively wet year. The lack of extremely vigorous laterals forming in the fruiting area may have increased the air flow in that region. Notice in the photo below the nice full canopy and crop on some St. Croix vines, with adequate exposure through the canopy. 5

6 Mummy A dried and shriveled grape berry resulting from the attack of a fungus. Overall, not skirting on the high wire cordon-trained Frontenac, La Crescent, and St. Croix vines likely saved time working in the vineyard or freed up time for other tasks. Though there were some weeds that escaped and grew late in the growing season, the canopy likely shaded out most of the weeds beneath it. In 2009, something new being tried in Richard s vineyard is shoot thinning early on in the growing season in late May and early June. This should help to move the work along more quickly and reduce the canopy shade early in the season. June 16 - Northwest IA Grape Growers Canopy Management Workshop When: 7-9 p.m. Tuesday, June 16, 2009 Where: Richard Black Vineyard, 3228 Xenia Ave. Farnhamville, IA Who: Dr. Paul Domoto, ISU Extension Fruit Specialist Sponsored by: Northwest Iowa Grape Growers Association: and ISU Calhoun County ISU Extension: Comments: Dr. Paul Domoto will lead a hands-on workshop, demonstrating the proper techniques for grapevine canopy management and shoot positioning. Proper canopy management is critical to maintaining a healthy vineyard that will yield high quality, well-ripened fruit. We will begin at 7PM in the vineyard, followed by a presentation and discussion in the studio, concluding at about 9PM.. As we do at every meeting, we will end the evening with a tasting of local Iowa wines. Pre-registration: Although walk-in's are always welcome, if you know that you will be attending this workshop, please reply so that we can have adequate materials on hand. Norman Lewman, Northwest Iowa Grape Growers Association: nwiaagrapegrowers@yahoo.com Cost: $12 each. The workshop series price for members of the Northwest Iowa Grape Growers is $ Join the association and save on the workshop fees! Annual membership dues are $45. Pre-registration: Although walk-in's are always welcome, if you know that you will be attending this workshop, please reply so that we can have adequate materials on hand. Contact: Norm Lewman here: nwiaagrapegrowers@yahoo.com 6

7 2009 US Winefest in Woodbury, MN, July 30 to August 1, 2009 What: Two days of learning about growing grapes and tasting wine. Includes Attendance prizes and amateur winemaking competition on Saturday, August 1, 2009 When: Thursday Saturday, July 30 through August 1, 2009 Where: Wildwood Lodge in Woodbury, MN (greater St. Paul area): Agenda: Thursday evening Cocktail Party at Wildwood Hotel. Friday Seminars, with lunch and dinner included. - wine tasting of local/regional wineries Saturday WinePress.US Amateur Wine Competition for WinePress.US forum members. Registration: Early discount ends June 21, Online registration is recommended, yet you can call and place your registration with a credit card over the phone. Information & Details here: Sponsored by: WinePress.US grape and wine forum, is the largest winemaking & grape growing discussion forum on the Internet receiving 10 million hits each month and having over 10,000 members worldwide. Registration in the WinePress.US forum is FREE for all, and we look forward to seeing you there to learn from you, or to share our knowledge with you. Winery Technology and Operations:A Handbook for Small Wineries (Paperback), by Yair Margalit, 230 pages, 4.5 star customer rating on Amazon.com, $19.77 in paperback: BBC TV is Looking for a Farm Family to be in World s Strictest Parents Do you believe in instilling good old-fashioned values, discipline and boundaries in your children? Can you give two British teenagers the chance to have some much-needed structure in their lives? If not, do you know of a farm family who may? Following the huge success of the first UK series and the ongoing success of the American version of World s Strictest Parents currently showing on the Country Music channel across the USA, the BBC are looking for role model, farming families from rural America to take part in the original British series and to host two unruly British teenagers for a week in July 2009 and instill in them the values and morality they demand of their own children. We are looking for a traditional, conservative farming family (with children aged 14-19) who are proud of their strong parenting and family values, their strong work ethic and their strong moral code. We are searching for parents who truly feel that they could discipline, inspire, love, and ultimately help change the lives of two British teenagers who desperately need some guidance. If you re interested in applying or would just like to find out more, please a brief description of your family and all your contact information to annabelborthwick@twentytwenty.tv or call Annabel or David on and we will call you straight back. 7

8 We re looking forward to hearing from you! Help Select U.S. National Wine Day Date Go here and fill out this simple online survey: Grape Flea Beetle The larva of grape flea beetles are now chewing on grape leaves. This common pest of grapes overwinters as a small approx. 3/16 long black shiny beetle. During cool springs an insecticide treatment may be needed if the beetles begin chewing on grape buds before they open and greater than 4% of the buds are being damaged. The adults soon lay eggs that hatch out to small brown colored larva with dark spots. The larva will normally grow to about 3/8 in length. The larva will then spend most of their time feeding on the leaves and occasionally the clusters. Very seldom will the larval damage warrant an insecticide treatment. After feeding, the larva will fall to ground in June and pupate into a second generation of adults that will feed on the leaves in the last half of the season. This 2nd generation is not considered an economic pest. Further Information: (Above) Grape Flea Beetle larva on the underside of a Steuben grape leaf. (Above) Grape Flea Beetle larval feeding damage to Steuben grapes leaves. 1. Grape Flea Beetle, Virginia Tech: 2. Grape Flea Beetle, Michigan State Univ.: 3. Grape Flea Beetle, Univ. of KY: Show n Tell I stopped by Madison County Winery just west of St. Charles, Iowa this week to pick up some plastic barrels to use for the daily grape stomps that are going on at the State Fair this year. Doug Bakker, owner/wine maker donated the barrels for us to use. Doug and his wife Cheryl planted their 5 acre vineyard in 2001 with Steuben, Vignoles and Marechal Foch. The Foch and Steuben are trained onto a single high wire system. The Vignoles are growing on a Vertical Shoot Positioned trellis system. Madison County Winery currently does not have a public tasting room and sell their wines via events and retail locations. Their new production facility was erected in the fall of 2008 on the site of their vineyard. You can check the winery out here: 8

9 (Above) Doug (left) and his bottling crew use a manual 6-bottle filler to bottle a new wine. They normally can bottle about 600 bottles per hour. The new wine will debut at the Swine Festival being held on June 20, (Above) Madison County Winery s new production facility built in the middle of the 5 acre vineyard planted on a south facing slope. base of A (Above) Close up of a Concord perfect flower. A perfect flower consists of the male pollen laden anthers on long filaments (stamens) releasing pollen that can fertilize the pistil located in the center. Three of lower flowers still have their caps covering them and yet to fall off (cap fall). (Above) Vignoles flower at approximately 40% bloom , Madison County Winery. (Right) Male sterile flowers of St. Pepin. Note that the male flower parts (stamens) bend out and downward under the base of the pistil. The pistil consists of a pollen receptor on top and a column the pollen moves down to fertilize the ovary at the base. Pollen produced by these downward pointing stamens will be sterile. St. Pepin needs to be planted next to other grape cultivars to become pollinated , Two Saints Winery: 9

10 Quote of the Week The United States has edged ahead of the United Kingdom as Australia's biggest wine export market by value US now biggest wine market, ABC News: Article of Interest 1. Fine Wines from Iowa? Midwest winemakers seek label of their own, Miami Herald Politics AP. Read about the wineries in northeast Iowa and their TTB application to form the Largest viticultural area in the U.S. (29,000 square miles): Neeto-Keeno WWW Stuff 1. New York Online Interactive Vineyard Site Evaluation Tool: 2. ISU Vineyard Soil Evaluation Tool: 3. Winemaker Magazine 2008 Conference CD audio recordings, $20 each: 4. The Grapevine monthly vine/wine industry advertiser magazine has a new Homepage: Post & View Classified Ads here: Past issues archived as html and/or pdf here: Total Circulation of 1,090+ recipients in CA, 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 Michael L. White, ISU Extension Viticulture Specialist 909 East 2nd St. Suite E, Indianola, IA ph: , fax: 6017 or mlwhite@iastate.edu 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. to Mike White. 10

11 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

12 Michael L. White, ISU Extension Viticulture Specialist, Grape Yield Estimation is the process of projecting the yield of a grape crop that will be harvested. Why make this estimation? Growers often would like to know the approximate yield and whether their vines are over cropped in order to determine if cluster thinning is needed. Wineries would like to know how much fermentation tank space is needed for the upcoming crop. Grape Yield Estimation Formula: PY = (V x C x CW)/2000 PY = predicted yield (tons acre/block/unit) V = bearing vines per (acre/block/unit) C = clusters pervine CW = Average cluster weight (in pounds) V = Bearing Vines per acre is based on vine and row spacing. Non-bearing vines must be subtracted from the total vines per acre to determine the number of bearing vines. Example: Row Width Vine Spacing Vines/Acre Row Width Vine Spacing Vines/acre 12 ft. 8 ft ft. 8 ft C = Clusters per vine is determined by pruning severity (nodes per vine) and bud fruitfulness (clusters per shoot). Cluster counts can be made any time after developing clusters are visible. This count is less time consuming if counted before bloom. Counting all the clusters on vines in small and uniform vineyards is sufficient. All the clusters on each sample vine should be counted. Vines should be selected in a methodical fashion, example select every 10 th vine in every other row. CW = Cluster weight will vary the most. At harvest, the best data will come from sampling all the clusters from selected vines instead of the bin to get the average yield per vine and average cluster weight. Another option would be to harvest at least 100 clusters throughout the vineyard. Make sure to methodically sample clusters from different areas of each vine, ie.center, middle of cordon, end of cordon. Prior to harvest, you can use the following cluster weights from the following table if you do not have records. It is best to maintain records of cluster weights from year- to- year in order to improve your estimation. Lag Phase Method: The lag phase of berry development corresponds to the slow period of berry development approximately days after first bloom or 1,000-1,300 season heat units (base 50 F) for many of our varieties. The berries have attained about 50% of their final weight at the lag phase. A multiplier of 2 can be used to predict the cluster weight at harvest. Keeping long term records of average cluster weights at the lag phase and at harvest will give you a more accurate multiplier to use in the future. A sample of clusters is recommended during this time of the season. 12

13 Approximate Average Cluster Weights Varieties Small < 0.29 Variety Medium ( ) Variety Large > 0.4 Brianna 0.25 lbs. Bluebell 0.35 lbs. Cayuga White 0.60 lbs. GR Catawba 0.35 Chambourcin 0.80 Kay Gray 0.15 Chancellor 0.35 Esprit 0.50 LaCrosse 0.22 Chardonel 0.40 Jupitor 0.55 Leon Millot 0.15 Coret noir 0.30 Mars 0.40 LaCrosse 0.22 DeChaunac 0.25 Niagara 0.40 Louise Swenson 0.25 Delaware 0.30 Prairie Star 0.40 Marechal Foch 0.20 Edelweiss 0.35 Reliance 0.40 Marquette 0.22 Frontenac 0.30 Seyval 0.80 Norton 0.25 Frontenac Gris 0.30 Steuben 0.50 Noiret (NY 73) 0.25 LaCrescent 0.30 Traminette 0.40 St. Pepin 0.10 St Croix 0.35 Vidal Blanc 0.45 Valvin Muscat (NY-62) 0.20 Swenson Red 0.30 Ave. Cluster wts. can vary greatly Vanessa 0.20 Valiant 0.30 depending on site, mgt. & seasonal Vignoles 0.25 weather factors. Vineyard Block ID: Variety: Vine # # of clusters / Lbs. # of clusters / Lbs. # of clusters / Lbs Total Clusters Total Weight Lbs. Ave. Clusters/vine # Bearing Vines X Ave. Cluster Wt. Lbs. X Tons = Lbs./Unit /2000 Iowa State University and the United States Department of Agriculture Cooperating Extension Programs are available without regards to race, color, national origin, religion, sex or disability 13