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Wine-Grower-News #298 3-27-15 Midwest Grape & Wine Industry Institute: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Wine

Information in this issue includes:

Wood, Whiskey and Wine – A History of Barrels, A Book Review Dormant Liquid Lime Sulfur Treatment

NEW! Northwest Prairie Wine Trail – 15 wineries & 2 breweries New Cold Climate Viticulture Forum from NY

Finger Lakes International Wine Competition Results VESTA Activities

4-21, The Final Northern Grapes Project Webinar for 2015 Season 4-8, Liz Slater Tasting Room Wine Marketing Workshop – St. Charles, IA

11-(11-14), VitiNord 2015 4-(13 & 14), Two Wine Fining Workshops – Wisconsin

Show n Tell Videos of Interest Marketing Tidbits Neeto Keeno

Notable Quotables Articles of Interest Calendar of Events

Wood, Whiskey and Wine – A History fo Barrels, A Book Review

I just finished reading Wood, Whiskey and Wine – A History of Barrels; 237 pages, 57 illustrations, copyright 2014 by Henry H. Work. This would be a good reference book for anyone involved in the wine, spirits or beer business. It is authored by a master cooper who has worked with wineries in Napa Valley and with whiskey distilleries of Kentucky. Henry Work has also written many articles about barrels for Practical Winery & Vineyard and the Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker Magazine. I found the historical facts and figures in this book fascinating and it really impressed me how wooden barrels have impacted history ever since the Celts of Northern Europe started crafting barrels 2,000+ years ago. It was the Celts who first developed the wooden

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barrel and the Romans who adopted it over their clay amphorae for storing, transporting and aging all kinds of the necessities of life. This book brings into perspective the evolution, history and politics of the wood barrel, all the many things it was used for, the many types and sizes of barrels, parts of the barrel, and types of wood used. It also brings into perspective the skills of the coopers who formed these barrels and how the guilds they belonged to formed our history. If you have an interest in how oak and barrels have affected the wine, whiskey and beer industry, you will find this book very interesting and enjoyable. It has a list price of $35, but I checked on Amazon Books and it is being offered in the $17 to $29 range. A Kindle version is also available.

Dormant Liquid Lime Sulfur Treatment Liquid Lime Sulfur (calcium polysulfide) is used in vineyards primarily as a dormant application to disinfect the cordons and canes just prior to bud break to get early season Anthracnose control. Whether or not an early season lime sulfur application is needed should be based on past experience and the susceptibility of the grape cultivars being grown. The potential of Anthracnose infections is much greater during wet springs. Experience here in Iowa has shown that many of the Elmer Swenson cultivars like Brianna, Edelweiss, Esprit and others seem highly susceptible. You can review the Relative Disease Susceptibility chart on page 36 of the 2015 Midwest Small Fruit & Grape Spray Guide. You will see that Cayuga White, Fredonia, Himrod, Marquix, Reliance, Vidal Blanc and Vignoles are listed as highly susceptible. You may also find out that you may be growing cultivars that are fairly resistant to grape anthracnose and do not need a special spray for Anthracnose control. Application during the first week of April in Iowa would be a good time-frame to get this done. Liquid lime sulfur is also toxic to the overwintering inoculum of Phomopsis and Powdery Mildew that reside in the bark crevices, canes and buds of the grape plant. Applying liquid lime sulfur just prior to bud break provides excellent control of anthracnose, good control of early season phomopsis and some control of powdery mildew. Reducing the amount of overwintering inoculum can dramatically reduce and delay the infection rate of these diseases as the new shoots and leaves emerge from the buds. Rain splash and runoff down the cordon and canes are the primary methods of infection of the new shoots. Most liquid lime sulfur labels (27-29% calcium polysulfide) are very vague as to the exact product rate and water carrier rate to use for dormant applications to grape cordons and canes. They often recommend mixing anywhere from 4-20 gallons of liquid lime sulfur in 100 -200 gallons of water when using an airblast sprayer. Many vineyard operators will mix 1 gallon of liquid lime sulfur to 10 gallons of water and spray their recently pruned cordons and spurs or canes with a sprayer handgun. They make sure to completely cover the

Anthracnose lesions on the fruit of Esprit.

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cordons and canes. They typically will end up using only 2.5-3 gallons of liquid lime sulfur per acre when applying it in this fashion. Others are using only 1 to 2 nozzles of their air blast sprayer directed at the cordon. This normally requires higher amounts of liquid lime sulfur per acre because of the overspray that misses the cordon. Liquid lime sulfur in 5 gallon jugs normally runs around $15 per gallon. Many forms of liquid lime sulfur are approved for organic grape production. NovaSource Sulforix (27.5% calcium polysulfide) is a liquid lime sulfur product that contains proprietary wetting agents intended to have better spreading and retention than the common liquid lime sulfur products. Many commercial vineyards have been using this product instead of the typical liquid lime sulfur product. The Sulforix label recommends a rate 1 – 2 gallons of Sulforix per acre applied as a dormant application. Many growers are mixing around 1 gallon of Sulforix per 25 gallons of water and spraying through a handgun spray nozzle. Sulforix costs approximately $28 per gallon in 2.5 gallon containers. Sulforix is NOT approved for certified organic production. These dormant applications can be applied to both sulfur tolerant and intolerant grape varieties prior to bud break Note: Liquid lime sulfur is very corrosive. Suggest spraying the sprayer vehicle with a light coating of PAM, diesel fuel, kerosene or mineral oil to protect the paint and metal surfaces. “I don’t want to apply Liquid Lime Sulfur, what else can I do?” This is a common question. Many do not like to spray a messy and corrosive sulfur mixture. I understand. My second suggestion would be to use a preventative fungicide or fungicide mix that is effective on anthracnose as soon as the shoots begin to emerge. Mancozeb / Penncozeb would come to my mind first due to their low cost and additional effectiveness on Black Rot and Phomopsis. Other fungicides that are also listed as highly effective on Anthracnose can be found on Page 33 of the 2015 Midwest Small Fruit & Grape Spray Guide. Experience has shown that cordon pruned vines tend to have a higher amount of anthracnose and phomopsis disease pressure than cane pruned vines. Cane pruned vines have much less old wood that can harbor these early season diseases. Individual pesticide labels can be found here: http://www.cdms.net/ Remember! – Always Read and Follow Label Directions mlw

Palissage: a technique used instead of hedging to control vine vigor. The long shoot tips are tucked horizontally along the top wire. From: Palissage: An Alternative to Mechanical Hedging, March 2015 Wines & Vines Magazine

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NEW! Northwest Prairie Wine Trail – 15 wineries & 2 breweries

Iowa now boasts 7 wine trails:

New Cold Climate Viticulture Forum from NY The “Cold Climate Viticulture” forum will function very much like an email list. It will be a place to informally post questions pertaining to cold climate viticulture and for the community

Homepage: http://www.northwestprairiewinetrail.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/northwestprairiewinetrail/info?tab=page_info

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to answer these questions. In addition, the forum will be a searchable database of information. It provides a little organization, which should aid in finding and re-finding answers to the questions that you may have. Like an email list, questions posted should be emailed out to members automatically.

You will need to sign up on your own. To do so, please go to the new website and select “Register” from the menu (below the login box). You will be prompted to select a Username, Email, and Password. You will receive an email once it has been approved, and then you will have access to use the site. New members are also welcome—please pass this information on to others that may be interested. Cold Climate Viticulture Forum http://coldclimateviticulture.com/coldclimategrapes/index.php Thank you! Anna Wallis - CCE Extension Associate - Fruit Specialist Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program 6064 State Route 22 Suite 5 Plattsburgh, NY 12901 Cell: 443.421.7970 Fax: 518.561.0183 or aew232@cornell.edu

Finger Lakes International Wine Competition Results The 15th Annual Finger Lakes International Wine Competition was held in Rochester, NY this past weekend. 3,708 wines from 924 wineries located in 50 U.S. states, 6 Canadian provinces and 27 countries were represented. The 73 judges originated from 20 countries. Iowa along with our neighboring states did pretty good at this competition. See below:

State Double Gold Gold Silver Bronze Total

IA 1 3 21 32 57 IL 0 0 10 23 33 KS 0 0 10 5 15 MN 1 14 23 24 62 MO 2 0 21 17 40 ND 0 3 0 1 4 NE 1 1 9 5 16 SD 1 0 13 12 26 WI 1 3 20 16_ 40 Total 7 24 127 135 293

Full results from this competition can be found here: http://www.fliwc.com/

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VESTA Activities 4-8, Elizabeth Slater Marketing Workshop – Two Saints Winery, St.Charles, IA: http://iowawinegrowers.org/2014/12/iwga-vesta-to-welcome-elizabeth-slater/ 4-17, Deadline to enroll into 2015 Summer/Fall Viticulture & Technology: http://vesta-usa.org/Students 4-(20-22), Deadline for Summer Class registration: http://vesta-usa.org/Students 4-(20-22), Inside Missouri Cooperage Tour – Lebanon, MO: http://vesta-usa.org/Events/Inside-Missouri-Cooperage-MO 8-14, Deadline for Fall Class registration: http://vesta-usa.org/Students NEW! Vin 117 Cold Climate Viticulture & Enology: http://vesta-usa.org/Students

In ancient Pompeii and other Roman cities wooden barrels were placed near bars and inns to collect urine for fullers; the craftspeople who cleaned wool and cloth. With its ammonia content, the urine was used to remove the fat from wool. Other urine users included dye-makers, launderers, metalworkers and leather tanners; all whom had to pay a tax to obtain the urine. From: page 56, Wood Whisky and Wine

Small barrels with capacities up to 25 gallons are typically called kegs. Wood vessels commonly used in the wine and whiskey industry range between 25-60 gallons in size and are termed as barrels. Wooden containers with capacities of 60-340 gallons are typically called casks, butts, hogsheads or the French term “puncheons”. From: page 19, Wood Whisky and Wine

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4-21, The Final Northern Grapes Project Webinar for 2015 Season .

April 21, 2015

“Branding Studies for Cold Climate Wines” Bill Gartner, Univ. of Minnesota Dan McCole

Register here: http://northerngrapesproject.org/?page_id=254 All Northern Grapes Project Webinars are archived on the “Recorded Webinars” tab of our website. http://northerngrapesproject.org/?page_id=257 Emails regarding the webinar series are sent via our Northern Grapes Project Webinar Series Listserve. To join, email Chrislyn Particka (cap297@cornell.edu) Visit Online at http://www.northerngrapesproject.org

4-8, Liz Slater Tasting Room Wine Marketing Workshop – St. Charles, IA

The Iowa Wine Growers Association, in partnership with VESTA, is pleased to present a one-day, customer service training workshop featuring Elizabeth Slater of In Short Marketing. Elizabeth travels the country and is recognized throughout North America as an authority on marketing wines, wineries and wine regions to consumers. The workshop will provide attendees with real-world solutions to help drive sales in the tasting room as well as to improve customer service techniques for winery employees. This workshop is designed for all marketing and front-line staff.

The workshop will be held Wednesday, April 8, 2015 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at Two Saints Winery in St. Charles, IA. Lunch will be provided. Through VESTA’s sponsorship, the fee for this workshop is an affordable $30 for IWGA members and $50 for non-members.

Details: http://iowawinegrowers.org/2014/12/iwga-vesta-to-welcome-elizabeth-slater/ Registrations must be received by April 1, 2015. Space is limited. Registration Form: http://iowawinegrowers.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Slater-Workshop-Registration.pdf

Midwest Grape & Wine Industry Institute Updates: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/wine/content/institute-updates

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4-(13 & 14), Two Wine Fining Workshops - Wisconsin

When/Where: 9 a.m to 3 p.m. Monday, April 13th Elmaro Vineyard N14756 Delaney Road - Trempealeau, WI 54661 ph: 608-534-6456

9 a.m to 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 14th, Vines & Rushes Winery

410 County Road E – Ripon, WI 54971 h: 877-297-2827 Who: Michael Jones of Scott Laboratories Cost: $20 per student, maximum of 40 students per site. Register now by calling site phone #. Sponsored by: Wisconsin Winery Association Scott Laboratories Elmaro Vineyard Vines & Rushes Winery

Show n Tell On Sunday, March 15th an ISU delegation consisting of Dr. Murli Dharmadhikari, Dr. Gail Nonnecke, Dr. Diana Cochran, Dr. Paulina Biernacka, Somchai Rice, Tammi Martin and Mike White flew out to Syracuse to participate in a Northern Grape Project meeting and the Eastern Winery Exposition held at the OnCenter in Syracuse, NY. This ISU group was able to tour the Cornell University wine research and teaching facilities at Ithaca and Geneva on Monday prior to the formal meetings. This group was also able to visit a few of Finger Lakes Wineries and the brand new Finger Lakes Community College Viticulture Center and winery located right next to the Cornell University – Geneva Station. Murli, Gail and myself

International Viticulture & Enology Conference

Lied Lodge & Conference Center in Nebraska City, Nebraska, USA

Register Now: http://www.vitinord2015.org/

Certain European forests are avoided for use as wood staves for barrels because they have far too many bullets and projectiles embedded in the wood as remnants from the First and Second World Wars. From: page 133, Wood, Whiskey and Wine

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provided some presentations at the formal meeting sessions held at the OnCenter. Below are some picture highlights of our trip. mlw

(Left) Individual approx. 30 gallon wine fermentation tanks with thermal jackets. Each tank can be monitored and adjusted over the Internet. Cornell Univ. – Geneva, NY 3-16-15

(Right) “Brand New” Finger Lakes Community College Viticulture Center with student winery located next door to the Cornell Univ. Analytical Wine Lab and Winery at Geneva, NY. 3-16-15

(Left) Tube-in-tube grape must thermovinification system at Swedish Hill Vineyards & Winery – Romulus, NY. 3-16-15

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Videos of Interest 1. NY: Winery Trade Show Takes Over Syracuse Oncenter, 3-17-15 CYN Central, 1:40 min.: http://www.cnycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=1178970#.VQnrkI7F-Sp

(Right) $100 ½ bottles (375 ml) of Ice Wine sold at the highly awarded Sheldrake Point Winery located on Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes Region. 3-16-15

(Left) “Filter Fast” one of the 200+ vendors present at the Eastern Winery Exposition held March 17-19 at the OnCenter in Syracuse, NY. Filter Fast provides onsite wine filtering using a Crossflow filter. 3-16-15

You can view all 256 photos of my photos of this trip to Cornell University at Geneva (29) or Ithaca (37), Finger Lakes Community College Viticulture Center

(17), Swedish Hill Vineyards (41), Ventosa Vineyards (10), Sheldrake Point Winery (24) and vendors at the Eastern Winery Exposition (98) in the Album section of

the Facebook page here:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000304374293

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2. Practical Farmers of Iowa FREE “Webinar Archive”: http://practicalfarmers.org/farmer-knowledge/farminar-archive/

Marketing Tidbits 1. UK: Single Serve Wines Flying at Supermarkets, 3-17-15 the drinks business: http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2015/03/single-serve-wines-flying-at-supermarkets/

Neeto Keeno 1. CA: Wine Institute Fact Sheet on Arsenic: http://www.wineinstitute.org/resources/pressroom/03202015 2. ISU Extension Spring 2015 Acreage Living Newsletter: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/smallfarms/newsletter 3. Science of Grapevines – Anatomy & Physiology 2nd Edition, 522 pp. by Marcus Keller PhD of Washington State University 4. 2015 Best Viticulture Paper of the Year: Persistence of Elemental Sulfur Spray Residue on Grapes during Ripening and Vinification by Misha Kwasniewski, Gavin Sacks, and Wayne Wilcox

Notable Quotables “IARC classified the herbicide glyphosate – the active ingredient in Roundup – and the

insecticides malathion and diazinon as "probably carcinogenic" on the basis of "limited evidence" of cancer among humans.” From: UN Cancer Agency Issues a Warning about 5 Pesticides, 3-23-15 - EurActive “The world's most widely-used weed killer can "probably" cause cancer, the World Health Organization said on Friday.” From: WHO says Monsanto weed killer can 'probably' cause cancer, 3-23-15 Ag Professional “And, we want to be clear: All labeled uses of glyphosate are safe for human health and supported by one of the most extensive worldwide human health databases ever compiled on an agricultural product.” From: Monsanto disagrees with IARC classification for glyphosate, 3-23-15 Ag Professional

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Articles of Interest 1. ND: North Dakota Grape & Wine Association Award Winning Wines, 2-23-15 ND Dept. of Ag: http://www.nd.gov/ndda/news/north-dakota-grape-and-wine-association-award-winning-wines 3. PA: 2. How much time should I spend choosing a site for a vineyard, 3-13-15 Penn State Univ. : https://psuwineandgrapes.wordpress.com/2015/03/13/how-much-time-should-i-spend-choosing-a-vineyard-site/

3. PA: Weed Control in Vineyards, 3-20-15 Penn State University: https://psuwineandgrapes.wordpress.com/2015/03/20/weed-control-in-vineyards/ 4. PA: How much time should I spend choosing a site for a vineyard, 3-13-15 Penn State Univ. : https://psuwineandgrapes.wordpress.com/2015/03/13/how-much-time-should-i-spend-choosing-a-vineyard-site/

5. MD: Stink Bub Predator Found in the U.S., 3-18-15 Growing Produce 6. NY: New Teaching Winery Transforms Enology Instruction at Cornell, 3-20-15 Cornell University 7. NY: Convenient, inexpensive quantification of elemental sulfur by simultaneous in situ reduction and colorimetric detection, 3-20-15 Cornell University 8. "Very high levels of arsenic" in top-selling wines, 3-21-15 – CBS News: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/lawsuit-claims-high-levels-arsenic-found-some-california-made-wines/

9. The First Bottle Shock was in the Midwest, 3-21-15 Midwest Wine Press: http://midwestwinepress.com/2015/03/21/the-first-bottle-shock-was-in-the-midwest/ 10. Vineyard's soil microbes shape grapes' microbial community, 3-24-15 Science Daily: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150324101443.htm 11. MI: Michigan wine industry considers launching sustainability certification program, 3-24- 15 Traverse City Record Eagle

Calendar of Events 4-8, Liz Slater Winery Marketing Workshop – Two Saints Winery – St. Charles, IA: Sponsored by IWGA and VESTA. Contact Emily Saveraid. Registration Deadline - April 1 Details: http://iowawinegrowers.org/2014/12/iwga-vesta-to-welcome-elizabeth-slater/ 4-(20-22), License to Steal – Geneva on the Lake, Ohio: http://nationalwinemarketing.com/ 5-(26-29), 9th Annual Conference of the American Association of Wine Economists AAWE hosted by the National University of Cuyo at Mendoza, Argentina

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5-(28-30), WineMaker Magazine Annual Conference – Portland, OR. Details: http://winemakermag.com/conference 6-(15-19), 66th ASEV National Conference- Mariott Downtown, Portland, OR: http://www.asev.org/ 7-(23-25), 40th ASEV-Eastern Section Annual Meeting, Clarion Hotel - Dunkirk, NY: Details: http://www.asev-es.org/ 7-(26-29), ISHS International Workshop on Vineyard Mechanization and Grape and Wine Quality - Fredonia, NY: http://www.ishs.org/symposium/428 8-(12-14), Society of Wine Educators 39th Annual Conference – New Orleans, IA: http://societyofwineeducators.org/conference 11-(11-14), 2015 VitiNord International Conference will be held at the Lied Lodge & Conference Center in historic Nebraska City, NE: http://www.vitinord2015.org/

Michael L. White - CCA, CPAg, CSW ISU Extension Viticulture Specialist 909 East 2nd Ave. Suite E, Indianola, IA 50125-2892 ph: 515-961-6237, fax: 6017, cell: 515-681-7286 mlwhite@iastate.edu

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