Spring 2024 Presidents Corner
With the heat of summer coming on full force for many of us, we’ll hopefully see the vigor start to abate and dry weather continue. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who made it out to the 2024 Summer Technical Meeting at Bluestone Vineyards in the Shenandoah [...]
Spring 2024 Vintage Report
Compiled and edited by Jason Burrus EASTERN VIRGINIA (Gonzalo Ortiz, Rustic Vintage, LLC, eastvagrowers@gmail.com) Here in the beautiful Northern Neck of Virginia, rain has been sporadic, daily high temperatures have been moderate, and nighttime temperatures have been cool. On our farm Chardonnay, which is our first to bud, bud break [...]
Dr Drew Harner settles into his new role as Viticulture Specialist with Virginia Tech
Written by Dr. Harner, edited and compiled by Jess Trapeni Research Updates from the Viticulture Lab at Virginia Tech The growing season seemed to start with a bang, and we are now well into my first year of grape cultivation and field research as a new [...]
Research Update from Winemakers Research Exchange – Fruit thinning experiments
Written by Dr. Ting, Compiled and Edited by Jess Trapeni A summary of two fruit thinning experiments involving shoulder thinning and cluster halving. Introduction Fertile Virginia soils can often produce vigorous grape vines with a heavy crop load that struggle to fully ripen. It is common practice to reduce crop [...]
2024 Summer Technical Meeting Recap
Written by David Eiserman The 2024 Summer Technical Meeting was held in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley at the lovely Bluestone Vineyards. The morning started with a talk and demonstration led by Dr. Sally Dickinson from Virginia Tech School of Animal Sciences, about the use of dogs to detect spotted [...]