On November 20th, the Alson H. Smith Jr. AREC in Winchester is offering the New Grape Grower Workshop from 8:15am-5pm. Contact Tremain Hatch at thatch@vt.edu with questions.
Just a quick note of reminder...this is an 'off' year for re-certification at the Winter Technical meeting. It will not be provided. Please check with your local Virginia Cooperative Extension office for dates in your area. If you are located in northern VA here's details and dates for Certification: Dec 2014 Pesticide Initial Certification Brochure Again, contact your local agent for re-certification class dates.
Surry Community College is hosting the 3rd Annual Southeastern United Grape and Wine Symposium on Nov. 5th and 6th! The symposium will cover a number of topics related to viticulture, enology, and marketing. The college is bringing in a variety of speakers from across the country who are experts in their field of study, and it will truly be helpful to both you and your staff members. Here is a link to the symposium home page where you can register for the event, http://symposium.surry.edu/, as well as get the schedule of events and topic information. This event offers the opportunity to [...]
Postmodern Winegrowing will be a two-day forum associated with Craft Beverages Unlimited. This unique roundtable-style meeting is for experienced grape growers and winemakers and will be lead by Clark Smith, author of Postmodern Winemaking and myself. TO REGISTER: Go to: www.craftbeveragesunlimited.com or key your browser to craft beverages unlimited Virginia wine industry members (growers and winemakers) will receive a registration discount of 20%. To receive the discount you must register using the promotion code: BRUCE2015 (all caps) We will be evaluating and discussing wines from around the world. There are a limited number of tasting spots-if you wish to attend you must register [...]
The Fall 2014 Grape Press is out! Highlights include articles on canopies and cover crops, crown gall management, using rainwater in the vineyard, and the always popular regional reports. It is also time to start thinking about your nominations for the VVA Grower of the Year award. Fall 2014 Grape Press (pdf)
Please be sure to review the current listings in the VVA Exchange. Recent additions include grapes for sale and grapes wanted!
"Due to the rain event over the weekend, many people are concerned about protection for next week or two before the harvest..." For Mizuho Nita's full blog update please go to: http://grapepathology.blogspot.com/
Please be sure to review the current listings in the VVA Exchange. Recent additions include bulk wine and equipment for sale, multiples varieties of grapes being sought, and plenty of employment opportunities.
Doug Pfeiffer, Fruit Entomologist at Virginia Tech has prepared a list of updates on grape insects that should be reviewed by all growers. JAPANESE BEETLE: As predicted, this is shaping up to be a year of high JB populations. This is a result of the rainy season last year. JB and related beetles have eggs with a low ability to retain moisture. Consequently, in drought years there is high mortality of eggs, with low populations of adults in the following season. In years with higher levels of soil moisture, we can expect higher natural survival of eggs and high populations of [...]
The Summer 2014 Grape Press is out! Highlights include articles on canopy management, weather issues, potassium nutrition in grapes, soil science and much more. Summer 2014 Grape Press (pdf)
