Latest Viticulture Stories

Experts discuss the complex interaction of grapes, viticulture and soil needed to produce a great wineThe world's greatest wines are the result of a threefold synergy among grape variety, human input, and something called the "terroir" -- a term often defined as the vineyard site, soil, and climate.Experts will discuss terroir with an emphasis on soil science in a symposium on Wednesday, Nov. 4 in Pittsburgh. "Terroir: Winegrapes and the Environment" will be presented in...

Trellis Tension Monitoring offers accurate solution for grape growersPredictions of grape yields are extremely important to juice processors and wineries; timely and precise yield forecasts allow producers to plan for harvest and move the highly perishable grape crop from vine to processing efficiently. Until recently, wineries and grape juice processors have relied on expensive and labor-intensive hand-sampling methods to estimate yield in grape crops.Thanks to extensive research efforts,...

MONTEREY, Calif., Oct. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2009 Pinot Noir harvest is wrapping up in the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation, with winegrowers reporting potentially very high quality and normal yields. Some of California's finest vineyards call the S.L.H. home, with more than thirty winegrowers cultivating over 2,500 acres of Pinot Noir there. At the Pisoni Vineyard, Gary Pisoni is very happy with the quality of his just-completed Pinot Noir harvest: "The eventual '09 vintage looks...

CONCORD, Mass., Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Welch's is aiming to donate one million servings of 100 percent juice to America's largest domestic hunger-relief charity Feeding America. As the Welch's Concord and Niagara grape harvests get underway in vineyards across North America, Welch's is partnering with Feeding America to share the bounty of its harvest with the millions of families nationwide who do not have access to adequate amounts of food to sustain a healthy life. Welch's family-farmer...

It has been known grapes provide health benefits, but U.S. researchers say they are learning more about exactly how the fruit's chemicals work. The links between grape consumption and prevention of diseases are the subject of a Grape and Health workshop described in a supplement published in the Journal of Nutrition. Within grapes and grape products, there are chemical classes of natural compounds, which are capable of mediating biological responses against a variety of targets, Dr. John...

Could point the way toward production of European-tasting wines from American vinesOne of the best known episodes in the 8000-year history of grapevine cultivation led to biological changes that have not been well understood "“ until now. Through biomolecular detective work, German researchers have uncovered new details about the heredity of Vitis varieties in cultivation today. In the process, they have opened the way to more meaningful classification, accelerated breeding, and more...

MADISON, Wis., Sept. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- This harvest season, viticulture students from VESTA, an alliance of Midwest colleges and winemaking businesses, are learning the process of turning grapes into wine via online courses. The program uses Mediasite by Sonic Foundry, Inc. (Nasdaq: SOFO), to deliver instruction to students from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. VESTA, the Viticulture Enology Science and Technology Alliance, (www.vesta-usa.org) is funded by the National Science...

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Sept. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- While consumption of grapes and grape products has long been associated with a healthy lifestyle, a new supplement published in the September issue of the Journal of Nutrition provides further evidence that grapes and grape products may play a key role in optimizing health by mediating beneficial biological responses. The vast array of naturally occurring plant chemicals in grapes and grape products are thought to be responsible for the...

French winegrowers are harnessing the benefits of satellite imagery to enrich their grape harvests, combining modern technology with the ancient art of winemaking.Originally developed to help producers of grain, the Oenoview system combines satellite images and vine analysis to assist oenologists in determining when grapes planted under varying conditions will be ready for harvest.The system works by providing winemakers vital information about their berries, such as the amount of water the...

Climate change is compelling Spanish winemakers to think about moving to higher ground in order to run away from the sweltering heat.Spain, which is covered with acres of vineyard, "is in the frontline of climate change," said Juan Francisco Cacho, a wine expert at the University of Zaragoza, to AFP.The country, the driest in Europe, might suffer with a possible "Africanization" of its climate and might develop "severe" desertification, says the environment...