Recent Posts
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Last week, UGA Extension Viticulture hosted its largest program yet: The New Grape Growers Conference. Over 75 industry members, new growers and specialists gathered at Crane Creek Vineyards in Young Harris, GA, to take part in a crash course of how to start, manage and succeed with your vineyard and winery. Attendees were primarily from…
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This information is a out of place relative the season, but I want to share it with you while it is fresh on my mind. Despite a wet year, some producers have experienced significant powdery mildew issues this year — some on the clusters. Powdery mildew contributes to poor grape development, but it also contributes…
Posted in: Pest management Guidelines -
The latest 7-day QPF (qualitative precipitation forecast) shows that little rain is expected for north and central Georgia in the next week. Rain amounts are expected to be less than half an inch in many areas, although areas in the northeast mountains might see some daily pop-up showers during the afternoons. By late next week,…
Posted in: Weather -
The UGA Extension Viticulture Team harvested our first research plot on Tuesday, August 22. The plots were a part of a leaf removal trial in Chardonnay which evaluated leaf pulling at to different magnitudes and at two different stages – both pre-bloom and post-fruit set. On each vine, clusters were picked, counted, and weighed (140…
Posted in: Bunch Grapes -
The latest monthly and seasonal outlooks for the US were released today by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. The images below show that September is leaning towards above normal temperatures in coastal areas of the Southeast, including the Florida peninsula and especially south Florida. Most of the region except for Florida is also leaning slightly towards…
Posted in: Weather -
UGA Crop Quality Laboratory Analytical Services for Wine and Grapes Our goal is to offer analytical support for Georgia wine producers to monitor the quality of their entire winemaking process. The crop quality laboratory at UGA offers an array of analytical tests for grapes, juice, musts, and finished product which will benefit producers in a…
Posted in: Services -
I’ve just posted my climate outlook for fall and winter in my “On the CASE” blog. You can read it at https://site.extension.uga.edu/climate/2017/08/outlook-for-fall-and-winter-for-the-southeast/.
Posted in: Weather -
The following was written by John Scaduto, Rabun County Extension Coordinator, ANR Agent, and UGA Viticulture Extension Team member. Thank you for the insight, John. Research and experience has necessitated several manual labor tasks being performed in wine grape vineyards before the fruit ever reaches the winery. Of the major vineyard tasks during the…
Posted in: Bunch Grapes -
As a follow up to Phil’s earlier post about managing sour rot and spotted wing drosophila (SWD), I just want to mention that grapes are now becoming attractive to SWD, so if you have had issues with SWD and/or sour rot in the past, now is the time to start considering management options. The research…
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MONITORING MATURITY: Monitoring grape maturity is important in order to determine when to pick. I am not going to go into the rather subjective details of what defines maturity for making quality wine. Most industry practitioners use a combination of chemical and sensory evaluations to determine when to pick (… as well as the physical…