Bunch Grapes
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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…
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Pierce’s Disease (PD) is an ever present threat in the minds of many grape-growers. This disease, caused by the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, is spread by many vectors, but most notably, the glassy winged sharpshooter (GWSS). Though PD was first discovered in Anaheim, California and was spread by the blue-green sharpshooter, the presence of such an…
Posted in: Bunch Grapes -
Presidio is no longer registered for grape downy mildew management. This is unfortunate, but Valent confirmed this information. Presidio will be removed from the SRSFC IPM guide. You can use existing stocks of Presidio, so no worries if you have it on hand at this time. Ranman has confirmed activity against downy mildew, and it…
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Last week I was able to travel as a part of the UGA Extension Viticulture Team to Charlottesville, VA to attend my first American Society for Enology and Viticulture / Eastern Section (ASEV/ES) meeting. I have to say, the trip was definitely worth my time to attend. Not only were we able to tour the…
Posted in: Bunch Grapes -
Veraison is here in many parts of GA – see the 10-day-old photo of a Merlot cluster (below) for proof. Though I was not in Georgia for the previous veraison period, I know that veraison is a bit ahead of schedule this year. This is usually a welcomed occurrence as this could mean that harvest will follow suit. However,…
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We obviously don’t have to worry about a dry environment at this time in Georgia, but as a learning point, I will share this photo with you (expand it to see the symptoms). This shows how severe powdery mildew can be in a relatively dry environment (Lodi, CA). Stephanie Bolton, a previous Ph.D. student who…
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We talked about crop load management at the recent mid-season vineyard workshop at Wolf Mountain Vineyards and Winery. Whether you were there or not, I hope this will serve as good food for thought if you are considering crop thinning. Depending on variety, site, and local weather patterns, some will be starting veraison within the next week to…
Posted in: Bunch Grapes -
We had a great meeting last week. As requested, here is a copy of the insect pest control presentation from the mid-season wine grape workshop