vÉraison to harvest...tions after bud break, however, advanced vine growth to meet an average bloom...
TRANSCRIPT
Statewide Vineyard Crop Development Update #1
August 28, 2020
Edited by Tim Martinson and Chris Gerling
VÉRAISON TO HARVEST
Around New York... Statewide (Tim Martinson) It’s that time of the year again. Welcome to the start of the 2020 Veraison to Harvest newsletter season, which runs… from veraison to harvest. Now in our 14th season, we are grateful – in the era of COVID-19 – to be bringing this week-ly update of fruit composition and timely harvest issues once again.
This newsletter is a joint project of the statewide enology and viticulture programs, the Lake Erie regional grape pro-gram, the Finger Lakes grape program, the Eastern New York commercial horticulture program, and the Long Island (Suffolk CCE) grape program. Each week, we collect and process fruit samples from key wine and juice grape variet-ies in five regions of New York. In addition, we will include brief articles that highlight some of the projects and activi-ties of our research and extension team at Cornell.
Since the newsletter first started in 2007, we have had con-tinuous support from the New York Wine and Grape Foun-dation that has made this publication possible. Our thanks to the Foundation and other industry groups for their sup-port.
This year COVID-19 guidelines are limiting the Cornell Craft Beverages Laboratory’s capacity to process samples, so you will see us start off with fewer samples this year.
The Numbers. This year, we have started sampling a week earlier than last year – in part because it looked like we were going to have an early season. That didn’t exactly material-ize, and while I was out sampling I noted that many variet-ies are still in the early to middle stages of véraison – and the berries of some varieties (notably a Riesling and Char-donnay block at Cornell’s Lansing vineyard) were notably hard. In 2019, the first samples were collected September 3, so the fruit composition numbers from this year aren’t com-parable (until next week’s samples). A general trend seems to be that berry size is 0.1-0.4 g/berry smaller than last year – which may be a reflection of the dry weather in July. Acids are of course stratospheric, but soluble solids are mostly in the 12-18 °Brix range. Fruit looks good so far.
Sampling started early this year. This Concord vineyard is still in the early stages of post-veraison fruit ripning.
Photo by Don Caldwell
Long Island (Alice Wise) The 2020 season may well be one of the driest on record for the Long Island industry. Though there was some variabil-ity from place to place, a total of 5” fell May through July. Another 2” fell in August, not nearly enough to make up for the deficit. The scorching temperatures all summer have aggravated the drought. Growers have been irrigating regu-larly, sometimes once even twice a week, since May. That said, vineyards look great and yields, while slightly lower than 2019, look to be average to above average.
On August 4, a tropical storm blew through. Despite pre-dictions for several inches of rain, there was only a sprin-kle. However, winds were steady, gusting to 70 mph. Most vineyard blocks did well through this, particularly because most fruit was not yet in veraison. The LIHREC (Long Is-land Horticultural Research & Extension Center) vineyard in Riverhead sits amid hundreds of acres of row crops and is probably the most exposed vineyard block on the Island. Vines had a nice coating of soil and salt on the west side, re-sulting in some leaf burning. Fortunately, this occurred pri-marily on the south ends of rows. Overall, it could have been
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much worse. The remnants of another tropical system are due on 8-29, though current forecasts are for some rain, which we need, and 15-20 mph winds.
Bird pressure has been off the charts in the LIHREC vineyard. Commercial vineyards are also reporting heavier than normal pressure. The dry weather is un-doubtedly a factor. Fine mesh side nets are used in the LIHREC vineyard. This minimizes but does not eliminate damage. Birds still peck at clusters that are pressed against the net. This year, any little opening, top or bottom, has given crafty birds access to fruit. We’ve had to let robins and starlings out of the nets on a daily basis. Fun fact: starlings prefer Merlot.
The table grape Jupiter was harvested on 8-27. This tasty red grape came by mistake but everyone likes it so much – including the birds – that we kept it. Vines have done well with a minimal spray program after fruit set. In some years, a touch of downy appears late but it has never been problematic.
Finger Lakes (Don Caldwell) Despite the late start to bud break, the closest analo-gous year for growers in the Finger Lakes for this year is 2016. How similar are the two years? Well, on 8/23/16 we had recorded a total of 9.03 inches of rain for the season in Dresden. On 8/23/20 we had 11.42 inches tal-lied at the same location. The long term average for rainfall in a season is 23.19 inches for comparison. This year, June and July were actually hotter than in 2016 and August looks to be at least on par. As a result, we’ve seen varieties make up for lost time on their way to ripening as the table shows
Days Bud Break to Veraison Variety 2018 2019 2020 Riesling 101 101 92
Chardonnay 95 100 87 Cabernet Franc 102 107 98
Lemberger 95 98 90 Gruner Veltliner 93 99 87
As in 2016, most growers have seen excellent fruit set but berries are diminutive. Disease pressure, outside of greater Japanese beetle damage than we’ve seen in some time, has been low. Recent rains may change that quickly, of course.
While COVID-19 has certainly been the elephant in the room this year (failing to maintain its six feet of dis-tance), communications between growers and wineries have mostly been positive. It seems likely many tons of Riesling will be left on the vines without a home this fall due to shaky demand, but overall, wineries and growers have faced the challenge together. Meeting on Zoom instead of in a pole barn, ok we can work with
Long Island: The table grape “Jupiter” came out of the University of Ar-kansas breeding program to Alice Wise’s vineyard at Riverhead by mistake, but is a favorite of the crew at the Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center.
Photo by Alice Wise
that. Outdoor tasting only, ok we can work with that. Sign-ins and health check-ins for vineyard workers, ok we can work with that. No student help at the teaching vineyard, I can work with that (but maybe ignore the quality of sucker removal, thanks).
Growers and winery employees have risen to the chal-lenge, and maybe more than most years they deserve a toast.
Hudson/Champlain (Jim Meyers) After a very cool April and May, higher than average temperatures have raised accumulated growing degree days in eastern New York vineyards to 5-year averages. Champlain Valley vineyards are actually well ahead of five year averages. As shown in Figure 1, the growing degree day gap between 2020 and 2019 increases from South to North, indicating that Champlain Valley is furthest ahead. This is the reverse of last year (2019), where Champlain Valley was behind the previous year (2018), and lower Hudson Valley was ahead. As Figure 2 shows, all regions started well below 5-year aver-ages and are now either at or above 5-year averages. Figure 1 also shows that 2020 precipitation has been behind 2019 in almost all locations. Brix, TA, and pH data were not available at the time of writing, but will be discussed in the context of each region next week.
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Figure 1. Difference in cumulative Growing Degree Days (GDDs) and precipitation between 2020 and 2019 as of August 28th. Each colored circle represents a farm location. Local CCE offices are rep-resented by colored squares.
Figure by Jim Meyers
Figure 2. Comparison of 2020 and historical cumulative Growing Degree Days (GDDs) in a representative vineyard from each of four sub-regions of eastern New York
Photo by Jim Meyers
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Lake Erie (Terry Bates) The 2020 growing season started off cool and wet and bud break was 10 days later than the 40-year mean (5/15 in 2020, 5/5 LT-mean). Favorable growing condi-tions after bud break, however, advanced vine growth to meet an average bloom date (6/14, 55-year mean) in Concord at the Cornell Lake Erie Research and Exten-sion Lab (CLEREL). In general, the Concord crop size is average to below average because of several factors including spotty frost, the cool wet spring, and large crops the past couple years in some vineyards. Clus-ter size has been observed to be smaller than average and variable across blocks. Weather between bloom and veraison has been relatively warm and dry but the vines have maintained acceptable water status up to this point. Concord veraison kicked off just one day early and a quick ripening season is expected given the crop size and weather conditions.
Fruit Composition Report - 8/24/2020 The first samples were collected on Monday, August 24, and include yeast assimilable nitrogen (YAN). YAN measurements will be taken every two weeks. Next samples will be collected on Monday, September 9.
Baco Noir
Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)
Hudson Valley 8/25/2020 Benmarl SW HV 0.80 17.8 2.96 16.6\ Prev. sample ’19 Sample 9/3/2019 Benmarl SW HV 1.09 19.2 3.14 14.0
Cabernet Franc Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)
Finger Lakes 8/25/2020 Dresden 0.81 12.2 2.62 24.9 Finger Lakes 8/25/2020 W. Seneca 0.90 10.5 2.51 27.7 Finger Lakes 8/25/2020 Lansing 0.92 13.9 2.68 23.0 Finger Lakes 8/25/2020 Cayuga 1.09 13.4 2.66 20.4 Finger Lakes 8/25/2020 Keuka 1.42 12.6 2.64 24.4
Hudson Valley 8/25/2020 Benmarl SW HV 0.89 10.7 2.66 20.4 Hudson Valley 8/25/2020 Canoe E Central HV 1.03 11.6 2.97 13.8
Lake Erie 8/25/2020 Portland 1.17 7.8 2.56 >30 Long Island 8/25/2020 1.03 8.6 2.73 22.6 Long Island 8/25/2020 1.43 12.4 2.78 17.0
Average 8/25/2020 1.07 11.4 2.68 21.6
Prev Sample ‘19 Average 9/3/2019 1.23 12.8 2.84 19.4 62
Catawba
Finger Lakes 8/24/2020 Keuka 1.71 8.9 2.41 >30 Prev Sample ‘19 Sample 9/3/2019 Keuka 1.99 6.9 2.45 >30
Cayuga White
Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm) Finger Lakes 8/24/2020 Keuka 2.48 12.9 2.84 14.6 Finger Lakes 8/24/2020 Cayuga 2.44 14.9 2.99 11.4 Finger Lakes 8/24/2020 Dresden 2.38 14.4 2.86 12.6 Finger Lakes 8/24/2020 Ithaca 1.97 12.7 2.69 20.5
Average 8/24/2020 2.32 13.7 2.85 14.7
‘19 Sample 9/3/2019 2.66 14.3 2.73 14.8 113 Chardonnay
Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm) Finger Lakes 8/24/2020 Cayuga 1.19 13.7 2.79 16.3 Finger Lakes 8/24/2020 W. Seneca 1.30 15.1 2.81 15.8 Finger Lakes 8/24/2020 Dresden 1.22 17.0 2.82 11.4 Finger Lakes 8/24/2020 Lansing 1.05 17.2 3.00 11.0 Long Island 8/24/2020 LI-03 1.53 12.7 3.06 13.2
Average 8/24/2020 1.26 15.1 2.90 13.5
Prev sample ‘19 Sample 9/3/2019 1.41 14.1 2.90 15.2 128
Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)
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Concord Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)
Finger Lakes 8/24/2020 Keuka 2.19 11.2 2.64 19.1 Finger Lakes 8/24/2020 W. Canandaigua 2.14 9.8 2.58 20.9
Lake Erie 8/24/2020 Portland 2.49 10.0 2.68 18.3 Average 8/24/2020 2.27 10.3 2.63 19.4
Prev. Sample ‘19 Sample 9/3/2019 114 2.50 9.8 2.72 20.4
Frontenac Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)
Champlain 8/24/2020 1.32 17.3 2.84 19.2 Lake Erie Average
8/24/2020 8/24/2020
Sheridan 1.12 1.22
17.0 17.2
2.94 2.89
22.3 20.8
Prev Sample ‘19 Sample 9/3/2019 Sheridan 1.18 16.6 3.06 22.7 469
Frontenac Gris Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)
Champlain 8/24/2020 1.37 17.2 2.78 20.2 Prev Sample ‘19 Sample 9/3/2019 Champlain Valley 1.10 15.8 2.85 22.4 166
Gruner Veltliner Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)
Finger Lakes 8/24/2020 Dresden 1.08 16.3 2.73 12.8 Previous Sample
‘19 Sample 9/3/2019 Dresden 1.26 13.9 2.81 11.5 41
La Crescent Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)
Champlain 8/24/2020 Central Champlain 1.35 18.6 2.78 16.7 Champlain 8/24/2020 Northern Champlain 1.26 17.3 3.00 15.1
Finger Lakes Average
8/24/2020 8/24/2020
Geneva 1.21 1.27
22.7 19.5
2.93 2.90
18.5 16.8
‘19 Sample 9/3/2019 1.12 17.1 2.87 17.6 68
Lemberger Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)
Finger Lakes 8/24/2020 Dresden 1.42 15.9 2.80 12.9 Finger Lakes
Average
8/24/2020 8/24/2020
Wayne County 1.80 1.61
16.1 16.0
2.88 2.84
15.5 14.2
Previous sample ‘19 Sample 9/3/2019 1.40 15.4 2.76 15.4 107
Malbec
Long Island ‘19 Sample
8/24/2020 9/3/2019
LI-06 1.74 2.10
12.0 15.6
2.81 3.11
22.0 14.5 170
Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)
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Marquette Region
Champlain Champlain
Finger Lakes Finger Lakes Finger Lakes
Lake Erie Average
Prev Sample ‘19 Sample
Harvest Date 8/24/2020 8/24/2020 8/24/2020 8/24/2020 8/24/2020 8/24/2020
8/27/2018 9/3/2019
Description Central Champlain
Northern Champlain Dresden Ithaca Tones
Fredonia
Ber. Wt. g. 1.46 1.53 1.21 1.06 1.26 1.26
1.29 1.23
% Brix 17.7 18.5 20.9 14.3 21.0 19.1
18.8 17.1
pH 2.75 2.94 2.84 2.80 2.88 2.94
3.03 2.90
TA g/L 18.2 15.4 16.2 19.2 17.5 14.7
13.5 17.3
YAN (ppm)
214
Merlot
Region Hudson Valley
Long Island Long Island
Average
Prev sample ‘19 Sample
Harvest Date
8/25/2020 8/25/2020 8/25/2020 8/25/2020
9/3/2019
Description Canoe E Central HV
Ber. Wt. g. 1.14 1.23 1.66 1.34
1.65
% Brix 12.1 12.1 12.0 12.1
16.6
pH 3.16 2.98 2.89 3.01
3.21
TA g/L 11.0 14.4 14.0 13.1
10.1
YAN (ppm)
89
Niagara Region
Lake Erie Prev Sample ‘19 Sample
Harvest Date 8/24/2020
9/3/2019
Description Portland
Portland
Ber. Wt. g. 2.95
3.58
% Brix 10.8
12.3
pH 2.78
2.91
TA g/L 12.5
12.3
YAN (ppm) Lake Erie
101
Noiret Region
Lake Erie ‘19 Sample
Harvest Date 8/24/2020 9/3/2019
Description Sheridan Sheridan
Ber. Wt. g. 1.34 1.47
% Brix 12.2 15.1
pH 2.79 3.00
TA g/L 19.2 17.8
YAN (ppm)
242
Pinot Noir
Finger Lakes Finger Lakes
Average
Prev sample ‘19 Sample
8/24/2020 8/24/2020 8/24/2020
9/3/2019
W. Cayuga Ontario
1.07 1.24 1.16
1.08
14.3 17.2 15.8
15.3
2.89 2.97 2.93
3.07
12.7 11.7 12.2
14.4
Average
231
Regent
Region Finger Lakes ‘19 Sample
Harvest Date 8/24/2020 9/3/2019
Description
TDV
Ber. Wt. g. 1.39 1.62
% Brix 16.5 19.3
pH 2.93 3.15
TA g/L 10.4 10.0
YAN (ppm)
63
Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. % Brix g. pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)
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Riesling Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)
Finger Lakes 8/25/2020 W. Seneca 0.98 12.5 2.6 24.5 Finger Lakes 8/25/2020 E. Seneca 0.98 11.2 2.63 23.1 Finger Lakes 8/25/2020 CL 90 Cayuga 1.01 12.5 2.74 20.1 Finger Lakes 8/25/2020 Keuka 0.86 13.8 2.66 19.4 Finger Lakes 8/25/2020 W. Canandaigua 0.97 10.5 2.56 26.6 Finger Lakes 8/25/2020 Dresden 0.87 12.2 2.56 22.5 Finger Lakes 8/25/2020 Clone 90 1.05 15.6 2.75 18.6 Finger Lakes 8/25/2020 Clone 239 0.96 14.9 2.72 19.7 Finger Lakes 8/25/2020 Clone 198 1.09 14.7 2.75 17.8 Finger Lakes 8/25/2020 Wayne County 0.97 10.4 2.67 27.3 Finger Lakes 8/25/2020 Lansing 0.76 11.0 2.62 24.5
Hudson Valley 8/25/2020 Nostrano SW HV 1.07 13.0 2.87 13.7 Hudson Valley 8/25/2020 Canoe E Central HV 0.92 10.7 2.87 15.8
Lake Erie 8/25/2020 Portland 1.40 12.7 2.8 18.4 Long Island 8/25/2020 0.91 7.3 2.83 19.6
Average 8/25/2020 0.99 12.2 2.71 20.8
Prev Sample ‘19 Sample 9/3/2019 1.19 12.4 2.81 20.0 119
Sauvignon Blanc Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)
Long Island 8/24/2020 LI-02 1.05 11.6 2.89 18.2 Prev Sample ‘19 Sample 9/3/2019 1.47 17.1 3.34 10.0 190
Seyval Blanc Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)
Finger Lakes 8/25/2020 Cayuga 1.34 15.2 2.89 12.6 Hudson Valley 8/25/2020 Benmarl SW HV 1.72 17.7 2.97 9.6
Lake Erie 8/25/2020 Portland 1.67 15.9 2.85 13.0 Average 8/25/2020 1.58 16.3 2.90 11.8
Prev Sample ‘19 Sample 9/3/2019 1.78 16.3 3.00 11.5 130
St Croix Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)
Finger Lakes 8/24/2020 Geneva 1.57 17.9 3.06 10.7 Prev Sample ‘19 Sample 9/3/2019 Geneva 1.80 15.2 2.92 12.6 142
Traminette Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)
Lake Erie 8/24/2020 Portland 1.32 11.7 2.62 21.5 Prev Sample ‘19 Sample 9/3/2019 1.41 11.7 2.60 25.2 83
Vidal Blanc Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)
Finger Lakes 8/24/2020 Dresden 1.18 13.2 2.75 19.1 Prev Sample ‘19 Sample 9/3/2019 Dresden 1.32 11.5 2.73 20.3 104
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Lake Erie 8/24/2020 Portland 1.75 16.4 2.79 20.7 Prev Sample ‘19 Sample 9/3/2019 1.54 15.5 2.79 22.0 237
Vignoles Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)
This newsletter was made possible with support from the New York Wine and Grape Foundation, Constellation Brands, and USDA Federal Formula funding through the Cornell and New York State Agricultural Experiment Stations.
Veraison to Harvest is a joint publication of:
Cornell Enology Extension Program Statewide Viticulture Extension Program Long Island Grape Program - Suffolk CCE
Finger Lakes Grape Program Lake Erie Regional Grape Program
Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program Copyright 2020 © Cornell University
The information, including any advice or recommendations, contained herein is based upon the research and experience of Cornell Cooperative Extension personnel. While this information constitutes the best judgement/opinion of such personnel at the time issued, neither Cornell Coopera-tive Extension nor any representative thereof makes any representation or warrantee, express or implied, of any particular result or application of such information, or regarding any product. Users of any product are encouraged to read and follow product-labeling instructions and check with the manufacturer or supplier for updated information. Nothing contained in this information should be interpreted as an endorsement expressed or implied of any particular product.
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