Newswise — Cornell University, New York’s Land Grant university, has several teams of researchers and extension specialists working to support the state’s growing wine industry. These experts say it was a challenging year for the region’s vineyards and bottlers, but that 2012 should prove to be a very good year. These experts include:
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Anna Katharine Mansfield, a professor of enology whose federally funded research aims to develop and promote the East Coast wine industry, says this year’s dry weather helped influence the size of grapes in the Finger Lakes, another fortunate turn for lovers of the region’s wines. Local growers, she adds, know how to deal with challenging weather.
Mansfield says:
“Having a drought after bud-break this year kept berry size down and caused vines to produce smaller clusters. In grapes, flavor develops in cells that lie just below the skin. When berries are small, there’s a greater skin to pulp ratio so you get more intense flavor. Grapes have less water this year as well, which also helps concentrate flavors in the juice.”
“In the Finger Lakes, coping with variable weather is the rule not the exception. We’re flexible by nature. Winemakers here have a bigger bag of tricks for dealing with the unpredictable. It’s that variability that makes our wines so interesting.”
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Tim Martinson, a senior extension associate whose applied research in viticulture supports the New York wine and grape industry, says sun and heat increased sugar levels, reduced acidity and is allowing some growers to harvest a month early. That’s good news for wines, particularly red wines typically harvested late in the season, and for next year’s outlook as well.
Martinson says:
“The events nature flung at us were difficult for many fruit producers – including grape-growers, but the impact was varied, and most wine grapes escaped with only moderate injury. The early, ripe grapes will make wines with concentrated flavors and smooth, supple mouth feel.
“Also, when you harvest early there’s more time before frost for leaves to replenish vine reserves. Even a week or two can make a huge difference because vines will rely on these reserves for their early growth next spring. Think of it as good grape karma for next year.
“Aside from good to excellent quality, for growers it was hit and miss for quantity. Many suffered frost-related yield reductions, ranging from moderate to severe. In particular, the 20,000 acres (two-thirds of New York's acreage) in the Lake Erie and Niagara region had 11 spring freeze events, and crop losses ranging from 6 to 90 percent.”
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Chris Gerling, an extension associate at Cornell’s Viticulture and Enology Program who has spent more than a decade working with wine producers in the field, says there is another upside to this year’s drought – the dry weather kept diseases in check, meaning some vineyards could rely less on chemical controls. The early harvest, he notes, still presents its challenges.
Gerling says:
“Everything is coming at once. This means that winemakers, who are continuously challenged by space constraints, must play a complex game of traffic control and shuffle in new grapes while they’re still busy bottling.”
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