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This is due to break on Aug. 31. Many growers feel that, on average, veraison started about a week later than normal. It progressed very slowly, particularly in the later ripening reds. It is possible that prolonged high humidity triggered stomatal closure on leaves, inhibiting the rate of transpiration or water loss from leaves. Without water moving through the plant, photosynthesis declines. Additionally, shoot growth was lush this summer, possibly competing with clusters for vine resources. In the last week or so, the rate of shoot growth has slowed and the pace of veraison has picked up considerably. Only the later ripening reds have not yet fully colored. Barring any extreme weather events, this season has the potential to be very good.

LI Horticultural Research & Extension Center, Riverhead

Monthly growing season rainfall2015 2016 2017 2018

May 0.34 3.66 4.30 3.08June 5.22 1.23 4.65 2.85July 1.24 2.89 3.65 3.80August 2.14 2.36 4.66 6.09Total 8.94 10.14 17.26 15.82

Cumulative growing degree days, base 50°F2015 2016 2017 2018

Mar/Apr 70 124 161 60May 505 418 470 499June 1070 996 1029 1069July 1858 1814 1789 1878

August 2574 2580 2428 2622

Alice Wise in her longstanding variety trial at the Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center in Riverhead, NY

Photo by Tim Martinson

We’re Back Again...We have again reached the part of the season where we re-sume our Statewide Veraison to Harvest newsletter. Now in its 11th year, Veraison to Harvest incorporates weekly fruit sampling from four regions of New York into one easy-to-read table informing growers and winemakers through-out New York of how the ripening season is progressing. This takes time and coordination. Samples are collected by four programs (Lake Erie, Finger Lakes, Eastern NY Horti-culture, and Long Island extension) on Mondays, shipped overnight to Geneva, and analyzed (Statewide Enology Ex-tension program) and summarized by late Wednesday each week. We also include additional, brief articles about ongo-ing research and extension projects throughout NY. This also takes resources and funding. Special thanks to the New York Wine and Grape Foundations and Constellation Brands for providing major support for this effort.

Around New York...Statewide (Tim Martinson)For our first fruit sampling effort on August 27, we con-centrated particularly on early to mid-season grapes – next week we will ramp up to our full range of samples. This year we have started a week earlier than in 2017 (See fruit composition report, p. 4). The first look indicates that some varieties appear to be ahead (that is, higher °Brix, lower ti-tratable acidity) of 2017. These include Chardonnay, Fron-tenac, Gruner Veltliner, and Lemberger. Some seem to be ‘behind’, including Cabernet Franc, Concord, Marquette, Riesling, and Sauvignon blanc. The remainder (Baco noir, Catawba, Cayuga White, La Crescent, Niagara, Pinot noir, Seyval blanc, Traminette, and Vidal blanc) seem to be about even with last year. Note that the V. riparia-based MN va-rieties (La Crescent, Frontenac, Marquette) are approaching 20° Brix, while the TAs remain high (except for some of the Marquette sites with TAs below 12 g/L).

Long Island (Alice Wise) The eastern US has seen some wild weather this season, lots of rain, heat and humidity. On Long Island, temperatures are very close to those in 2015; however, there has been twice the amount of rainfall. 2018 will be remembered as the season with a long stretch of hot, humid weather that made for sweaty vineyard work.

Statewide Vineyard Crop Development Update #1

August 30, 2018

Edited by Tim Martinson and Chris Gerling

Ve ́raison to HarVest

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Lake Erie (Tim Weigle)Harvest has begun in the Lake Erie region with some early season hybrids and Minnesota cold hardy variet-ies coming off the vine. The staff at the Cornell Lake Erie Research and Extension Laboratory picked their first grapes of the year when they delivered Seyval to Walker’s Fruit Basket in Forestville, NY.

Frequent heavy rains in the past month have provided growers relief from what looked to be a drier than av-erage growing season. Thirty day after bloom crop es-timates are being adjusted upward by some growers as the recent rainfall has pumped up berry size.

We are looking at favorable weather for continued ripening of the crop as the 7-day forecast is for higher than average temperatures during both day and night time hours.

To keep abreast with what is happening in the Lake Erie region, check out the Lake Erie Regional Grape Program Extension team’s weekly podcasts at http://lergp.com/podcasts/. This week’s podcast covers the Mechanic and Economics of the Efficient Vineyard Project with excerpts from talks at the LERGP Summer Growers Conference.

Hudson/Champlain (Jim Meyers)O wind, rend open the heat,

cut apart the heat, rend it to tatters.

Fruit cannot drop

through this thick air— fruit cannot fall into heat that presses up and blunts

the points of pears and rounds the grapes.

Cut the heat—

plough through it, turning it on either side

of your path.-- ‘Heat’, by H.D. (Hilda Doolittle)

On the global stage, New York state is cast as a ‘cool climate’ wine region, evoking contrasts to warmer re-gions like California’s Central Valley, southern Italy, and western Australia. Some parts of New York, how-ever, are cooler than others and there is a wide range of mesoclimates within the state.

Among the seventeen counties that I directly support in eastern New York, each has its own unique com-bination of cultivar selections and farming practices which have evolved in a local weather context. As far as I know, there is no grape cultivar that is grown in all seventeen counties — although the possibility exists.

Figure 1. Growing degree-days on June 1 (top) and August (bottom) at vineyard NEWA weather stations in Eastern New York.

Figure by Jim Meyers

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There should be time for one more week of sampling before the Orange county Marquette is harvested, so we can look at those next week along with some additional regional comparisons and physiological explorations.

Finger Lakes (Hans Walter-Peterson) Harvest got underway in the Finger Lakes last Mon-day, August 20 with the start of the Aurore harvest for Constellation Brands. After a blockbuster season last year with unusually high yields in most variet-ies, growers here have been anticipating a reduction in crop levels closer to normal or even a little bit below this year, as is often the case after a large crop the pre-vious year.

An average or smaller crop may not be the worst news for the industry overall this year. A number of wineries have cut back on their purchases of grapes because of larger inventories from 2017. At the same time, how-ever, several growers have mentioned that they are not able to fulfill all of the requests that they are getting for grapes this year, especially vinfera varieties like Caber-net Franc and Pinot noir.

The 2018 season in the Finger Lakes has presented a couple of different faces to growers this year. The sea-son started off mostly warm and dry, especially in late May and into June. By shortly after bloom, some vine-yards with limited root zones due to shallow depth or with young vines were starting to show some signs of water stress, although conditions this year were not nearly as severe as the drought the region experienced in 2016.

Beginning in late July, the water (both in the form of rain and humidity) returned to the area, culminat-ing in a major rainstorm on Tuesday, August 16 that dropped anywhere from 1” to over 9” of rain in the span of just a few hours, depending on location. The towns of Lodi, Ovid and Hector, located on the east side of Seneca Lake, were hit with the heaviest rainfall amounts. While there was damage to roads, ditches and homes, the storm does not appear to have had a major impact on the vineyards.

The increased rainfall and humidity have also in-creased the potential for disease development, par-ticularly bunch rots including Botrytis and sour rot, and downy mildew on the foliage. These are the three primary disease concerns that growers are facing each year as we enter the harvest season, and successful management of them can mean the difference between harvesting fruit when growers want to, rather than when they have to. While Botrytis and downy can be found in some blocks right now, clusters and canopies appear to be holding up well overall at this point

Having said that, there is one cultivar that is planted across the north-south extent of the approximately 11,000 square mile region —albeit not in every county: Marquette.

Marquette is grown in the warmest areas of southeast New York, the coldest areas of northeast New York, and various places in between. This ubiquity offers an opportunity to compare and contrast vine perfor-mance and fruit quality across the range of eastern NY mesoclimates and explore small scale spatiotemporal climate patterns.

Growing degree days (GDDs) generally accumulate more slowly as northern latitudes increase. As of this writing, the range within eastern New York is between 1680 and 2580 GDDs. As you might expect, our unwit-ting benchmark named Marquette performs different-ly across the region. In 2018, weekly phenology data was collected from multiple Marquette blocks across eastern NY to serve as a basis for comparison. Three of those blocks, one each from Clinton, Washington, and Orange counties are also being included in the weekly Veraison to Harvest sampling and analysis.

All of three blocks broke bud on or around May 5th at 60, 89, and 140 vineyard GDDs respectively. You may be asking, ‘What?’. Grapevine hibernation (endodormancy) and awakening (ecodormancy) are not as simple as GDD accumulation. More on that in a future article.

Bloom occurred on or around June 1 in the Washington County blocks and around June 8th in Clinton, at 446 and 378 GDDs respectively. No precise bloom date data was collected for the Orange county block, but it was at 511 GDDs on June 1st and likely bloomed earlier considering that air temperature is the main ecophysiological driver of days between bud break and flowering.

Figure 1 (left) illustrates the range of GDD accumulation across eastern NY on June 1st. Veraison began first in Orange county on or about July 23rd, then Washington on or about July 31st, and Clinton on or about August 3rd (Figure 1, right) at 1602, 1686, and 1481 GDDs respectively.

Looking at the basic chemistry, sampled on August 28th, Orange county came in at 20.1 / 11.0 / 3.21 (Brix / TA / pH) with 2462 GDDs, Washington County came in at 19.9 / 14.1 / 3.18 with 2374 GDDs, and Clinton county was 19.2 / 14.3 / 2.92 with 2026 GDDs. There is reason to believe that the acids are actually higher than reported in the Clinton county fruit, as all of the samples from Champlain Valley spent an extra two days in transit (shipping error). But even without that adjustment we can see a predictable, if small, response in Brix, TA, and pH across the three mesoclimates.

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Fruit Composition Report - 8/27/2018Samples reported here were collected on Monday 8/27/2018. Where appropriate, sample data from 2017, averaged over all sites is included. Tables from 2017 are archived at http://grapesandwine.cals.cornell.edu/newsletters/veraison-harvest. Next samples will be collected on Tuesday, September4. No YAN measurements this week.Baco Noir

Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)

Hudson Valley 8/27/2018 Benmarl SW HV 1.18 17.8 3.27 15.7’17 Sample 9/5/2017 Southwest HV 1.27 18.4 3.27 14.8 418

Cabernet FrancRegion Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 Wayne County 1.09 10.7 2.71 25.5Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 Keuka 0.97 12.9 2.81 19.0Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 W. Seneca 1.12 12.6 2.80 18.6Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 E. Seneca 1.32 12.6 2.87 18.0Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 Cayuga 1.13 13.5 2.85 17.8Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 Dresden 1.18 14.5 2.87 16.2

Hudson Valley 8/27/2018 Canoe East Central HV 1.18 11.2 2.89 19.9Hudson Valley 8/27/2018 Benmarl Southwest HV 1.16 12.7 2.98 17.9

Average 8/27/2018 1.14 12.6 2.85 19.1‘17 Average 9/5/2017 1.35 14.6 2.92 15.2 107

Catawba

Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 Keuka 1.98 8.4 2.47 too high‘17 Sample 9/5/2017 Keuka 2.48 8.8 2.40 61

Cayuga WhiteRegion Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 Keuka 2.59 12.4 2.80 16.5Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 Cayuga 2.79 15.4 2.92 11.0Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 Dresden 2.43 15.2 2.98 10.6

Average 8/27/2018 2.60 14.3 2.90 12.7‘17 Sample 9/5/2017 2.91 15.7 2.91 12.5 153

ChardonnayRegion Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 Cayuga 1.40 15.0 2.99 14.7 Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 W. Seneca 1.35 16.1 3.09 10.6 Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 Dresden 1.38 17.9 3.10 10.0

Lake Erie 8/27/2018 1.29 14.0 3.07 12.6 Long Island 8/27/2018 1.48 13.0 3.07 14.7

Average 8/27/2018 1.38 15.2 3.06 12.5 ‘17 Sample 9/5/2017 1.40 14.6 2.84 15.2 127

ConcordRegion Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 Keuka 2.45 10.0 2.77 18.8 Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 W. Canandaigua 2.50 10.3 2.76 18.7

Lake Erie 8/27/2018 Fredonia 2.58 11.3 2.80 13.4 Lake Erie 8/27/2018 Portland 2.68 12.2 2.97 12.8 Average 8/27/2018 2.55 11.0 2.83 15.9

‘17 Sample 9/6/2016 2.69 14.2 3.11 8.5

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FrontenacRegion Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)

Hudson Valley 8/27/2018 Northeast HV 1.11 20.3 3.02 17.5Champlain Valley* 8/28/2018 Champlain 1.02 14.6 3.05 20.3Champlain Valley* 8/28/2018 Champlain (Fr. Gris) 1.13 17.0 2.51 16.4

Average 8/27/2018 1.09 17.3 2.86 18.1 ‘17 Sample 8/31/2015 Dresden-Teaching 2.12 14.5 3.01 12.3

Gruner VeltlinerRegion Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 Dresden 1.64 17.3 3.14 9.8 ‘17 Sample 9/5/2017 Dresden 1.42 13.7 2.84 12.3 121

LembergerRegion Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 Keuka 1.47 17.0 2.85 14.0 Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 Dresden 1.92 17.6 3.04 10.2

Average 8/27/2018 1.70 17.3 2.95 12.1 ‘17 Sample 9/5/2017 1.72 16.9 2.87 13.2 125

La CrescentRegion Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)

Hudson Valley 8/27/2018 Northwest HV 1.14 19.4 2.89 17.0 Champlain Valley* 8/28/2018 Central Champlain 1.18 21.0 2.86 17.8 Champlain Valley* 8/28/2018 Northern Champlain 1.16 19.1 2.99 14.5

Average 8/27/2018 1.16 19.8 2.91 16.4 ‘17 Sample 9/5/2017 1.42 20.8 2.87 19.0

Marechal FochRegion Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)

Hudson Valley 8/27/2018 Northeast HV 1.35 19.2 3.20 14.5 ‘17 Sample

MarquetteRegion Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)

Hudson Valley 8/27/2018 Southwest HV 1.53 20.1 3.21 11.0 Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 Tones 1.16 18.9 3.02 11.6 Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 Dresden 1.14 19.2 3.17 10.6

Hudson Valley 8/27/2018 Northwest HV 1.43 17.6 2.82 16.9 Hudson Valley 8/27/2018 Northeast HV 1.47 19.9 3.18 14.1

Lake Erie 8/27/2018 Fredonia 1.14 16.7 2.98 11.9 Champlain Valley* 8/28/2018 Central Champlain 1.31 19.1 2.91 17.7 Champlain Valley* 8/28/2018 Northern Champlain 1.11 19.2 2.92 14.3

Average 8/27/2018 1.29 18.8 3.03 13.5 ‘17 Sample 9/5/2017 1.45 21.1 2.97 16.3 401

Merlot

Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)

Hudson Valley 8/27/2018 Canoe East Central HV 1.18 14.5 3.13 17.2 ‘17 Sample 9/5/2017 1.57 16.9 3.33 9.5 212

NiagaraRegion Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)Lake Erie 8/27/2018 Portland 2.72 12.1 2.89 10.6

‘17 Sample 9/5/2017 Portland 3.51 13.4 3.01 9.0 153

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Pinot Noir

Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt.

g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 E. Seneca 1.45 15.7 3.04 11.9 Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 W. Cayuga 1.46 15.4 3.05 11.3 Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 Ontario 1.46 16.0 3.20 8.9

Hudson Valley 8/27/2018 Canoe East Central HV 1.33 15.9 3.42 10.7 Hudson Valley 8/27/2018 Nostrano Southwest HV 1.29 17.0 3.34 10.0

Average 8/27/2018 1.40 16.0 3.21 10.6 ‘17 Sample 9/5/2017 1.37 16.9 3.19 10.9 241

RieslingRegion Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 W. Canandaigua 1.07 11.2 2.77 22.6 Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 Wayne County 1.15 11.7 2.78 22.0 Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 CL 90 Cayuga 1.02 12.7 2.73 20.7 Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 E. Seneca 1.17 11.6 2.80 20.1 Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 Keuka 1.04 13.1 2.74 20.0 Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 W. Seneca 1.10 13.6 2.77 18.6 Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 E. Seneca (Cl. 198) 1.25 11.9 2.76 18.8 Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 E. Seneca (Cl. 239) 1.13 13.8 2.78 18.1 Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 Dresden 1.11 14.0 2.81 17.6 Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 E. Seneca (Cl. 90) 1.11 13.2 2.77 18.2

Hudson Valley 8/27/2018 Nostrano Southwest HV 1.23 13.5 2.96 18.4 Hudson Valley 8/27/2018 Canoe East Central HV 0.97 14.9 3.04 17.6

Lake Erie 8/27/2018 Portland 1.30 12.7 2.82 17.7 Long Island 8/27/2018 LI-01 1.14 10.0 2.89 21.1

Average 8/27/2018 1.13 12.7 2.82 19.4 ‘17 Sample 9/5/2017 1.36 14.4 2.81 18.3 165

Sauvignon BlancRegion Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)

Long Island 8/27/2018 LI-02 1.28 13.0 2.93 18.7 ‘17 Sample 9/5/2017 LI-02 1.49 19.2 3.14 12.2 216

Seyval BlancRegion Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 Cayuga 1.65 15.2 3.08 9.5 Hudson Valley 8/27/2018 Benmarl Southwest HV 1.61 15.5 2.98 10.4

Lake Erie 8/27/2018 Portland 1.61 15.9 2.93 10.6 Average 8/27/2018 1.62 15.5 3.00 10.2

‘17 Sample 9/5/2017 1.74 18.0 3.05 10.6 190Traminette

Region Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 Dresden 1.39 13.4 2.86 18.4 ‘17 Sample 9/5/2017 1.88 13.2 2.65 20.8 124

Vidal BlancRegion Harvest Date Description Ber. Wt. g. % Brix pH TA g/L YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 8/27/2018 Dresden 1.39 13.4 2.86 18.4 ‘17 Sample 9/5/2017 Dresden 1.76 14.5 2.79 19.0 189

*The Champlain samples labeled in Brick Red arrived late, and were processed with the EnoFoss instead of the autotitrator.

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The information, including any advice or recommendations, con-tained herein is based upon the research and experience of Cornell Cooperative Extension person-nel. While this information constitutes the best judgement/opinion of such personnel at the time issued, neither Cornell Cooperative 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.

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 ProgramLong Island Grape Program - Suffolk CCE

Finger Lakes Grape ProgramLake Erie Regional Grape Program

Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture ProgramCopyright 2018© Cornell University

Loose-Clustered Vignoles at ClerelJuly 24, 2018

Eight ‘Loose-clustered’ Vignoles clones produced through radiation mutations by the USDA Grape Genetics Unit, based at Cornell AgriTech are planted in a 3-year old replicated trial at the Cornell Lake Erie Research and Extension Laboratory in Portland, NY. Shown in this photo are representative clusters from each of the ‘loose-clustered’ clones, compared to the ‘Standard’ Vignoles with tight clusters (Labled here “R53V30). A selection of these clones will be vinified at the Vinification and Brewing Laboratory at Cornell AgriTech.

Photo by Tim Martinson