Véraison to HarVest...Page 3 that the East End of Long Island will only experience some wind (20-25 mph) and rain (± 1”) Friday after-noon-evening. Windy conditions predicted for

Page 1

Around New YorkStatewide (Tim Martinson)Welcome to the first 2019 issue of Veraison to Harvest a joint project of the statewide enology and viticulture programs the Lake Erie regional grape program the Finger Lakes grape program the Eastern New York commercial horti-culture program and the Long Island (Suffolk CCE) grape program

I want to start by thanking the New York Wine and Grape Foundation for supporting this publication since it started in 2007 ndash making this the 12th year Each week we will collect and process samples from key varieties of grapes in five regions of New York ndash Long Island the HudsonCham-plain the Finger Lakes the Lake Erie region and (new this year) Niagara County on Lake Ontario Special thanks go to Robin Ross of Arrowhead Springs and Larry Manning of Freedom Run for collecting samples in Niagara county

The Numbers In most of New York numbers are running well behind last year at this time (See fruit composition table pp XX) Among the standard French and Geneva hybrids soluble solids are running 2-5 degBrix lower and titratable acidity (TA) 3-8 gliter higher than last year Cold climate Minnesota varieties Frontenac La Crescent and Marquette are 17 to 47 degBrix lower and TAs are 3-10 gL higher than 2018 at this time Natives (Concord Catawba Niagara and Diamond) are 2-6 degBrix lower TAs 3-10 gl higher

Vinifera cultivars as a whole are 12 to 52 degBrix lower and TAs 23 to 7 gl higher than last year in most of the state But Long Island is the exception ndash fruit composition is at or ahead of last yearrsquos numbers

This shows up in the Merlot (+1 degBrix -04 gl TA) Sauvi-gnon blanc (+07 degBrix -19 gl TA) and Malbec (+21 degBrix -10 gl TA)

But it also shows up in the varieties for which we have the most samples Long Island Cabernet Franc has reached 16-165 degBrix and TAs are 8-11 gl Compare that to the re-maining samples in other regions that range from 96-137 degBrix and acids from 14-28 gL From the Finger Lakes to western NY Cabernet Franc seems to still be in the middle of veraison Riesling samples show a similar trend Hud-

Statewide Vineyard Crop Development Update 1

September 6 2019

Edited by Tim Martinson and Chris Gerling

Veraison to HarVest

son Valley and Long Island samples have higher soluble solids (14-17 degBrix) than the Finger Lakes (9-12 degBrix) and lower acids (12-16 gl vs 19-24 gl) Riesling is just starting to ripen in the Finger Lakes

YAN Also notable were low yeast assimilable nitrogen (YAN) numbers in Cabernet Franc where only 2 of the 12 samples were above 100 ppm (150 ppm of YAN) and 5 were below 50 ppm In Riesling there was a definite split with HV Lake Erie and Long Island sites showing 150-200 ppm ndash while in the Finger Lakes half of the 10 samples were under 100 ppm

In summary it looks like Long Island (and some of the Lower Hudson Valley) is on track for a more typical ripen-ing trajectory while the Finger Lakes and parts west (and the Champlain region) are delayed It could be a ldquolow-brix high acidrdquo year for growers outside of Long Island

Finger Lakes (Don Caldwell)Usually I find it fun to check in with grower-friends in Cali-fornia or Oregon to see how much further ahead grape de-velopment is in their area than here This was not one of those years The cool spring while preventing frost on everything

Continued on page 2

Early ripening lsquoConcord Clone 30rsquo was brought to the Cornell Lake Erie Research and Extension Laboratory through the efforts of Hans Walter-Peterson After spending time in quaranteen it was planted at the Portland Lab and is in its first year of fruiting

Photo by Terry Bates

Page 2

Early vineyard observations indicated that there were potentially large crops hanging This prompted more grower interest in crop estimation procedures Many of our grower meetings focused on crop estimation and the use of spatial data-driven maps to direct sam-pling efforts for more efficient estimates Some of our early adopters of the Specialty Crop Research Initia-tive (SCRI) Efficient Vineyard Project were utilizing sensors and tools to direct their management practices with some implementing variable rate management this season

Frequent heavy rains in the past month have provided growers relief from what looked to be a dry growing season We are looking at favorable weather for contin-ued ripening of the crop with the exception of a slight chance of showers on Friday as the 7-day forecast is partly sunny and an average of 72deg Fahrenheit during day time hours

To keep abreast with what is happening in the Lake Erie region check out the Lake Erie Regional Grape Program Extension teamrsquos weekly podcasts at http lergpcompodcasts This weekrsquos podcast covers berry sampling techniques for capture a representative sam-ple for Brix monitoring

save maybe apricots and black walnuts pushed bud break in the Finger Lakes back to the second and third week of May on most varieties

This late start in turn resulted in veraison being be-tween 4 and 11 days behind last year on the varieties we grow at the teaching vineyard If we compare the number of days between bud break and veraison from our data in 2018 and 2019 we find a difference of 0-6 days This is not to suggest GDDs donrsquot matter but it points to the primacy of bud break in predicting when grapes start rolling into the wineries Table 1 Number of days between bud break and veraison

Variety 2018 2019

Riesling 100-101 99-100Chardonnay 94-95 100

Cabernet Franc 101-102 105-107Lemberger 95 98

Gruner Veltliner 93 99

Otherwise this is the time of year when everything looks great Wersquove seen isolated cases of sour rot in ear-ly varieties that have reached the 13-15 brix threshold namely Marquette and Diamond but things mostly look clean The tightness of many Riesling clusters Irsquove observed in the area suggest this may not last This is the time to schedule vineyard tours rather than in a few weeks after several hard rains and high humid-ity This is me holding back on the negativity following last yearrsquos chastisement by the way

On most varieties wersquore predicting an above-average but not 2017-style heavy crop Wersquove heard some rum-blings of growers having trouble finding a home for Riesling and Vidal while Cayuga seems to finally be back in some demand In the area Aurore has been picked and not much else Elvira is scheduled for next week and at the teaching vineyard we should be pick-ing Diamond for sparkling Good luck to all

Lake Erie (Jennifer Russo) Harvest has begun in the Lake Erie region with some early-season hybrids and Minnesota cold-hardy vari-eties coming off the vine The staff at the Cornell Lake Erie Research and Extension Laboratory is gearing up to pick the first grapes of the year next week to deliver Seyval blanc to Walkerrsquos Fruit Basket in Forestville NY

This year at our research station the official Concord bloom date June 20 2019 was six days later than the historical average Veraison in Concords was official-ly called on August 26 2019 at the Cornell Lake Erie Research and Extension Laboratory making veraison four days later than the historical average We gained some days due to the warm dry weather between bloom and veraison

Finger Lakes Gruner Veltliner in the research and teaching vineyard at Dresden is carrying a heavy crop

Photo by Don Caldwell

Lake Erie Concord at CLEREL on September 2 20198Photo by Jennifer Russo

Page 3

that the East End of Long Island will only experience some wind (20-25 mph) and rain (plusmn 1rdquo) Friday after-noon-evening Windy conditions predicted for Satur-day will help things dry out This is important as there is a touch of Botrytis in susceptible varieties especially where air drainage is not optimal

On September 4 we hosted a LIHREC vineyard tour and fruit tasting Vineyard managers winemakers and other professionals tasted 20+ different selections Those with substantial flavor included Gruumlner Veltlin-er Vermentino Muscat Ottonel Malvasia Bianca Al-barino Verdejo and Zweigelt Speaking of new variet-ies we planted Menciacutea and Rkatsiteli this year Many thanks to Double A Vineyards and Amberg Grape-vines for donating these grapevines

HudsonChamplain (Jim Meyers)ldquoThe wine of Love is music

And the feast of Love is song And when Love sits down to the banquet

Love sits long

Sits long and ariseth drunken But not with the feast and the wine

He reeleth with his own heart That great rich Vinerdquo

-- James Thomson

With the exception of an earlier than average bud break in the Hudson Valley most vineyards in eastern New York have been growing at or below average pace All of the vineyards that I track are between 150 and 400 growing degree days behind where we were at this date in 2018 As seen in Figure 1 the gap between 2019

Long Island (Alice Wise) Long Island has experienced a fairly dry season Rain-fall has been very spotty downpours in one vineyard and nothing in the vineyard down the road At the Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center in Riverhead only 15rdquo fell in August

Younger vines suffered some drought stress such that a few rounds of drip irrigation were necessary The dry conditions are also reflected in the extensive develop-ment of periderm even in varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon

Veraison proceeded at a slightly slower than normal pace until mid-August when ripening really acceler-ated It seemed that red varieties went from 50 ve-raison to fully colored over a weekend A number of growers remarked on this

In the LIHREC vineyard Itasca a newly released cold hardy hybrid from Minnesota was harvested last week The 2 year old vines were drought stressed and the crop was light thus judgements on fruit quality will have to wait until next year We expect to harvest NY81 a Cayuga White x Riesling hybrid next week After that Zweigelt Pinot Noir Muscat Ottonel and Auxerrois will be on the radar

Sparkling harvest started this week and will continue next week Harvest of early varieties such as Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris may depend on how fruit fares through the upcoming tropical weather Fortunately it appears

Long Island On September 4 Alice Wise hosted a vineyard tour and tasting (grapes) of 20+ different selections at the Long Island Horicultural Research and Extension Center in Riverhead

Photo by Alice Wise

Figure 1 Difference in cumulative Growing Degree Days (GDDs) and pre-cipitation between 2019 and 2018 as of September 5th Each colored circle represents a farm location Local CCE offices are represented by colored squares

Photo by Jim Meyers

Page 4

and 2018 increases from South to North indicating that Champlain Valley is furthest behind In fact as Figure 2 shows Champlain Valley is significantly below any of the previous five years while Upper and Mid Hud-son Valley running slightly behind average and Lower Hudson slightly above average (but still behind 2018)

How is this affecting ripening Figure 3 compares 2018 and 2019 Brix from 13 vineyards that are included in Veraison to Harvest With the exception of one Seyval block and one Riesling block all are substantially low-er than last year Unfortunately the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) September temperature outlook is below average for New York although the longer term forecast current expects Oc-tober to be warmer than average which might help the late season cultivars

2019 Lake Erie Concord Berry Curve (Terry Bates)Concord fruit ripening is moving along in typical fashion in the Lake Erie grape region The 2019 ber-ry weight remains to be below the long term average and tracking similar to 2018 Stage I berry growth was slightly larger in 2019 than 2018 so the potential for berry swelling in Stage III still remains if vine wa-ter status is adequate There is also nothing unusual about juice soluble solids accumulation in the week following veraison in Concord at the Cornell Lake Erie Research and Extension Laboratory

Figure 2 Comparison of 2019 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

Figure 3 Comparison of 2019 and 2018 ripening at 13 vineyards in eastern New York CV = Champlain Valley HV = Hudson Valley

Figure by Jim Meyers

Page 5

Are we set up for another lsquosour rotrsquo year

Tim MartinsonFor many in NY ndash and especially the Finger Lakes ndash 2018 was the year of sour rot Not only did growers see significant sour rot in the usual suspects (tight-clustered varieties) but it also was present on typi-cally non-sensitive loose-clustered varieties (even Concord) And we also documented insecticide re-sistance in Drosophila fruit flies to several registered products So will we see a repeat this year

Conditions in 2018 In our final issue of Veraison to Harvest (9 2018) we speculated that the combination of saturated soils warm nights in September (gt11 days with minimum temperature of 60deg F) and steady rain events contributed to unusually humid conditions in the grapevine canopy and kept the cluster zone more humid ndash increasing lsquodrying timersquo These of course are explanations we came up with after the fact ndash and not predictions

The metric that Chris Gerling (in consultation with Syracuse meteorologist Glenn Coin) came up with was the exceptional number of hours that the dewpoint ex-ceeded 70deg F during the summer months Here cour-tesy of the Iowa Environment Mesonet (from Iowa State University) is the plot that made 2018 a standout

The year 2018 stood out with over 500 hours during the summer month of dewpoints above 70deg F ndash as opposed to 50-200 hours in the previous 40 years Warm hu-mid conditions were persistently present during 2018

Here is the same plot with this yearrsquos data added

This year we are at 100 hours of dewpoint gt70 degrees That seems reassuring

At least we donrsquot have the combination of heat and hu-midity that we had last year to contribute to the explo-sive growth of fruit rots that we saw in 2018

Here are the basic weather metrics so far at Geneva

Rainfall May was wetter this year than in 2018 but August precipitation was much closer to the long-term average This is good news

Growing Degree Days May was cooler than last year but June and July were hotter

Cumulative Growing Degree Days In Geneva at the end of August wersquore at about 2300 growing degree-days about 300 behind 2018 But note that all months from April on are hotter than the 2004-2013 average I expect that trend will continue as climate change keeps kicking in

Page 6

Fruit Composition Report - 962019The first samples were collected on Tuesday September 3 and include yeast assimilable nitrogen (YAN) YAN measurements will be taken every two weeks Next samples will be collected on Monday September 9

Baco NoirRegion Harvest Date Description Ber

Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Hudson Valley 932019 Benmarl SW HV 109 192 314 140 Prev samplersquo18 Sample 942018 Southwest HV 120 183 328 171 163

Cabernet FrancRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 932019 E Seneca 113 121 261 234 Finger Lakes 932019 Cayuga 116 132 270 199 22Finger Lakes 932019 Dresden 109 137 268 187 11Finger Lakes 932019 Lansing 124 124 279 191 69Finger Lakes 932019 Keuka 105 120 275 217 10

Hudson Valley 932019 Benmarl Southwest HV 125 137 296 134 98Hudson Valley 932019 Canoe East Central HV 108 109 283 230 47

Lake Erie 932019 Portland 131 96 273 283 117Long Island 932019 LI-05 192 160 319 109 91Long Island 932019 LI-09 151 165 332 80 134

Niagara 932019 Niagara County 076 112 266 265 15Average 932019 123 128 284 194 62

Prev Samplelsquo18 Average 942018 130 152 307 117 118

CatawbaRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 932019 Keuka 199 69 245 gt30 56Prev Samplelsquo17 Sample 942018 Keuka 212 124 271 215 51

Cayuga WhiteRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 932019 Keuka 227 138 259 180 79Finger Lakes 932019 Cayuga 298 151 286 119 183Finger Lakes 932019 Dresden 230 147 275 124 100Finger Lakes 932019 Ithaca 310 137 271 167 89

Average 932019 266 143 273 148 113Prev Samplelsquo18 Sample 942018 286 162 306 111 95

ChardonnayRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 932019 Cayuga 133 130 279 187 90Finger Lakes 932019 Dresden 133 156 280 121 55Finger Lakes 932019 Lansing 141 138 282 143 219Long Island 932019 174 161 331 114 149


Prev samplelsquo18 Sample 942018 145 176 324 86 187

Page 7

ConcordRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 932019 Keuka 249 97 255 204 58Finger Lakes 932019 W Canandaigua 245 91 264 231 132

Lake Erie 932019 Portland 255 105 298 177 152Average 932019 250 98 272 204 114

Prev Samplelsquo18 Sample 942018 274 131 301 115 138

DiamondRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 932019 TDV 238 134 293 90 76Prev Sample

FrontenacRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Lake Erie 932019 Sheridan 118 166 306 227 469Prev Samplelsquo18 Sample 942018 114 209 309 175 334

Frontenac GrisRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Champlain Valley 932019 Champlain Valley 110 158 285 224 166Prev Sample

Gruner VeltlinerRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 932019 Dresden 126 139 281 115 41Previous Sample

lsquo17 Sample 942018 Dresden 170 191 324 67 89

La CrescentRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Champlain Valley 932019 Central Champlain 102 170 295 179 22Champlain Valley 932019 Northern Champlain 097 156 281 183 99

Finger Lakes 932019 Geneva 137 186 285 167 82Average 932019 112 171 287 176 68

Previous Samplelsquo18 Sample 942018 125 218 294 153 50

LembergerRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 932019 Keuka 123 147 268 157 65Finger Lakes 932019 Dresden 154 163 272 128 54Finger Lakes 932019 Wayne County 143 151 288 177 203

Average 932019 140 154 276 154 107Previous sample

lsquo18 Sample 942018 169 188 305 102 108

MalbecRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Long Island 932019 210 156 311 145 170lsquo18 Sample 942018 LI-06 210 135 313 155 391

Page 8

MarquetteRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)


Finger Lakes 932019 Ithaca 102 139 275 184 182Finger Lakes 932019 Tones 142 199 286 168 164

Lake Erie 932019 Fredonia 137 197 308 149 378Finger Lakes 932019 Dresden 124 180 289 146 118

Average 932019 123 171 290 173 214Prev Sample 8272018 129 188 303 135 lsquo18 Sample 942018 128 209 305 131 156

MerlotRegion Harvest

Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Long Island 932019 202 173 330 84 110Long Island 932019 161 166 337 80 135



NiagaraRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Lake Erie 932019 Portland 358 123 291 123 101Prev Sample lsquo18 Sample 942018 Portland 383 148 317 87 152

NoiretRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Lake Erie 932019 Sheridan 147 151 300 178 242Prev Sample

Pinot NoirRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt

g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 932019 W Cayuga 114 140 296 151 107Hudson Valley 932019 Nostrano Southwest HV 086 176 348 97 342Hudson Valley 932019 Canoe East Central HV 101 148 321 152 375

Niagara 932019 Niagara County 109 155 277 160 73Niagara 932019 Niagara Escarpment 130 148 292 161 259Average 932019 108 153 307 144 231


RegentRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)


Page 9

RieslingRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 932019 E Seneca 138 123 268 219 152Finger Lakes 932019 CL 90 Cayuga 088 110 281 237 125Finger Lakes 932019 Keuka 094 111 263 222 66Finger Lakes 932019 W Canandaigua 110 92 255 265 135Finger Lakes 932019 Dresden 116 125 286 198 109Finger Lakes 932019 E Seneca Cl 90 107 128 272 215 49Finger Lakes 932019 E Seneca Cl 239 106 123 266 213 39Finger Lakes 932019 E Seneca Cl 198 115 121 265 205 59Finger Lakes 932019 Wayne County 101 103 276 239 170Finger Lakes 932019 Lansing 125 97 277 209 81

Hudson Valley 932019 Nostrano Southwest HV 126 137 309 165 194Hudson Valley 932019 Canoe East Central HV 141 173 310 127 178

Lake Erie 932019 Portland 161 145 295 167 146Long Island 932019 LI-01 141 143 310 122 168

Average 932019 119 124 281 200 119Prev Samplelsquo18 Sample 942018 LI-01 146 136 309 136 203

Sauvignon BlancRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Long Island 932019 147 171 334 100 190Prev Sample lsquo18 Sample 942018 LI-02 144 164 321 119 238

Seyval BlancRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 932019 Cayuga 214 171 288 128 172Hudson Valley 932019 Benmarl SW HV 164 176 319 91 103


Prev Sample 8272018 162 155 300 102 lsquo18 Sample 942018 165 164 312 122 121

St CroixRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 932019 Geneva 180 152 292 126 142Prev Sample

TraminetteRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 932019 Keuka 134 113 247 272 51Finger Lakes 932019 Ithaca 142 109 262 275 62



Vidal BlancRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 932019 Dresden 132 115 273 203 104Prev Samplelsquo18 Sample 942018 Dresden 154 165 299 122 105

Page 10

The information including any advice or recommendations contained herein is based upon the research and experience of Cornell Cooperative Extension person-nel While this information constitutes the best judgementopinion of such personnel at the time issued neither Cornell Cooperative Extension nor any represen-tative 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 ProgramStatewide Viticulture Extension ProgramLong Island Grape Program - Suffolk CCE

Finger Lakes Grape ProgramLake Erie Regional Grape Program

Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture ProgramCopyright 2018copy Cornell University

VignolesRegion Harvest Date Description Ber Wt g Brix pH TA gL YAN (ppm)

Finger Lakes 932019 VSP Keuka 149 149 266 235 154Lake Erie 932019 Portland 158 160 292 204 319Average 932019 154 155 279 220 237

lsquo18 Sample 942018 149 206 304 162 186

Weed control by Sheep

For the second year Justine Vanden Heuvelrsquos program has been evaluating the use of sheep for vineyard floor management So far it appears that this is best suited to vineyard blocks in high training systems But the photo on the right shows that although these sheep do like to eat leaaves they apparently donrsquot like the grape clusters Perhaps with appropriate netting above the cluster zone they might be able to also do cluster zone leaf removal in VSP-trained vineyards

Photos by Justine Vanden Heuvel (left) and Steve Lerch (right)

Page 2

Early vineyard observations indicated that there were potentially large crops hanging This prompted more grower interest in crop estimation procedures Many of our grower meetings focused on crop estimation and the use of spatial data-driven maps to direct sam-pling efforts for more efficient estimates Some of our early adopters of the Specialty Crop Research Initia-tive (SCRI) Efficient Vineyard Project were utilizing sensors and tools to direct their management practices with some implementing variable rate management this season

Frequent heavy rains in the past month have provided growers relief from what looked to be a dry growing season We are looking at favorable weather for contin-ued ripening of the crop with the exception of a slight chance of showers on Friday as the 7-day forecast is partly sunny and an average of 72deg Fahrenheit during day time hours

To keep abreast with what is happening in the Lake Erie region check out the Lake Erie Regional Grape Program Extension teamrsquos weekly podcasts at http lergpcompodcasts This weekrsquos podcast covers berry sampling techniques for capture a representative sam-ple for Brix monitoring

save maybe apricots and black walnuts pushed bud break in the Finger Lakes back to the second and third week of May on most varieties

This late start in turn resulted in veraison being be-tween 4 and 11 days behind last year on the varieties we grow at the teaching vineyard If we compare the number of days between bud break and veraison from our data in 2018 and 2019 we find a difference of 0-6 days This is not to suggest GDDs donrsquot matter but it points to the primacy of bud break in predicting when grapes start rolling into the wineries Table 1 Number of days between bud break and veraison

Variety 2018 2019

Riesling 100-101 99-100Chardonnay 94-95 100

Cabernet Franc 101-102 105-107Lemberger 95 98

Gruner Veltliner 93 99

Otherwise this is the time of year when everything looks great Wersquove seen isolated cases of sour rot in ear-ly varieties that have reached the 13-15 brix threshold namely Marquette and Diamond but things mostly look clean The tightness of many Riesling clusters Irsquove observed in the area suggest this may not last This is the time to schedule vineyard tours rather than in a few weeks after several hard rains and high humid-ity This is me holding back on the negativity following last yearrsquos chastisement by the way

On most varieties wersquore predicting an above-average but not 2017-style heavy crop Wersquove heard some rum-blings of growers having trouble finding a home for Riesling and Vidal while Cayuga seems to finally be back in some demand In the area Aurore has been picked and not much else Elvira is scheduled for next week and at the teaching vineyard we should be pick-ing Diamond for sparkling Good luck to all

Lake Erie (Jennifer Russo) Harvest has begun in the Lake Erie region with some early-season hybrids and Minnesota cold-hardy vari-eties coming off the vine The staff at the Cornell Lake Erie Research and Extension Laboratory is gearing up to pick the first grapes of the year next week to deliver Seyval blanc to Walkerrsquos Fruit Basket in Forestville NY

This year at our research station the official Concord bloom date June 20 2019 was six days later than the historical average Veraison in Concords was official-ly called on August 26 2019 at the Cornell Lake Erie Research and Extension Laboratory making veraison four days later than the historical average We gained some days due to the warm dry weather between bloom and veraison

Finger Lakes Gruner Veltliner in the research and teaching vineyard at Dresden is carrying a heavy crop

Photo by Don Caldwell

Lake Erie Concord at CLEREL on September 2 20198Photo by Jennifer Russo

Page 3





Love sits long



-- James Thomson








Photo by Alice Wise


Photo by Jim Meyers

Page 4





Photo by Jim Meyers



Page 5













Page 6




















Page 7





















lsquo18 Sample 942018 169 188 305 102 108



Page 8






















Page 9




















Page 10









lsquo18 Sample 942018 149 206 304 162 186




Page 3





Love sits long



-- James Thomson








Photo by Alice Wise


Photo by Jim Meyers

Page 4





Photo by Jim Meyers



Page 5













Page 6




















Page 7





















lsquo18 Sample 942018 169 188 305 102 108



Page 8






















Page 9




















Page 10









lsquo18 Sample 942018 149 206 304 162 186




Page 4





Photo by Jim Meyers



Page 5













Page 6




















Page 7





















lsquo18 Sample 942018 169 188 305 102 108



Page 8






















Page 9




















Page 10









lsquo18 Sample 942018 149 206 304 162 186




Page 5













Page 6




















Page 7





















lsquo18 Sample 942018 169 188 305 102 108



Page 8






















Page 9




















Page 10









lsquo18 Sample 942018 149 206 304 162 186




Page 6




















Page 7





















lsquo18 Sample 942018 169 188 305 102 108



Page 8






















Page 9




















Page 10









lsquo18 Sample 942018 149 206 304 162 186




Page 7





















lsquo18 Sample 942018 169 188 305 102 108



Page 8






















Page 9




















Page 10









lsquo18 Sample 942018 149 206 304 162 186




Page 8






















Page 9




















Page 10









lsquo18 Sample 942018 149 206 304 162 186




Page 9




















Page 10









lsquo18 Sample 942018 149 206 304 162 186




Page 10









lsquo18 Sample 942018 149 206 304 162 186




Documents

Véraison to HarVest...Page 3 that the East End of Long Island will only experience some wind (20-25 mph) and rain (± 1”) Friday after-noon-evening. Windy conditions predicted for