September 21, 2010
Contact: Kevin Iungerman, Cornell Cooperative Extension Northeast NY
Commercial Fruit Program, 518-885-8995
Notes:
• Media interested in harvesting time interviews on-site and/or
interested in participating in the NNY wines taste test evaluation may
contact NNYADP Publicist Kara Lynn Dunn for more details: 315-465-7578,
karalynn@gisco.net
• Learn more about the competitive evaluation of wine made from the 2009
Willsboro Wine Grape Trial in the Northern New York Agricultural
Development Program Press Room at www.nnyagdev.org
Willsboro Wine Grape Trial Harvest & Wine Making Set to Begin
-- Local Winemakers Invited to Process the Fruits of NNY Vines
Willsboro, NY – One hundred percent (100%) of the 25 varieties of grapes
harvested at the Willsboro Wine Grape Trial at the Cornell University
E.V. Baker Agricultural Research Farm in Willsboro, NY, will be
processed locally this year and soon.
“The start of the harvest is guided by the quality of the berries
(grapes). Undoubtedly, our early seasonal start and abundant very warm
summer weather (especially in July) have brought us to an early harvest
that is likely to be completed before October this year,” says Kevin
Iungerman with the Cornell University Cooperative Extension Northeast NY
Commercial Fruit Program.
The Willsboro Wine Grape Trial has 12 red and 13 white varieties of
grapes.
Iungerman has invited regional grape grower/wine makers to participate
in the harvest and to take grapes home for processing as commercial
wine.
“In 2008, all of the Fruit Program’s wines were made by the Cornell Wine
Lab in Geneva, New York, using a uniform manner producing very dry
‘skeletal’ type wines meant to highlight comparative grape
characteristics rather than finished commercial products,” Iungerman
says.
A shift toward the commercial production of North Country-grown wine
came in 2009 with one set of wines made by the Cornell Wine Lab and one
made by Willsboro Wine Grape Trial technician Richard Lamoy, who also
owns Hid-In-Pines vineyard in Morrisonville, NY, with a soon-to-be-open
newly-licensed winery.
“Now in 2010, we are looking to have all of the wines made locally with
commercial product in mind,” Iungerman says. “We are looking to build
familiarity with these Northern New York-friendly grapes by engaging
local cooperators in a broader wine-making trial.”
Participating winemakers will submit their Willsboro trial wine products
for a blind taste test in 2011 with other participants, regional grape
growing peers and Cornell staff.
“Our blind review is a tasting and critical review with commentary and a
discussion of how processes influenced good results and how alternative
procedures might have added greater benefit,” Iungerman says.
Participants growing varieties similar to the cold-hardy grapes planted
in the Willsboro trial may submit wines made with those 100-percent
locally-grown grapes for evaluation.
“Although we are not using copious amounts of grapes, this evaluation of
production, processing and product should nevertheless be enough to
generate a fair idea of the various Northern New York-grown grapes and
their wine potential,” Iungerman says.
For more information on the Willsboro Wine Grape Trial Project, contact
Iungerman at kai3@cornell.edu,
518-885-8995.
For more information on the production of fruits in Northern New York,
visit the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program website at
www.nnyagdev.org. The farmer-driven research and outreach program has
funded regional cold-hardy grape trials.
The Northeastern NY Commercial Fruit Program coordinates commercial tree
fruit and grape research, education and programming with the support of
growers, Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Science,
and Cornell Cooperative Extension associations in Albany, Clinton,
Essex, Saratoga and Washington counties. #
