PRESS RELEASE: November 15, 2006
Contact: Sue Gwise, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County, 315-788-8450

Jpgs available: see end of release

Bring on the Cold! New Weather Stations Helping North Country Growers Track Winter Hardiness of Grapes

How low will temperatures go this winter? Data from two new North Country weather stations installed in early October at Rodman and Evans Mills with Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) funding will help North Country grape growers evaluate the winter hardiness of their favored fruit. Selecting and growing the varieties best suited to the northern climate will produce grapes, wines, juices and other value-added products that will support a burgeoning grape and wine tourism industry for the Northern New York region.

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County Horticulture Educator Sue Gwise says the NNYADP project will track and correlate temperature, winds, and snowfall data with a spring 2007 assessment of how well different varieties of grapes weathered the North Country winter. Gwise says, �The growers have planted varieties that are expected to do well in cold climates. Some are able to survive temperatures of thirty degrees below Fahrenheit.�

The varieties have been planted for red and white winemaking, juice production and harvest as table grapes.

When Kyle Hafemann opens Otter Creek Winery in Philadelphia, NY, in spring 2007 as �Jefferson County�s newest winery,� his new enterprise will represent the future of his family�s sheep farm. His dad Rick says, �My wife and I were going to be the last generation on the farm before Kyle became excited about building a winery.� Rick says his son has successfully grown grapes in spite of �temperatures that can reach 50 degrees below zero and differences in temperature from the top to the bottom of the hill. (Photo: Winemaker Kyle Hafemann tests a tank of Frontenac wine at Otter Creek Winery. The Frontenac variety of cold hardy grapes is one of seven varieties currently grown at the Philadelphia vineyard.)


Although the Hafemanns have their own weather station, they are interested in the data from the two NNYADP-funded stations and other growers� stations to help drive their variety choices as they add one acre of new grapes each year. (Photo: Family, friends and local leaders help Kyle Hafemann (center holding sign) break ground for the North Country�s newest winery Otter Creek Farm in Philadelphia, NY).

Some of varieties that will not grow at Otter Creek are thriving just four miles inland from the St. Lawrence River in Clayton, where Bill and Sara Bourquin have concentrated on tending their 2,800 vines of cold hardy grapes for sale to the regional winemakers. Since they use only a vineyard thermometer to track temperatures, Bill says, �For us, having the weather stations through the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program will definitely provide good information for the different areas in the region and will help us assess winter damage and future variety options based on the temperature and other data.�

�Grapes are resilient. What we don�t want to see is an early January thaw that prompts the grapes to want to grow and then a drop back into the cold winter temperatures,� Bill says. He adds that there are big differences between his vineyard�s growing conditions and the microclimate at the Thousand Islands Winery on the St. Lawrence River just 10 miles away on the other side of Clayton.

The weather stations will also be useful to the growers next spring and summer when Gwise and the growers check data on humidity against the development of such fungal diseases as downy and powdery mildew in the crops.

For more information on the Northern New York Cold Hardy Grape Project, contact Sue Gwise, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County, 315-788-8450. For information on the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program that funds research and education outreach for Essex, Clinton, Franklin, St. Lawrence, Lewis and Jefferson counties, go online to www.nnyagdev.org # # #

Jpgs available by request to karalynn@gisco.net
�Winemaker Kyle Hafemann tests a batch of Frontenac wine at Otter Creek Winery.

� Family, friends and local leaders break ground on the North Country�s newest winery at Otter Creek Farm in Philadelphia, NY.