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116 W i n e s & V i n e s n O V e M B e r 2 0 1 4 there's no crop; it's a question of the number of dead vines." It was a difficult, cold winter in Michi- gan as well. Paolo Sabbatini, associate professor of horticulture at Michigan State University, told Wines & Vines, "There's not a lot of fruit on the vines. There's about a 50% loss, although that depends on the variety and on location. The southwestern part of Michigan was hit harder than the northwest, where they had more snow." For many growers in southeastern Pennsylvania, the 2014 growing season has been a good one with beautiful, dry weather, especially later in the summer. Elaine Pivinski, owner of Franklin Hill Vine- yards in Bangor, Pa., told Wines & Vines that there has been no disease pressure; the grapes are perfect, and the yields are good. "We had no damage from the cold temperatures last winter," Pivinski stated. "And none of our fruit has come in under 22° Brix. The numbers are good at other local vineyards as well. It's a nice year." Tony Wolf, professor of viticulture at Vir- ginia Tech in Winchester, Va., said yields in Virginia are somewhat depressed because of winter injury, spring frosts and poor fruit set, but on the other hand, the pressure from birds and predatory animals has been lower than dur- ing the harvest of 2013. Spring arrived slowly across New york after the frigid winter of 2013-14. Bud break was later than usual by several weeks, but that had the advantage of fewer problems with spring frosts. By early September, Dr. Tim Martinson, senior extension associate at Cornell Uni- versity Department of Horticulture, reported that fruit maturation in New york's Finger Lakes AVA in 2014 was behind the 2013 season. Fortunately, the weeks after Labor Day brought some warmer, sunny weather, and both Brix and titratable acidity (TA) levels moved closer to comparable data from 2013. The vineyards on the eastern end of Long Island have had far more cooperative weather than the Finger Lakes and other grapegrowing regions in New york. The winter was cold, but not frigid, and, accord- ing to Alice Wise, viticulturist with Cornell Cooperative Extension, the warm, dry sum- mer weather has provided an "easier-than- average season." The region had only a few days with rainfall over 0.25 inches— three days in June, two each in July and August, and only about 0.5 inches of rain have fallen during the first half of September. The weather was slightly cooler than in 2013, with lower nighttime temper- atures resulting in fewer growing degree-day units than last season. Disease manage- ment has been relatively easy this year, an additional benefit of the sunny, dry weather. —Linda Jones McKee and Andrew Adams Waterloo_Nov10.qxp 8/26/10 11:36 AM Page 1 Cayuga White grapes await processing at Glenora Wine Cellars in Dundee, N.Y. WineEast News winesandvines.com Learn more: Search keywords "East harvest"