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78 WINES&VINES April 2015 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS WINE EAST M inneapolis, Minn.—In February, grapegrowers, winemakers, nursery owners and others spent three days engaged in what one of them called "a lot of blunt and ego-free talks" as part of the 11th annual Cold Climate Grape Conference in Min- neapolis. They shared anecdotes, studies and hard-earned wisdom about growing and vinify- ing grapes in not-so-hospitable conditions. The primary topics were the effects of last winter's "polar vortex," how to market cold- climate varieties and which grapes do well for them and why. Participants also learned about sweet wines, acidity and water additions. During a talk on the polar vortex, University of Minnesota viticulturist Peter Hemstad dis- played the dictionary definition of the vortex as "a persistent, large-scale, upper-level cy- clone near one of the Earth's poles," which last year dropped down well into the United States. "We all suffered a lot, as did our grape- vines," added Hemstad, who also serves as co-owner/winemaker at Saint Croix Vineyards in Stillwater, Minn. His state had 53 days below zero last winter, and in such conditions, "Vines can't support the buds and they collapse. The vine already knows it's a lost cause, and so it puts its energy into shooters." A study cited by Hemstad showed that only two red grapes—the Russian variety Baltica and the table grape Valiant—had primary-bud survival rates above 32%. Frontenac had a primary bud survival rate of 27.1%, with Mar- quette at 14.6%, Maréchal Foch 10.4% and Norton zero chance of survival in the states and provinces sur- veyed. On the white grape side, Frontenac Blanc (45.8%) and La Crescent (39.6%) did best, with St. Pepin at 22.9% and Edelweiss at 18.8%. For com- parison's sake, the mean primary-bud survival from 2009 to 2013 was 95.7% for Marquette and 90% for Frontenac. The result was a lot of vegetation but small clusters (mostly from secondary buds) and very low yields, down 50% or more. "When we harvested the crop," Hemstad said, "the output was pathetic." Among the lessons gleaned and passed along at the conference: • Vines on high cordon in general did better than those with VSP (vertical shoot position- ing) trellising systems, several growers said. • Also, "Training multiple suckers was defi- nitely the way to go," said John Thull, vine- yard manager at the University of Minnesota Horticultural Research Center. "Hopefully, you can find those Goldilocks shoots out of that mess." • Last and foremost, "This is why we've been saying site selection is the No. 1 thing to worry about. We're a m a r g i n a l p l a c e t o grow grapes, so the sites are crucial. Avoid low areas, wet areas, excessively fertile soil and north slopes." As several conven- tion speakers noted, cold-climate growers and vintners still must take—and even play up—what nature has given them. Even with new hybrids emerging, the grapes that work well in these areas are going to be high in sugar and acid and low in tannins. "We have to embrace the acidity," said Ethan Joseph, vineyard manager and wine- maker at Shelburne Vineyard in Shelburne, Vt. "In cold climates we can battle all we want, but it's going to be there." "A lot of people say you can hide anything with sugar, but people can sense if something is off." —Bradley Beam, Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Association Sweet News for Cold-Climate Wineries Natural Corks Champagne Corks Twinline Corks Bartops VISION Synthetic Corks G-Cap® Screw Caps Sales Representatives: Chris & Liz Stamp info@lakewoodcork.com lakewoodcork.com 4024 State Route 14 Watkins Glen, NY 14891 607-535-9252 607-535-6656 Fax PIONEER INNOVATOR PARTNER