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June 2015 WINES&VINES 69 WINE EAST NEWS In the upper Midwest, the Great Lakes have a major impact on weather conditions. This win- ter Lake Michigan froze solid and Lake Erie was 95% frozen for the second straight year. Those two large bodies of water help to moderate the cold winter tem- peratures for vineyards planted relatively close to them in Michi- gan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, but when the lakes are covered with ice, that moderating influence disappears. Sabbatini anticipates that the water tem- perature in the lakes may be lower because of two years with ice cover, and the result may be a cooler summer, which would make it more difficult to ripen grapes, especially if the crop is a large one. Mario Mazza, enologist and vineyard manager for Mazza Wines in North East, Pa. (which is located northeast of Erie, Pa., not far from Lake Erie), also com- mented on the influence of the ice on Lake Erie. "Bud break is late when the lake has been frozen," Mazza noted. "The ice really slows things down. But that also means a lower risk for frost damage." He reported that the Lake Erie grape belt that stretches from Ohio through Pennsylvania into New York will certainly have some win- ter damage. The low temperature in North East dropped to -19° F, and temperatures were as low as -26° F to -28° F in other parts of the region. The Penn State Lake Erie Regional Grape Research and Extension Center reported a low temperature of -21° F on Feb. 16, according to Michela Centinari, assistant professor of viticulture at Penn State University. She re- ported, "On a positive note, the week before these extreme cold events, temperatures were lower than normal, with daytime tem- perature highs well below freez- ing, except for one day (34° F). These temperatures may have provided a positive, reinforcing maintenance of the vines' mid- winter cold hardiness." New York The winter of 2014-15 was the Finger Lakes region's turn for snow cover in the vineyards. Hans Walter-Peterson, viticultural ex- tension specialist with the Finger Lakes Grape Program at Cornell University, reported that there was 2 to 3 feet of snow in the vineyards in February. Growers had to wait to get into the vineyards to prune, but the snow served to insulate the grapevine trunks from tem- peratures that dropped as low as -15° F. As in other parts of the East, when it got cold, the weather stayed cold. According to Walter- Peterson, even though it was colder than normal, "We had some of the best winter hardiness num- bers we've ever seen." He told Wines & Vines that he is now trying to get a sense of what has and hasn't happened in the vineyards this winter. "The hybrids and natives look pretty good," he reported, "but we're just getting into bud break. It's an incomplete story until we get to June and July and can assess trunk damage." Virginia Temperatures in Virginia went below zero on Feb. 19, 20 and 23, with many vineyards in the -2° F to -6° F range. As with many other eastern wine regions, tempera- tures continued to be cold. As Wolf put it, "Spring seemed to take its sweet time getting here to Vir- ginia this year." Tremain Hatch, viticulture research associate at Virginia Tech, confirmed that the weather in March and April con- tinued to be cool. On the other hand, he commented, "We hope we've dodged the bullet for spring frosts. We're just getting bud break, and things have been good up to this point. Overall, we're run- ning about a week late compared with the long-term average." —Linda Jones McKee Basic Hoe comes with a Hillup and a Takeaway Blade. Additional attachments include .3 Tooth Cultivator, Undercutter Blade, Rotary head, " NEW " Rolling Cultivator and "Vine Auger". The Green Hoe Company, Inc. 6645 West Main Road, Portland, NY 14769 PHONE (716) 792-9433 FAX (716) 792-9434 WWW.GREENHOECOMPANY.COM GREEN GRAPE HOE Bird Netting "We had some of the best winter hardiness numbers we've ever seen." —Hans Walter-Peterson, Cornell University