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J ANU AR Y NEWS APRIL NEWS Headlines Pinot leaf curl has been striking winegrape vines with greater severity in recent years. Does Nitrogen Cause Pinot Leaf Curl? Researchers analyze mystery ailment County's valuable Pinot Noir vineyards. The ailment also can affect Pinot Blanc S vines and has been observed less frequently in Pinot Meunier. Pinot leaf curl, or PLC, appears during spring; symptoms can range from stunted or distorted leaf growth to severe instances resulting in the death of an entire shoot and node. Rhonda Smith, University of California extension advisor for Sonoma County, made the ailment a focus of Sonoma County Grape Day on Feb. 16. She said she wanted to draw attention to the sickness and explore a possible relationship between the disease and nitrogen. She said the disease, which has been found in every Pinot Noir region of California, is known to be more common during cold, wet springs. Dr. Doug Adams, a professor of viticulture with UC Davis, joined Smith on the panel. Adams said that when vines 14 Wines & Vines APRiL 2012 anta Rosa, Calif.—In the past three years, the vine sickness Pinot leaf curl has struck more often and with greater severity in Sonoma enter dormancy, they store nitrogen to support growth in the coming spring and summer. When the growing season arrives, the plants convert the stored nitrogen into a form that can be metabolized by the plant. The nitrogen compounds used during this process also can yield putrescine, which Adams said could be toxic to vines at elevated levels. The next step, Adams said, is to find a 100% asymptomatic Pinot vineyard and determine "normal" levels of nitrogen compounds. Then researchers can evaluate if symptomatic tissues contain elevated levels of putrescine. "You can find putrescine in most plants, but only in trace amounts," Adams said. Smith also wanted to winesandvines.com draw growers' atten- tion to the fact that while PLC can sometimes resemble botrytis damage, it is a wholly separate condition. She stressed that fungicide applications do not work on PLC. Learn more: Search keywords "Pinot leaf curl." —Andrew Adams NEWS BY TE S T EGvM qUARANTINE LIFTED he quarantine to prevent the spread of European grapevine moth (EGVM) was lifted for four California counties. Officials announced $8 million in federal funding to continue fighting against the invasive pest. Five-mile "buffer zones" around in- fested areas also have been reduced to 3 miles. The quarantine was lifted March 8 in Fresno, Mendocino, Merced and San Joaquin counties, but it remains in effect in Sonoma, Napa and Solano counties, accord- ing to a statement released by the CDFA. FRESNO'S FUGELSANG TO RETIRE K en Fugelsang, California State Uni- versity, Fresno, professor of enology, is retiring after 40 years of teaching. A Fresno native, Fugelsang joined the fac- ulty in 1972, after completing a mas- ter's degree in biology at CSUF, where he also earned an undergraduate degree in botany and zoology. In 1997 Fugelsang and CSUF colleague Carlos Muller helped start Fresno State Winery, the first com- mercially licensed U.S. winery on a uni- versity campus. He oversaw student pro- duction of wines into commercial-quality products. The winery grew to peak pro- duction of 20,000 cases per year, and its wines have won more than 600 awards. vIRGINIA WINE INDUSTRy GROWS T he wine and winegrape industry con- tributes nearly $750 million to the Commonwealth of Virginia each year, ac- cording to a new study. The figure has more than doubled in the past five years, from $362 million to $747 million. The number of wine industry jobs increased from 3,162 to 4,753 between 2005 and 2010. The economic impact study for 2010, updated in February, was per- formed by St. Helena, Calif.-based Frank, Rimerman & Co. and commissioned by the Virginia Wine Board.