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April 2016 WINES&VINES 81 WINE EAST WINE INDUSTRY NEWS Cold Climate Conference Meets in Minneapolis Virginia Winery Wins Land Dispute M inneapolis, Minn.— The hardy souls who g r o w g r a p e s a n d make wine in northern cli- mates got some clear mes- sages at the Cold Climate Conference organized by the Minnesota Grape Growers As- sociation and held Feb. 11-13 in Minneapolis: • For growers, cold storage is essential—and easy to obtain. • If events are key to a winery's success, be smart, organized and willing to say "no." • Mechanization "is every- thing," even for the tiniest of vineyards. And everyone should start catching up with the West Coast on the sustainable front. Iowa State University viti- culture field specialist Mike White spoke about conven- tional, natural, organic, Bio- dynamic and sustainable viticulture. White traced the h i s t o r y o f f a r m i n g , a n d pointed out, "Until 1940, or- ganic farming was the status quo." Now, after years of chemical-driven farming, "the hottest topic in agriculture is soil health," White said. "The worm has turned; we're going back to the past." White stated that "Biody- namic is where organic was 20 years ago" and has strong po- tential for cold-climate grow- ers. However, meeting official organic standards can be dif- ficult in areas with short, wet growing seasons. For White, sustainable practices "are where it's really at now, where it's going. Bio- controls are going to make farming a lot easier." He mapped out sustainability's Integrated Pest Management program, "the harmonious use of multiple methods to control pests.…It takes in agronomy, entomology, plant pathology, economics." He displayed a pyramid with three "P's" as pil- lars: people (society), profit (economics) and planet (envi- ronment). "California is way ahead of us," he commented, "and we need to catch up." —Bill Ward M iddleburg, Va.—When Jennifer Mc- Cloud purchased 202 acres adjoining her family's Chrysalis Vineyards in 2008, she got more than she'd bargained for. The family's White Cloud Nine Ventures LP spent some eight years and $660,000 in legal fees before winning the right to construct roads and a new farm building, following a Virginia Supreme Court decision in February. At the time of purchase, McCloud knew that the seller was a board member of Ducks Un- limited and had received tax credit for putting the property into a conservation land trust. McCloud said, "I read through the easement, which calls for protection: One of the conserva- tion values is agriculture: Specifically permit- ted uses are authorized, specifically, industrial or commercial agriculture." This February, the Virginia Supreme Court affirmed a lower court decision, in which the lower court referenced a Ducks Unlimited wit- ness who called the language of the trust "a convoluted mess," McCloud said. —Jane Firstenfeld Mike White