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VintnersSupply_1-3v_VSC_Dec10.qxd 11/10/ JUNE NEWS Wine Industry Matures in Texas Taking steps to become a ™ A DIVISION OF MOECKLY ENTERPRISES, INC. FILTRATION & SEPARATION legitimate wine destination state's culture and economy. With nearly 200 wineries, according to WinesVines- DATA, and more added weekly, the state's wine industry has overcome hostile diseas- es, pests and climate and is researching de- velopments that could expand production to meet unsatisfied demand. A decade ago, most wineries in the at- tractive Hill Country around Fredericks- burg, the state's top wine-tourism destina- tion, were surrounded by native grapevines and hybrids used primarily for ambiance, while the winegrapes came from the High Plains around Lubbock. Then, most wines were mediocre, and some seriously flawed, perhaps a sign of inexperienced growers and winemakers. Today, however, few wines show the bac- F terial contamination and other defects that once seemed routine. And while hybrids are grown around Depth Media Sheet Filters Membrane Filters Lenticular Housings Cartridge Filter Housings Cross-flow Filter Systems Recessed Plate & Rotary Drum Vacuum Filters Replacement Press Membrane and Filter Cloths Pumps, valves & fittings VINTNERS SUPPLY COMPANY P.O. Box 153 St. Helena, CA 94574 Toll Free 800.366.6809 Fax 707.584.7955 www.vintnerssupply.com 24 Wines & Vines JUne 2011 New vine varieties may one day provide long-term management strategies. Most of all, they've learned to live with Pierce's disease, a malady that once was the most significant impediment to grow- ing vinifera grapes. "We've learned to manage PD in the Hill Country," says extension fruit specialist Jim Kamas of the AgriLife Extension of Texas A & M System, one of the world's experts in Pierce's disease. Kamas is based at a research some tasting rooms and used to make wine, most wineries and vineyards are successfully growing Vitis vinifera. Texas winegrowers are learning which varieties are most suitable for their climate and con- ditions, and how to deal with pests and the vagaries of weather. redericksburg, Texas—Once dismissed by out-of-state observers, Texas wine is fast becoming a real factor in the Extension fruit specialist Jim Kamas is one of the world's experts in Pierce's disease. center in Fredericksburg and conducts ap- plied research and serves as outreach coordi- nator for the Texas Pierce's disease program. It's not surprising that PD and research into it is important in the Texas Hill Coun- try. "Xylella fastidiosa (the bacterium that causes the disease) is native here," Kamas says. "And so is the glassy-winged sharp- shooter as well as about 30 other vector species that infect grapevines and many other plants." Recognizing that PD can't be eradicat- ed, the researchers recommend a multi- pronged approach to live with it: site selec- tion, vegetation management, insecticides and predators to kill the sharpshooters and removal of infected vines have made this disease manageable. In the future, new varieties of vines resistant to the bugs or bacteria and even exotic biocontrols may provide long-term management strategies. Meanwhile, Texas wineries are develop- ing their own models for success. In spite of progress growing vinifera in the Hill Country an hour west of Austin and San Antonio, most of Texas' vineyard acreage is in the west, with special success in the High Plains of the Panhandle. The altitude of this area is above 3,000 feet, much like Men- doza in Argentina. Texas is developing a model similar to Washington, where most grapes grow in the arid interior, and many wineries close to the population centers around Seattle in the wet west have grapes or must trucked in for production and their tasting rooms. —Paul Franson winesandvines.com Learn more: Search keywords "matures in Texas."