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WineEastNews anheim, Penn.—Consumers in tasting rooms often ask how a certain wine compares with a similar wine from California. Winemakers in the East regularly ask themselves and their winemaker friends the same question. On Feb. 11, Mark Chien, state viticulturist at Penn State Cooperative Extension and Wines & Vines contributor, addressed a day- long event at 1,500-case Waltz Vineyards to explore this subject. He invited Jeff Newton from Coastal Vine- yard Care Associates in California's Santa Barbara County and Andy Erickson, owner of Favia Erickson Winegrowers in Napa, to talk with about 40 winery owners and winemakers from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. "It's important that eastern winegrowers understand what is occurring in California's vineyards and cellars," Chien told Wine East. Eastern Winegrowers Get Advice M Penn State conference brings latest developments to vintners from five grapegrowing states "Then it's up to us to decide what will work in our conditions." GreenHoe_NewAd_1/4_9/22.qxp 9/28/09 9:30 AM Page 1 The program was designed so that par- ticipants could ask questions of Newton about California's best viticultural practices for super-premium wine production and of Erickson about current ideas and new tech- nologies being used for winemaking. According to Chien, the Eastern United States is one of the most challenging re- gions in the world for fine winegrowing. The climate makes it imperative that eastern viticulture be more rigorous than in dry regions, where growers have control over the amount of water their grapevines receive. Eastern growers must carefully select vineyard sites to find well-drained soils with appropriate slopes and microclimates; winemakers must be adaptive and creative to deal with the problems of grapegrowing in such a variable climate. Chien described eastern wines as more austere. "The acid was more prominent, as was the savory quality, which adds to the complexity with the East Coast wines." Dr. Joe Fiola, Joe Fiola viticulture and small fruit specialist at the Western Maryland Re- search and Education Center in Keedysville, Md., said that growers in the East are pro- ducing better fruit (in recent years), and that BUCorp_Dec10.qxp 9/20/10 4:27 PM Page 1 quality is reflected in the wines. "It is really important that growers find sites that have well-drained soils that don't hold too much water. These were really nice wines, even those that were made in a sea- son with some very heavy rains," he said. —Linda Jones McKee GREEN GRAPE HOE Specialized Tools For Vineyards Weed Control and In-Row cultivation Basic Hoe comes with a Hillup and a Takeaway Blade. Additional attach- ments include .3 Tooth Cultivator, Undercutter Blade, Green Hoe with Rotary Head Attachment Rotary head, "NEW" Rolling Cultivator and "New" Brush Rake for removing trimmings out from under the trellis. 6645 West Main Road Portland, NY 14769 PHONE (716) 792-9433 FAX (716) 792-9434 WWW.GREENHOECOMPANY.COM 44 Wines & Vines APRiL 201 1