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April 2017 WINES&VINES 73 WINE EAST WINE INDUSTRY NEWS Create a classic with our new 8 color UV custom glass printing technology. With the best bottle and closure brands on the market, our printed glass experts will work with you to launch your next best seller. Contact Waterloo Container today. Go ahead… judge a book by its cover. Toll Free: 888-539-3922 | waterloocontainer.com later received funding from the Virginia Wine Board to take the project statewide. The WRE hired Michael Attanasi, a recent master's graduate from the University of California, Davis, to run the pro- gram, organize projects and collect samples and lab data. Kevin Goolsby, vineyard man- ager at Tarara Winery in Lees- burg, Va., presented the results of research that he and Jordan Har- ris, Tarara's winemaker, con- ducted on the impact of removing the four most basal leaves from Cabernet Sauvignon vines at 30% bloom. Another section of Caber- net vines was not leaf-pulled at bloom; both blocks were leaf- pulled at véraison, and all other vineyard and fermentation prac- tices were the same. Removing leaves at bloom slightly reduced berry weight, cluster weight, Brix and yield, while grape phenolics and total acidity were slightly in- creased. Wine produced with leaf removal at bloom had lower etha- nol, color intensity and tannin. Tremain Hatch, viticulture ex- tension research associate at Vir- ginia Tech and consultant to his family's winery, Zephaniah Farm Vineyard in Leesburg, Va., and Bill Hatch, Zephaniah's winemaker, tested the impact of a desiccation spray on the chemical and sensory profiles of Chambourcin grapes and wine. One section of Cham- bourcin vines was sprayed with a potassium bicarbonate desiccant at the beginning of véraison and then weekly for a total of four sprays over four weeks. Another section was not sprayed. The fruit from both sections of the block was harvested and processed on the same day, and all treatments were identical. The desiccation treat- ment slightly concentrated berry components, lowered the color intensity and slightly lowered the tannin and anthocyanin content in the wine. Not many differences were found in the wines. Matthieu Finot, winemaker at King Family Vineyards in Crozet, Va., conducted a study on the im- pact of different crop adjustments on yield, juice and wine chemistry, phenolic and color profiles, and sensory characteristics of Merlot. The four treatments were done in one vineyard block: 1) two control rows; 2) two rows sprayed with RG 1950 desiccant spray four times over four weeks beginning at véraison; 3) two rows with clus- ters dropped at véraison down to one cluster per shoot, and 4) two rows with clusters pinched at ap- proximately 20° Brix. All other treatments, through vinification, were the same. The week before harvest, from Sept. 26 to Oct. 2, 2016, the vine- yard received 6 inches of rain. Finot reported, "The rain ruined the desiccation trial." Prior to the rain, the desiccation sprayed grapes had faster ripening kinet- ics and lower average berry weights. At harvest, Brix and pH were not very different, but total acidity was higher in the treat- ments. Yield was reduced by all treatments, and no differences were apparent in wine chemistry. Finot would like to repeat the study, but with more cooperation from the weather. —Linda Jones McKee Matthieu Finot, winemaker at King Family Vineyards; Kevin Goolsby, vineyard manager at Tarara Winery; and Tremain Hatch, viticulture extension research associate at Virginia Tech, speak as part of the Winemakers Research Ex- change during the Virginia Vineyards Association's winter technical meeting.