Wines & Vines

78 WINES&VINES February 2018 GRAPEGROWING WINE EAST largest winery in Indiana, it pro- duces about 430,000 cases of wine annually. Traminette pro- duction makes up 2,000 cases of that total and is their second- best-selling estate wine, under the Creekbend label. Currently, Oliver has 57 acres of vineyards, mostly hybrids such as Chambourcin, Traminette, Char- donel, Crimson Cabernet, Maréchal Foch and Vignoles. Although some vinifera vines were planted, the move to these cultivars mostly came between 1996 and 2001. Traminette totals 7 acres, with plantings in 2000, 2001 and 2010. Rows are spaced 9 feet apart with 8 feet between vines and trained to a bilateral high cordon 5-feet- 10-inches in height, with about 610 vines per acre. Oliver noted that once the vines reached three to four years old, they showed good growth with few problems. Earlier than that, how- ever, winter damage can happen and result in trunk injury and, in worst cases, crown gall. Oliver was the vineyard manager but passed on that responsibility to Bernie Parker, with whom he still works closely. The vines were obtained from Double A Vineyards in Fredo- nia, N.Y., one of the three original nursery partners of Cornell. All the vines are own-rooted, planted in loamy topsoil 18 inches deep, with 3-4 feet of clay subsoil over fractured limestone bedrock. Oliver noted that this soil, combined with "plenty of Indiana rain," does not require irrigation, except in uncommon conditions for very young vines. He said, "There's not a flat spot in the vineyards," which are at an elevation of 800 feet above sea level, and soil drainage is not a problem. Oliver does not use cover cropping. "We are blessed with very good limestone soils with a great pH of 6.5-6.8," he said, but they will mulch with vine cuttings. He added, "We don't do much at all. There's no nitrogen added, either." The Traminette vineyard is hand-pruned between late No- vember and mid-March, with the average bud break occurring April 20. Oliver has learned that vines more than eight years old do not produce highly fruitful basal buds, so they allow for fairly long spurs, with five buds each. This can pro- vide between 4 and 5 tons per acre, a number Oliver is comfort- able with for Traminette. He also noted that it has not been neces- sary to move any of the canes downward for winter protection, thus saving labor costs. Oliver finds the vines can be- come "aggressively vigorous," so he has to stay on top of shoot po- sitioning, which needs to be done by mid-June. A tractor-mounted brush-type shoot positioner is used to lower the shoots, which TRAMINETTE SURVIVES POLAR VORTEX W hile the soil at Oliver Winery in Indiana appears to be well- suited for grapes, the climate can sometimes be challeng- ing. Bill Oliver had no trouble remembering the biggest challenge: the infamous polar vortex of January 2014, when the winery endured temperatures of about -25° F for some 36 hours. "We really had the opportunity to see what is winter-hardy then," Oliver said. "Traminette proved to be one of the better performers in the vineyard." The trunks and buds showed modest damage, yet the vines provided "a decent crop" of about 50% less than normal. Summer heat is less of a problem for Oliver's vineyards. While temperatures sometimes climb into the upper 90s, the norm is usually the upper 80s. Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates Market Intelligence for the Wine Industry · The Gomberg-Fredrikson Report: Put your business in context with wine industry market trends. · WineData Wine Pricing Report: Make competitive price positioning comparisons. · Distributor Market Service: Gain a competitive advantage by analyzing the wholesale market www.gfawine.com • 707.940.3922 • inquiry@gfawine.com We perform extensive market research and data collection to create the wine industry's leading databases and reports. Our reports reflect real-world factors and provide business leaders consistent information on which to base decisions.

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