August 24, 2011
10:00am-1:00pm

Join Rebecca Harbut and Judy Reith-Rozelle as they walk through the table grape trials and discuss the successes and failures of each variety. They will also walk though the wine grape research plots and talk about the new grape varieties and how they are growing all the varieties. No pre-registration is required for this free event.

WGGA Summer Vineyard Walk
WHEN: Saturday, August 13, 2011 @ 4:00 PM
WHERE: Parallel 44 Vineyard & Winery
(N2185 Sleepy Hollow Road; Kewaunee, WI 54216)

AGENDA:
4:00 PM
Registration at Parallel 44

4:30 PM
Welcome & Parallel 44 Wine Tasting

5:30 PM
Vineyard Walk Leader, Rebecca Harbut,
UW-Extension Fruit Specialist

6:30 PM
Dinner & Social Hour

Registration fee for the WGGA Summer Vineyard Walk is $45 per person for WGGA Members and $55 per
person for Non-Members. This includes wine tasting, dinner and two tickets for glasses of wine. Additional
glasses of wine beyond the two are extra. To register, email or call Becky Rochester, Grape Marketing
Coordinator, at becky@wigrapes.org or 503.428.6331 by Wednesday, August 10th.

You can mail a check to WGGA, 211 Canal Road, Waterloo, WI 53594 or pay via credit card when you register with Becky.
If you are not a WGGA Member and you wish to join, you can sign up that day or go online to www.wigrapes.org to join.

LODGING: Kewaunee Inn 866.264.5744 or www.kewauneeinn.com & Harbor Lights Lodge 866.267.9053 or
www.harborlightslodge.com.

VISIT OTHER LOCAL WINERIES: Please visit Wisconsin Winery Association’s website for itinerary ideas
for Fox Valley & Door County Regions http://wiswine.org/itineraries.

Wisconsin wineries, take note: Entries will be accepted starting May 3 for the first-ever Wisconsin State Fair Professional Wine Competition, scheduled for June 23 to 24 at the Tommy G. Thompson Youth Center at Wisconsin State Fair Park.

The competition is open to all bonded wineries and custom crush growers producing wines from cold-climate varieties of grapes, as well as fruit, honey and other non-grape wines. All wines submitted must be made commercially and available for purchase at the winery.

The entry fee is $30 per wine, and there is no limit to the number of wines a winery may enter. Wine will be judged in classes within seven different categories. A panel of judges including restaurateurs, winemakers, wine retailers, writers, bloggers and educators, will blind taste test each wine and evaluate them using the U.C. Davis 20-point scale, which rates appearance, color, aroma, acidity, sweetness, body, flavor, acescensy (bitterness), astringency and overall quality.

Medals will be awarded based on points, and one wine will earn a Best Wisconsin Wine award, co-sponsored by the Wisconsin Grape Growers Association and the Wisconsin Wineries Association.

More information can be found online at WiStateFair.com. Entries, accepted through June 16, can be submitted online or by mail sent to Wisconsin State Fair Park, Attn: Professional Wine Competition, 640 S. 84^th St., West Allis, WI 53214.

Chief judge for the competition will be certified sommelier and veteran wine judge Paul Gospodarczyk, an Instructor of Enology and Wine Service in Des Moines. Contest coordinator is Becky Rochester, a marketing agent for the Wisconsin Grape Growers whose family owns and operates R Little Vineyard in Stoddard.

State Fair runs from Aug. 4 to Aug. 14.

To see the actual online article CLICK HERE.

FOR RELEASE 4.28.11                                               

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Becky Rochester, Wine Competition Coordinator
503.428.6331 ~ becky@wigrapes.org
Kristi Chuckel, Marketing & Media Relations Manager
414.266.7061 ~ Kristin.Chuckel@wisconsin.gov

WISCONSIN STATE FAIR ANNOUNCES NEW PROFESSIONAL WINE COMPETITION

West Allis, WI – April 28, 2011 – Raise your glasses! Wisconsin State Fair officials are excited to announce the first annual Wisconsin State Fair Professional Wine Competition, June 23-24, 2011 at the Tommy G. Thompson Youth Center at Wisconsin State Fair Park. Entries will be accepted May 3 through June 16, 2011 online or via mail, and winners will receive several benefits, including a display at the Wisconsin State Fair, August 4 – 14, 2011.

The Chief Judge for the competition will be Certified Sommelier and veteran wine judge Paul Gospodarczyk, an Instructor of Enology and Wine Service in Des Moines, Iowa where he has designed and implemented two college certificate programs. Gospodarczyk is an active judge at regional and international wine competitions including INDY International, Florida International, International Cold Climate, Illinois State and Michigan State. He looks forward to judging the competition and hopes that by highlighting some excellent wines from Wisconsin, which is considered a developing wine region, consumers will be encouraged to try them.

“I’ve noticed the stellar performance of Wisconsin wines in many regional competitions,” stated Gospodarczyk. “It’s exciting to be working with the Wisconsin State Fair team, which has established a state-focused competition that wineries can be proud of and consumers can trust.”

Becky Rochester will serve as the contest coordinator. Rochester has worked at Bargetto Winery in California, Willamette Valley Vineyards in Oregon and currently she serves as a marketing agent for the Wisconsin Grape Growers. Her family owns and operates R Little Vineyard in Stoddard, WI.

The competition is open to all bonded wineries and custom crush growers producing wines from cold climate varieties of grapes, as well as fruit, honey and other non-grape wines. All wines submitted must be made commercially and available for purchase at the winery.

The entry fee is $30 per wine, and there is no limit to the number of wines a winery may enter. Wine will be judged in classes within seven different categories. Gospodarczyk, along with a panel of qualified judges including restaurateurs, winemakers, wine retailers, writers, bloggers and educators, will blind taste test each wine and evaluate them using the U.C. Davis 20 point scale which rates appearance, color, aroma, acidity, sweetness, body, flavor, acescensy (bitterness), astringency and overall quality.

In addition to medals, which will be awarded based on total points earned; one Wisconsin grown and produced wine will receive the “Best Wisconsin Wine” award co-sponsored by the Wisconsin Grape Growers Association and the Wisconsin Wineries Association. Medal winners may also be invited to participate in a wine tasting event sponsored by the Wisconsin State Fair Park Foundation and the Wisconsin State Fair Park Dairy Promotion Committee on July 16.

Additional eligibility information can be found online at WiStateFair.com. Wisconsin State Fair will begin to accept applications online at and via mail on May 3. Mailed applications should be sent to Wisconsin State Fair Park, Attn: Professional Wine Competition, 640 S. 84^th Street, West Allis, WI 53214.
                                                            
The 160^th Wisconsin State Fair, presented by U.S. Cellular, will take place Thursday, August 4 through Sunday, August 14, 2011. The Wisconsin State Fair offers an original experience to all that attend and is a phenomenal value with 30 FREE entertainment stages, thousands of animals, endless family activities, events, contests, vendors and culinary delights. For the most up-to-date information, please visit WiStateFair.com or join the conversation on Facebook at facebook.com/wistatefair and Twitter at twitter.com/wistatefair.

# # #

The Country Today: Page 1

The Country Today: Page 2

Downloadable Brochure

This free seminar will cover dormant pruning — from theory to hands-on techniques on how to prune non-bearing vines to mature vines.

The grape pruning seminar will explain dormant pruning basics to balance vegetative and reproductive growth to:

• Maintain fruit quality
• Maintain cold hardiness
• Maintain vine health

Please bring your work gloves and your pruners to the program.

Best Practice Workshops:

• SO2 Management, Analysis and Calculculations
• Winery Cleaning & Sanitation
• Identifying Wine Faults
• Individual Q & A (open topics)

Four potential options to attend:

• Tuesday, April 5 South Central Iowa
                   Schade Creek Vineyard & Winery, 1230 Warrior Lane, Waukee, IA 50263
• Tuesday, April 12 North Central Iowa
                   Fireside Winery, 1755 P Ave. (V77),  Marengo, IA 52301
• Tuesday, April 19 Western Iowa
                   Santa Maria Vineyard & Winery, 218 W 6th St. Carroll, IA 51401
• Tuesday, April 26 Eastern Iowa (tentative)
                   Heartland Harvest Winery, 2116 290th Ave. Fort Madison, IA 52627

These workshops are “FREE”, but advance registration is required!

To Register: Contact Tammi Martin at 1 week in advance with your name, address, e-mail, phone and date of choice. tkmartin@iastate.edu, 515-294-3308

Donations are always appreciated. Visit http://www.extension.iastate.edu/wine

Flyer attached.
Best Practices Workshops Flyer

The Country Today: Gone Grapes

The Country Today: Gone Grapes Page 2

Hi WGGA Members,

I just wanted to inform you of a new fungicide that has recently come down the pipeline. BASF has developed a new fungicide for controlling powdery mildew in grapes called Vivando. The active ingredient is metrafenone and comes from an entirely new chemistry of fungicides called benzaphenones. Vivando inhibits growth and infection of the powdery mildew pathogen by disrupting the actin cytoskeleton within the fungus. Vivando is lipophilic and is absorbed quickly into the leaf surface where it has some systemic movement into the tissue. The fungicide is best utilized as a protectant, but can have some curative effect if applied within a day or 2 of infection. It has also been shown to disrupt lesion expansion and spore development, helping to slow disease in the vineyard.

In a spray rotation, you would likely use Vivando in place of another powdery mildew fungicide like a sterol inhibitor (Rally, Elite, Rubigan), Topsin M, or sulfur and tank mix with a protectant like mancozeb and captan or a strobilurin (for control of black rot, downy, etc.). Vivando has a different mode of action than other fungicides, but fungicide resistance management will be needed to avoid resistance. The label requires a limit of 3 applications per year and no more than 2 applications in a row. Tank mixing with another fungicide is also recommended, and should be followed as Vivando will likely not give you control of black rot, Phomopsis, anthracnose, and downy mildew. Vivando has a 14 day PHI and a 12 hr REI. BASF claims that it has excellent efficacy for powdery mildew. I have not heard anything yet from other researchers that may have included it in university trials.

I’ve talked with a chem salesman and the price breakdown for Vivando looks relatively attractive. The product is sold in a 1 gallon jug (suspension concentrate) for ~$215. At a 12oz per acre rate (10-15oz being the high and low label rates), the cost per acre is ~$20. Vivando does have a label for Wisconsin, and is not a restricted use pesticide. You can get a copy of the label by searching CDMS (http://www.cdms.net/LabelsMsds/LMDefault.aspx?t=) for Vivando. I’ve attached a sales brochure for the product from BASF and a research paper that goes in-depth into the mode of action of the fungicide (if anyone is interested). If you have any questions about the product, let me know, and I will do my best to address them.

Vivando Brochure
Metrafenone: studies on the mode action of a novel cereal powdery mildew fungicide 

Regards,

Steve Jordan
Post-doctoral Research Assistant
Department of Plant Pathology
University of Wisconsin
378 Russell Laboratories