The Extension team started off the first half of 2024 at the Unified Symposium on January 24 and 25. The Department had a booth, where we got to meet with a lot of attendees, and hosted our annual reception, where we got to catch up with many alumni and friends! We also announced our new department chair, Ben Montpetit!
Our first On Campus event of 2024 was a program focused on bottling and packaging, on February 15. It began with David Block, Professor, Department of Viticulture and Enology, UC Davis, giving an overview of bottling and current packaging trends. He then talked about bottles, bottle finishes, wine bottle glass colors, closures (corks, screw caps, etc.), capsules/foils, bottling lines (filling, corking, foil spinning), new technologies (especially for labels), and packaging alternatives (cans, kegs, etc.). Next up was Zoran Ljepovic, Lecturer, Department of Viticulture and Enology, UC Davis, who talked about general bottling line quality control. He covered oxygen management, the bottling line wine system, bottle prep, supply timelines, paperwork, specifications, QC checkpoints and more. Then, Gavin Sacks, Professor & Associate Chair of Food Science, Cornell University, covered “Precursors of sulfurous off-aromas in wine: their origin and fate”; Andrew Waterhouse, Professor Emeritus, Department of Viticulture & Enology, UC Davis, spoke about “Bottle aging: Oxidation and other reactions”; and Orrin Frederick, Area Manager for California, Enartis, covered aspects of the chemistry of canning. During the afternoon, we presented two panels, one covering alternative packaging and the other covering the latest closure technologies. Thank you to our Alternative Packaging panelists: Meredith McGough, Corey Beck, Amy Butler, Lowell Jooste, and Zoran Ljepovic and our Latest Closure Technologies panelists: Kevin André (Diam Bouchage), Ryan Norton (Vinventions), Greg Hirson (Cork Supply), and Paulo Lopes (Amorim Cork).
On March 5, we hosted a virtual Office Hours program. Our featured guest was Cindy Kron, the North Coast IPM (Integrated Pest Management) Advisor for Napa, Sonoma, Lake, and Mendocino Counties. She covered all that you need to know about Spotted Lanternfly…and just two weeks ago, it was reported that spotted lanternfly eggs were intercepted at the California border on March 27, 2024. Egg masses were intercepted off a large (30 ft tall) metal art installation at the Truckee, CA, inspection station. The station staff inspected and found 11 viable egg masses on the artwork, resulting in the shipment being rejected at the station and refused entry into CA once the pest identification was confirmed by the CDFA (California Department of Food and Agriculture) lab staff. If you want to watch the recording of this Office Hours program, click here.
We were virtually On the Road in San Luis Obispo County on April 5, 2024, working with UCCE Water Management and Biometeorology Advisor, Mark Battany to cover the following important topics: What does it mean to apply regenerative agricultural practices to grape growing, Irrigation with recycled water, Advances in single vine resolution irrigation, Grapevine mineral nutrition, and Foundations for a modern grape breeding program. The speakers were Cristina Lazcano, Mark Battany, David Block, Matt Fidelibus, and Luis Diaz Garcia.
We were physically On the Road, five days later, in Bakersfield (Kern County) at Hodel’s Country Dining on April 10. We worked with Tian Tian, Viticulture Farm Advisor, Kern County, to put together relevant topics for this region: Matt Fidelibus talked about macro and micronutrient budgets of table grapes, David Block walked through the process of developing high-resolution irrigation technology for increasing water use efficiency in vineyards, Akif Eskalen discussed a practical guide for disease identification and tissue sampling and Tian Tian talked about improving berry firmness and color in red table grapes. New UC Davis Viticulture and Enology Department Chair, Ben Montpetit, then gave a department overview, before the break for lunch and further discussion.
We then hosted a virtual On Campus program titled, “Emerging and future challenges in Viticulture” on April 17. Topics and speakers included: Challenges and opportunities for Napa’s viticulture industry (Monica Cooper), Cultivars and climates: Rootstock and mesoclimate impacts on winegrape production in the north coast (Christopher Chen), Advances and challenges of breeding powdery mildew-resistant grape cultivars (Melanie Massonnet), Red Blotch: Virology, vectors, and viticulture (Alec Levin), Update on the Greenhouse Foundation: Current and future plans, Maher Al-Rwanhi, and Grapevine rootstocks’ response to salinity (Yaniv Lupo).
The last two extension programs of the 2023-2024 academic year were: a program covering Barrels and oak alternatives as winemaking tools on May 23 and a UC Davis Grape Day at the Oakville Station on June 5. These past six months were both busy and fun and we look forward to bringing more educational programs to you in the coming year. If you have any suggestions for topics you would like to hear about, please let us know! Have a great summer and a fantastic harvest!