Smart Vine: Grapevines Adapt to Changing Water Supply Years of intense research in the arid wine-grape growing region of eastern Washington has taught growers how plants react to various irrigation regimes. Water is such a valuable resource its known as “blue gold,” so this research has been a vital component of growers’ success in producing […]
The More You Drink, the Sweeter You’ll Be: WSU Economists Investigate Chinese Wine Consumer Preferences Many American winemakers would love to break into the Chinese market but they’ll have to hustle to compete against the prestige of Old World wines. That conclusion is derived from research conducted by economists at Washington State University. Jill McCluskey, […]
Spanish Viticulturists Working with WSU Scientists to Further Understanding of Vineyard Irrigation Management Pascual Romero, a visiting scientist at WSU’s Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Prosser, is the lead author of this year’s Best Paper in Viticulture award from the American Journal of Enology and Viticulture. Romero shares the award with co-authors and […]
Berry Shrivel Blues, Part Two Scientists, or at least science writers, love “eureka!” moments. Thanks to a realization he had in a dream, Otto Loewi figured out that nerve impulses are transmitted chemically. Nikola Tesla, out for a stroll one day, hit upon the idea for alternating current and, using his walking stick and a […]
Celebrate Washington Wine The 10th anniversary Celebrate Washington Wine black-tie gala dinner and auction is a little more than a month away and the excitement is building. This year’s event will be held on the evening of Saturday, January 22, in the intimate setting of the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery in Woodinville. All proceeds benefit […]
Euro Master’s Student Investigates Washington Rieslings Entering stage right is Washington’s first Vinifera Euro Master. From the sound of that, you might expect a winemaker wearing tights and a cape to come flying in with advice about what to drink with dinner. But the Vinifera Euro Masters is actually a graduate program coordinated by six […]
Disease Detectives Tackle the Mystery of the Fall Colors WSU plant pathologist Naidu Rayapati and his colleagues are carefully unraveling the intricate biochemistry and molecular biology of grapevine leafroll disease. Grapevine leafroll is a complex viral disease that can cause a marked decline in grapevine vigor, grape quality, and fruit productivity, according to Rayapati. The […]
Weighing the Cost of an Ounce of Prevention The gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair began when a highly respected winemaker at a well-known winery tasted the very expensive Cabernet Sauvingon as it went to barrel. “The wine had soap bubbles and smelled ‘fishy’,” said Jim Harbertson, author of a chapter in Winemaking Problems […]
WSU Grad Student Is Mapping Complexity in Washington Wine Country As you read this, a graduate student in Prosser is sitting in front of his computer, for the umpteen millionth hour, bashing his head against the mapmaker’s perennial problem: the map can never be as detailed as the terrain it represents. But that doesn’t mean […]
Gordon Hill Selected as Legends Winemaker Gordon Hill, longtime Washington enologist and, currently, winemaker with Milbrandt Vineyards Winery, was selected as winemaker for the 2010 Legends of Washington Wine event. The Legends event, scheduled for August 28 at WSU Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Prosser, annually honors an inductee into the Washington Wine […]