Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center

Cold Hardiness Prediction, Leafroll Virus, Winemakers’ Tour

Cold-hardiness Prediction Model is (Almost) Ready for Grower Use For vineyard managers, watching the thermometer during eastern Washington winters is a bit like watching their charges dance the limbo: how low can they go? You don’t really want to find out; you just want to know in advance if you need to take frost protection […]

Vine Nitrogen, Women in Wine, V&E Benefit Gala, Washington Wines Top Best-of Lists

WSU Grad Student’s Research Tackles Vineyard Nitrogen Puzzle Getting the nitrogen right in wine-grape vineyards is tricky. Nitrogen is essential for plant development and growth. However, too much nitrogen applied early in the growing season may result in overly vigorous vine canopies. A thick canopy, though lovely to look at, shades the young berries and […]

The Mendoza Connection, Cold Hardiness Reloaded, Raise a Glass, The Hammer Drops

Argentinean Grad Student Puts Irrigation Research to the Test When Daniela Romero heard WSU’s Markus Keller talking about irrigation during grape ripening, her curiosity was piqued. After all, applying water close to harvest time was simply not done. Keller was teaching a grape physiology course at the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo in Mendoza, deep in […]

New Vineyard Will Advance WSU Viticulture Research

PROSSER, Wash. – Washington State University viticulture researchers have received contributions from the wine and grape industry to fund a new eight acre research vineyard to be planted this spring near the Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Prosser. Markus Keller, professor of viticulture, pointed out that, “Currently, our research vineyards are small and […]

New V&E Director, First Crush

International Wine Expert to Lead WSU V&E Program Thomas Henick-Kling is the new director of WSU’s program in viticulture and enology. Photo courtesy of Cornell University. Thomas Henick-Kling, an international leader in wine research and education, is the new director of WSU’s viticulture and enology program. Dan Bernardo, dean of the WSU College of Agricultural, […]

Research Winery, Cougs in Industry

WSU Opens Research Winery Top: Ringer (L) and Harbertson designed the new research winery in order to address questions of concern to the Washington wine industry. Middle: Harbertson plucks grapes for later chemical analysis. Bottom: Harbertson empties a box of chardonnary grapes into a press, starting the first batch of white wine in the new […]

Sensory Science, Microclimates

Pucker Up for Sensory Science Volunteers tasted red wines in a study designed to correlate astrigency with tannin levels in red wine. Astringency or “mouth feel” in wine has long been attributed to the presence of tannins and other phenolic compounds. Because astringency is an at least somewhat subjective evaluation, though, scientists at WSU tested […]

Wine Camp, Certificate Programs, Program Alumni Profile

Wine Camp Students in WSU’s professional certificate program in enology get hands-on experience with industry mentors. For more information on WSU’s professional certificate programs in viticulture and enology, please visit: http://wine.wsu.edu/education/certificate/. Students from all over the U.S. traveled last week to WSU’s Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Prosser to participate in a weekend-long […]

Economic Impact, Water Clore Center, Best Viticulture Paper

Wine Industry Has Premium Impact Washington’s wine industry has a national economic impact of $4.7 billion per year, according to a study released this month by MKF Research. The study was underwritten by the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers, the Washington Wine Commission and other key organizations in the state’s wine and grape industry. […]