As a student in Germany, Ingrid Weilack was inspired by Washington State University enology professor Jim Harbertson. Now, the visiting scholar is experiencing what it’s like to work with him at the Ste. Michelle Wine Estates WSU Wine Science Center.
Can Washington Growers Use Rootstocks and Maintain Fruit and Wine Quality? Almost all wine grapes grown in Washington are grown on their own roots. That’s unusual. In most of the world’s other major wine regions, grapes are grown on grafted rootstock. That is, varietal scions (the part of the plant that produces the leaves, buds, […]
Doing Science in a Phenolic Paradise “My main interest is in the kinetics and extraction patterns of phenolics during the maceration process of red winemaking,” Federico Casassa told me when I caught up with the doctoral candidate at Washington State University’s Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Prosser. It took me a minute to […]
New Research Busts Tannin Additions Myth, Sparks Trans-Pacific Collaboration If you’re using tannin additions in your red winemaking process, you may well be wasting your money, according to recently published research by Washington State University enologist Jim Harbertson and Australian wine and grape researcher Mark Downey, a lead researcher at Victoria’s Department of Primary Industries. […]
MEDIA ADVISORY The following are Valentine Day feature story ideas from the Washington State University College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences.
The Business and Science of Hedonism by Brian Charles Clark DeLille Cellars’ master winemaker, Chris Upchurch, recently told a visiting group of WSU viticulture and enology students that he thought premium red wines could be broken into two broad categories: the really good reds are either like steak, “big, juicy and simply delicious,” or like […]
Iraq War Vet Comes Home to Wine Country “The U.S. Army is a 200-plus-year-old organization,” said WSU viticulture and enology student Andrew Schultz. “They know something about leadership and teamwork. That’s why I served.” The former radar operations sergeant served in the Army for four years, including 16 months in Iraq, before returning to civilian […]
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 […]
Tantalyzing Tannins Enologist James Harbertson and his colleagues have set a new standard for tannin analysis in wine. Read Harbertson et al.’s paper in the American Journal of Enology and Viticulture at http://tinyurl.com/44vdx8. WSU enologist James Harbertson and his colleagues have sampled 1,300 red wines, half of them from Washington. The research team didn’t swirl, […]
Winemaking Using Maritime Grapes Kerry Ringer, WSU Extension enologist and assistant professor of food science, leads a basic winemaking workshop in Mount Vernon on June 30. For more information, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/3uzwkp If you are a westside winemaker, in the early phases of opening a winery, planning to open a winery, or just dreaming about […]