Grape Growers To Meet In Pacific Northwest

The 2014 Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers (WAWGG) Annual Meeting, Convention, and Trade Show, the premier educational opportunity for the Northwest wine industry featuring sessions and workshops for both growers and wineries, will be held Feb. 5-7 at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick. This convention is the second largest in the wine and vineyard industry in the nation.

WAWGG advocates for the Washington wine growing industry by educating, promoting, representing, and unifying the industry and encouraging a positive business environment for continued growth and production of world-class, Washington-grown wines. Visit www.wawgg.org for convention information, as well as dates and times of some of the following sessions of interest to growers.
• The Many Faces of Washington Chardonnay: Washington does a great deal of Chardonnay and they’re proud of it — or should be. What styles of Chardonnay are they making in Washington now and what can they make? Will the potential change  their practices?
• Managing a Small Vineyard for a Profit: What considerations do you need to keep in mind when managing smaller acreages? This session will examine how sites and American Viticultural Areas can influence productivity, how planting material choice can impact future management decisions, and how water, not land, is a major limiting factor in Washington viticulture.
• Arming Washington Against Trunk Diseases: Watching a once-productive vineyard slowly decline is a painful experience. What is causing that decline? Is it just “old age”? Trunk diseases in grapevines are a common problem in older viticulture areas, but they are rarely seen in newer areas. Vineyards in Washington are aging as the industry becomes more established in the state.
• Seeing Red: When Old Prevention Techniques Result in New Disease Outbreaks: The statewide expansion of winegrape acreage has seen a parallel increase in the incidence of viral diseases affecting the overall growth and sustainability of Washington’s grape and wine industry. As solutions are found to currently known virus diseases, previously unrecognized diseases such as Grapevine red blotch are emerging that could derail the industry’s growth trajectory.
• Protecting the Products: Reducing Pesticide Resistance: Vineyards have endured multiple approaches to pesticide resistance management only to find resistance triumph. It is critical for growers and consultants to understand the risks, probabilities of developing resistance, and how to manage it. Practical solutions on how to mitigate pesticide resistance through proper spray programs, equipment, and rotation of chemicals will be presented.
• Viticulture for Vineyard Managers: Decision-making for growing an established business is complex. Everyone has an opinion about how best to expand plantings, but which ones actually pencil and which approaches work on your site, with your business plan? And which ones maximize your options to manipulate wine style in the vineyard?
• What You Don’t Know About Nematodes Could Hurt You: Current research has proven we don’t know all we thought we did about nematodes. Since there are limited post-planting options for nematode management, prevention is key. This session will discuss different nematodes in Washington, what they do to vineyards, how rootstocks can play a role in nematode management, and the chemical (and alternative) management strategies available for control.