Finger Lakes Grape Growers To Open New Student-Run Test Vineyard
February 21, 2012 
Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) and Finger Lakes Community College (FLCC) have reached an agreement in principle to establish a teaching and demonstration vineyard at Anthony Road Wine Company in the Yates County, NY, town of Torrey. The 2.5 acre vineyard will serve as a site where CCE’s Finger Lakes Grape Program can conduct applied research projects and demonstrations for current and prospective grape growers in the Finger Lakes region and beyond.
Students from FLCC’s Viticulture and Wine Technology program will have the opportunity to participate in some of this research. They will also provide most of the vineyard labor, such as pruning, shoot thinning, and harvesting, and learn how characteristics of grapes translate into winemaking.
They will tend to a wide range of vines, including well-known varieties such as Catawba, Riesling, Cabernet Franc, and Cayuga White, and others that are new and upcoming such as Corot Noir, Grüner Veltliner, and Marquette. The vineyard will also include a small planting of seedless table grapes that have been bred to grow well in Finger Lakes conditions.
“This vineyard will give FLCC students the opportunity to learn how to handle a wide range of varieties and vine training systems they will see in commercial vineyards,” says Paul Brock, M.S. ‘07, FLCC instructor of viticulture/wine technology. “The partnership with Cornell Cooperative Extension will also allow them first-hand access to current topics in Finger Lakes viticulture while expanding their networking opportunities.”
Hans Walter-Peterson, viticulture Extension specialist and team leader for the Finger Lakes Grape Program (and “Vine Lines” columnist for American/Western Fruit Grower), approached Brock earlier this year with a proposal for the demonstration vineyard after learning about a grant that could fund the project. CCE of Wayne County, on behalf of CCE’s of Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Steuben, Wyoming, and Yates County, was awarded a $200,000 grant from the Genesee Valley Regional Marketing Authority to improve production of value-added agricultural products, and the public’s access to them, with a portion of those funds designated for the development of the teaching and demonstration vineyard. FLCC and the Finger Lakes Grape Program will evenly split the annual costs to operate the vineyard.
“These funds will allow us to develop a vineyard where we can test and demonstrate new and improved vineyard practices that will help Finger Lakes grape growers to improve the quality of their fruit while also increasing the sustainability and profitability of their farms”, Walter-Peterson says. “Sharing this vineyard with FLCC will enable us to provide cutting-edge information and education not only for our current growers, but for the next generation of vineyard managers and winemakers as well.”
Peter Martini from Anthony Road Wine Company says, “We are very pleased to be able to partner with CCE and FLCC on this project. CCE’s Finger Lakes Grape Program is very important to all the growers in the region and FLCC’s program will help build a solid foundation for the continued success of the grape and wine industry by providing hands-on training for potential employees.”
Currently, about 35 students are enrolled in the FLCC viticulture program, which was developed with the help of winemakers, grape growers, faculty, and staff from the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, and other industry members to train students for immediate employment in the growing wine industry. The curriculum was also designed to enable students to transfer into Cornell University’s four-year viticulture program, and Cornell faculty and staff worked closely with FLCC to develop and implement the degree program.
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