Released November 2, 2011
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Wine enthusiasts from Nebraska to New York will soon have more varieties of local wines to toast with, thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA).
Michigan State University (MSU) is one of a group of universities involved in a $2.5 million project that, over the next two years, will study a new group of extremely cold-hardy grape varieties that show potential for growing well in northern climates and creating good wine. In addition, the funds will help wineries build tourism networks to draw more visitors to tasting rooms, as well as increase wine distribution to local and regional markets.
“We’ve put together an interdisciplinary team of vineyard scientists, enologists and marketing experts to address the challenges that cool climate grape growers and wineries across 12 states face,” Tim Martinson, project director and senior Extension associate at Cornell University, said. “Working as a team, we hope to be able to offer integrated, relevant information that would not be possible with individual state-based teams working independently.”
MSU specialists on the project include Paolo Sabbatini, assistant professor of horticulture, who will be working on the viticulture side of the project, and Dan McCole and Don Holecek, assistant professor and professor emeritus, respectively, in the Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies, will be dealing with the socio-economic component.
New super-hardy varieties
“The grape and wine industry is expanding into areas that, only a few years ago, were impossible to imagine any kind of grape growing could occur because of the extremes in weather conditions,” said Sabbatini, who is also an MSU AgBioResearch scientist and MSU Extension specialist. “The new super-hardy varieties provide new opportunities for our industry to expand into non-conventional growing regions, but viticulture practices will need to be fine-tuned, and fruit biochemistry understood, to produce high quality grapes.
“This new project complements the NE1020 effort in Michigan, where we are trying to repeat what our forbearers have done through grape variety selections that adapt to the various climates in the state,” he added. “It allows Michigan grape growers and enologists to evaluate the viticulture and enological characteristics of the grapes and, hopefully, they can find a niche in the market place.”
“Greater knowledge on how to grow these grapes and turn them into quality wines offers great potential for rural development as more and more winery businesses are created in regions where it was previously not feasible,” said McCole, also an MSU AgBioResearch scientist and MSU Extension specialist. “Making quality wines is a critical part of ensuring the success of these wineries, but it does little good if great new wines are made but nobody buys them. Therefore, an important part of this project is to study the factors that lead to the demand of these wines, as well as the supply of them.”
Survey wine-tasting visitors
“We plan to collaborate with wine-tasting room operators in conducting a survey of their visitors over the next several months,” Holecek added. “Results will establish a basis for marketing these new wines and a baseline of information for assessing brand awareness, market acceptance and marketing effectiveness.”
The Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council (MGWIC) is also lending its support to this project.
“The council is pleased to support this project and contribute some matching funds that will be leveraged by these federal grant dollars to assist several emerging wine regions in exploring future opportunities with new grape varieties,” said Linda Jones, MGWIC director. “There are already regions of Michigan that are growing or are interested in super-hardy varieties for wine production, and it will take some time and considerable resources to explore their potential, from both academic and commercial points of view. The work that will be accomplished under this grant will help jump-start this exploration of commercial potential.”
In addition to MSU and Cornell University, Iowa State University, Oklahoma State University, North Dakota State University, South Dakota State University, the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, and the universities of Illinois, Massachusetts (Amherst), Minnesota, Nebraska, Vermont and Wisconsin, are involved.
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Michigan State University, http://www.anrcom.msu.edu/anrcom/news/item/michigan_state_university_get...
Contacts: Robin Usborne, 517-432-1555, ext. 222
Paolo Sabbatini, 517-355-5191, ext. 1302
