|
|
|
|
|
MGWII wishes you a happy holiday season,
and best wishes for 2018!
|
|
|
|
Spring 2017 FSHN 509X class
|
|
Education Update
By Erin Norton
2017 has been a very busy year for education at the Institute. We were able to relaunch an Iowa State University course - FSHN 509X Sensory Evaluation of Wines. This course is directed at senior or graduate level students, and during the lecture- and tasting-based course, students take away some of the following:
- How to critically evaluate wine in terms of color, aroma, flavor and taste
- What is in wine (chemical components) and how it is made
- Major wine regions of the world
- Specialty wine styles
- Food and wine pairing
We had 24 students complete the course, and the evaluations were very positive. We look forward to continue offering this course every spring semester. We will also be working with Professor Diana Cochran on FSHN/HORT 276 Understanding Grape and Wine Science in the upcoming spring semester.
Another major initiative of the Institute this year was the development of educational material for the IWGA’s Registered Apprenticeship Program. In March we hosted our first Lab Skills Workshop for the apprentices in the program. This two-day workshop focused on lab experiments used in wineries with both lecture instruction and hands-on experiments. The other major focus has been the development of our online courses (available only to apprentices now). So far, we have 22 wine making topics completed, and we plan to add another 14 before February 2018.
|
|
|
Industry members gaining hands-on experience at the sulfur dioxide workshop at Santa Maria Winery.
|
|
Workshops and Events
By Jennie Savits
Let’s recap our year in workshops, starting with the spring traveling sulfur dioxide workshop series. Maureen Moroney and I traveled to Soldier Creek Winery, Santa Maria Winery and Buchanan House Winery to present on topics concerning SO2 use and additions. We brought along lab set-ups for aeration oxidation, ripper and vinmetrica methods to provide participants the option to try different testing methods and weigh the pros and cons.
July brought the IWGA summer cellar workshop. Dr. Shannon Coleman and Dr. Sandy Andrews from the ISU Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, which houses the North Central Region Center for FSMA training, and I presented on the FSMA topics of produce safety and preventive controls rule. These rules impact grape growers and winemakers, and our goal was to help clarify what’s expected with these regulations.
Our popular intensive tasting proficiency training workshop was again held in July for industry members/retailers. On the consumer side, Erin Norton hosted a Wine 101 short course at the Wijn House in Pella, in addition to winter and fall workshops at Wheatsfield Cooperative on the topics of red wines and wine cocktails. A second tasting training workshop in October also was consumer-focused and held in a two-evening format that went over very well.
In November, we were pleased to bring our friend and Scott Labs rep., Luke Holcombe, back to Ames. He presented The Finer Things, a workshop on wine fining and finishing techniques as well as stability and risk assessment in wines. The day included some great networking time between participants during a hands-on sensory exercise where Luke provided finishing assessment and feedback on participant wines.
Our final workshop of the year is a joint venture with IWGA to start a series of varietal round table discussions. For the December event, this includes discussion on Brianna and Edelweiss, descriptive sensory analysis with aroma standards, and blind tasting and discussion of wines and processing techniques by the winemakers. Look for more events like this in 2018!
Major events we attended in 2017 started with the IWGA conference in February, during which we hosted tours of the Institute and Erin presented on Institute updates and wine faults. A group headed to Charlottesville, NC for the American Society of Enology and Viticulture Eastern Section Conference in July. Somchai Rice and Erin both competed in the poster competition where Erin brought home the top prize for student poster in enology. The group also was on hand to accept the Distinguished Service Award on behalf of Murli Dharmadhikari, past Institute director.
The summer months kept us busy with wine competition judging events in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa, as well as working shifts at the Iowa State Fair Wine Experience at Grandfather’s Barn. Maureen recently traveled to Nebraska City, NE to attend the Vindemia conference to exhibit our lab and outreach services at the trade show.
Exciting events for the wine industry that we attended included Governor Kim Reynolds and Lt. Governor Adam Gregg stopping in Stratford to visit Backcountry Winery as part of the Governor’s Building a Better Iowa tour, as well as the IWGA’s National Registered Apprenticeship event hosted by Madison County Winery. Lt. Governor Gregg spoke on the importance of apprenticeship programs, and the IWGA’s Cellarworker and Winemaker apprenticeship program was highlighted. We hosted Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix at the Institute to update him on the work the Institute does to support the state’s grape growing and winemaking industry. A second visit to host Senator Ken Rozenboom, Representative Guy Vander Linden and House Majority Leader Chris Hagenow is scheduled for mid-December.
I attended several ISU Extension and Outreach related events, including the Ag and Natural Resources Spring training, the Extension and Outreach annual conference, the Horticulture Research Station’s Summer Field Day and served on the advisory committee for the first annual Women in Ag Leadership Conference. These are great opportunities to network with fellow extension folks and Iowans from around the state and to learn tools and tips for improving our work.
|
|
|
Former student, Sadie Schultz, digging out a tank during her internship with Balletto Vineyards and Winery, Santa Rosa, CA.
|
|
Students (Past and Present)
By Maureen Moroney
The MGWII is proud and grateful to employ two smart, talented, and hardworking undergraduate students to work in the service lab and assist with events and research. For the 2017-2018 academic year, we have Chelsea Nelson and Kelsey Dyball here with us.
Chelsea is a sophomore in food science who joined the MGWII in spring 2017. She also participates in the Black Student Alliance and the Dairy Science Club at ISU. She is new to the world of wine, but has been enthusiastic about learning as much as possible, including reading and watching wine-related books and movies in her free time. One of her favorites is SOMM, which she describes this way:
The wine documentary, SOMM, takes you into the strenuous world of what it takes to become a master Sommelier. You get to witness four sommeliers attempt to become master sommeliers, from the vigorous studying to the expected jitters as they are about to take the prestigious Master Sommelier exam, which has one of the lowest passing rates of any exam in the world.
Kelsey is a junior in agricultural biochemistry. She started with the MGWII in spring 2016. She is active in marching band and Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE). In addition to working with the MGWII, Kelsey had the opportunity this past summer to work in the College of Veterinary Medicine, where she participated in a pharmacology project and learned new skills not covered in her lab courses.
Some of our recently-graduated student employees also are continuing to thrive in the industry. Nicole Eagin (class of 2017) just completed her first harvest as a lab intern at Hartford Family Winery in Forestville, CA. Next, she will be working in both the lab and cellar at Two Rivers winery in Marlborough, New Zealand in early 2018. Sadie Schultz (class of 2016) also just wrapped up her third harvest as a cellar intern at Balletto Vineyard and Winery in Santa Rosa, CA, after previous harvest positions at Kirrihill Wines in Clare, South Australia, and Gainey Vineyard in Santa Ynez, CA.
|
|
Online lab submission
By Maureen Moroney
As many of our clients know, the analytical service lab at the Midwest Grape and Wine Industry Institute has made available an online submission portal for wine and juice samples.
The majority of our clients are still submitting paper analysis request forms with their shipments. We will continue to accept paper submissions for the time being; however, those sending samples are encouraged to make use of the online system.
Online submission is a great way to keep up-to-date on what analyses are offered, what price will be charged, what volume to send, etc. In addition, it gives us a heads-up about when to expect a sample to arrive so we can better plan workflow and avoid conflicts and delays. And it gives the client a way to track the progress of the sample as it is received and analyzed, as well as being able to view any past online reports in one place.
The submission portal can be found here.
For Iowa Quality Wine Consortium members, the login information for the service lab is the same as currently used to submit IQ samples. For non-members of the IQ program, those wishing to submit samples online will need to set up new account information, including the correct contacts for the analysis reports and invoices. Setting up an account is easy, and more information can be found here.
|
|
|
Bottling of research wines to investigate wine tannins in Marquette.
|
|
Research
By Somchai Rice
Every state and territory, including the District of Columbia, has at least one land-grant institution. We are proud to serve the state of Iowa through Iowa State University, implementing the three-fold mission of teaching, research, and extension. Rounding out the third leg of the mission, let’s review of our year in research.
Dr. Diana Cochran (assistant professor, horticulture at ISU) and Kenneth McCabe (MS graduate in horticulture at Iowa State University) presented on viticulture research projects at the Iowa Wine Growers Association Annual conference February 5-6, held in Ames. Data collected from the five Mesonet weather stations are available to the public here.
An ongoing research project includes a study on pigments and tannins in cold-hardy grape varieties. In April, we bottled research wines made from Marquette. The first facet of this project, lead by Erin Norton, aims to investigate the effect of co-fermentation versus post-fermentation blending of Marquette and Cabernet Sauvignon. Erin received the Student Poster Award for Enology at the American Society of Enology and Viticulture – Eastern Section Conference and Symposium held in Charlottesville, PA in July. This conference was featured in a Wines and Vines article. In a study that was part of the Northern Grapes Project, Somchai Rice published a manuscript in Fermentation titled “Evaluation of Tannins and Anthocyanins in Marquette, Frontenac, and St. Croix Cold-Hardy Grape Cultivars."
As part of her wine aroma research, Somchai also presented a poster at ASEV-ES (Charlottesville, VA) on the effects of different harvest times on wine aromas of Brianna and Frontenac gris. In another project featuring Iowa red wines, a publication co-authored by Somchai was featured on the cover of Separations.
We wrapped the Northern Grapes Project, a multi-state, multi-institution research project focusing on viticulture, enology, and marketing/economics of emerging cold-hardy grape cultivars. Results from research can be found in the form of newsletters, research reports, and recorded webinars. Make sure to sign up for future webinars here. Lastly, a pre-proposal was submitted to the USDA-SCRI in December, to continue our work with these new varieties. We thank you for your continued support of our research at the Midwest Grape and Wine Industry Institute.
|
|
|
|
Conclusion of NE-1020 Project
|
|
|
The NE-1020 project, designed to evaluate the performance of cold hardy grape cultivars, concluded after harvest this fall. 12 cultivars were planted in 2008 at the Horticulture Research Station north of Ames and were evaluated based on bud injury, yield and fruit quality. The top three yielding varieties over the course of the project were Petit AmiTM, Frontenac, and St. Croix. ‘Louise Swenson’, Frontenac, and Marquette exhibited the greatest cold tolerance, and Corot Noir and ‘Arandell’ were identified as varieties with poor cold hardiness and marginal yields.
|
|
|
|
|
In the spring, a new cultivar vineyard will be established as part of the NE-1720 project. Details for this project are limited, however it’s reasonable to expect that newly released varieties such as Itasca, Petite Pearl, Verona, and Crimson Pearl will be included in the planting. Beyond the Horticulture Research Station, the viticulture team is looking to improve its utilization of weather stations which were installed at five locations across the state in the spring of 2017. The data being collected from these weather stations is available via the Department of Agronomy Mesonet. Ideally, pest and disease observations will be made at these sites to correlate with weather patterns and provide localized spray recommendations.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
