Latest News
This one-day symposium is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Wine Marketing and Research Board (WMRB), the crop order through the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) that uses the 15 cent per gallon wine produced tax to support research and marketing efforts that will benefit the entire Pennsylvania wine industry. Research proposals focused on Pennsylvania viticulture and enology needs are reviewed annually by the Research Committee, and few are selected to present to the industry at this annual meeting. Attached is a summary regarding enology-based presentations during the 2013 Symposium.
The PA Wine Quality Initiative (WQI) will be leading its annual Wine Sensory Evaluation on June 24, 2013. Wineries are encouraged to submit pre- or post-bottled wine samples for a wine defect evaluation and feedback on fixing any potential defects. Samples are subjected to a panel of individuals that have successfully completed the WQI Level 1 workshop (Wine Defect Identification, Prevention, and Remediation). All samples are presented under a numerical code. Following the evaluation, wineries will receive written feedback on their results. For more details on this program, please follow the attached link. Wine submissions to be included for the 2013 evaluation are due to the Department of Food Science by June 19, 2013.
PA winery with available bulk gallons of estate Cabernet Franc and Merlot from the 2011 vintage. Case goods of same varietals and blends from 2009 vintage w/ small amount of Chardonnay also available. Prices negotiable based on quantities. Contact Kevin @ krobinson@spartanorg.com or @ 815-541-4420.
A write up by Penn State's Viticulture Extension Educator, Mark Chien, on the importance of glass shape, standardization of wine glass use in the winery/tasting room, and importance of benchmark wines. A good read for everyone in the wine industry.
The Academic Wino is a blog managed by Becca Yeamans that focuses on current research in enology and viticulture. Becca reads through research articles and summarizes key points and ideas on her blog. Recent topics of interest include wine bottle pricing based on winery location, sensory characteristics of oak chips, environmental impacts of winemaking, and wine-related book reviews. This is another firm example of a resource that wineries can used to stay current in viticulture and enology research world-wide. Click on the link to see more topics reviewed by Becca.
The 2013 Wine Marketing & Research Board Symposium will be held on May 22nd, 2013 at the Food Science Building (University Park, PA). Click on the link for program details, tentative agenda, and registration. Registration is required by May 14th.
Registration for new students in the Enology and Viticulture HACC program opens April 15, 2012.
This report reviews the current Extension Enology educational workshops, program goals and initiatives, and additional resources available to Pennsylvania and Mid-Atlantic wineries.
This paper briefly discusses some of the enological sessions at the 2013 Eastern Winery Exposition. Topics include: white wine phenolics, winery energy savings, and sour rot.
Need to learn more about social media strategies for your winery or tasting room? Try out this two-day workshop offered by Penn State Extension and Small Business Development Center. For more information, please follow the attached link.
Assistant professor of viticulture position posted for Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences. Click on the link for more information.
The Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention is held annually in Hershey, PA. This short review covers the enology-based lectures of the wine grape meetings for the 2013 year.
This brief review discusses the context of the 2013 Level 1 workshop held in January 2013. Several benefits of the program are also discussed including where to find additional information on the WQI programs.
You can find us on Facebook by liking "Penn State Extension Enology"!
A paper written by Food Science undergraduate, Virginia Smith, discusses the effects of cold stability on wine, how to analyze for tartrate stability, and various products used for cold stabilization purposes. A good read for any winemakers that battle with cold stability issues.
As the production portion of our NE-1020 project has come to a close, now is the time that we focus on basic wine chemistries. A series of data is collected on every fermented variety so that we can compare the chemical composition of that variety across several harvest years.
A review on YAN data collected from PA and NY fruit from the 2006 to 2011 vintage years is now posted on Penn State Extension Enology's website. Please click on the link to be re-directed to the content page.
Although most of harvesting is completed, I will use some of these "updates" to recollect some progress on the NE-1020 variety trials through this 2012 harvest season.
As many PA winemakers know, the 2012 harvest season is upon us. Harvest has also started for the Penn State's NE-1020 variety trial research project led by Dr. Rob Crassweller. This year, 10 varieties are being fermented and chemically analyzed. These wines will be featured at the 2013 PA Wine Marketing & Research Board Research Summit at University Park, PA. You can follow more NE-1020 project updates on Facebook by liking the "Penn State Extension Enology" page.
This year's WPSU Wine Festival, hosted at the Penn Stater at University Park, PA will feature several Pennsylvania wineries and include a seminar on Pennsylvania wine. Please click the link for more information on the WPSU Wine Festival.
