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Muscadine Grape Advisory October 18, 2000 1. Crop status and market update: The muscadine crop is finished for the season! The later ripening bronze muscadine, Doreen, is all but finished now as well. I know that when I stopped by one of our largest U-Pick vineyards last week, they were completely picked out of the Doreens. I believe that most growers were well satisfied with their production this year, and the wineries also seem very pleased with the quality and quantity of grapes available. All-in-all, it has been a very good (and hurricane-less) season for muscadines. Local marketing of fresh muscadines (pre-pick and u-pick) was especially strong. It is also impressive how many people are buying muscadine grapes to make their own wine! The "soft spot" this season was with wholesale markets for fresh muscadines - much more competition from Georgia had a definite impact. Recognizing this to be the case, I was hoping to get an extra flat or two of Doreen for a "buyer sample" to go with one of our newest marketing specialists, Nick Augostini, NCDA and CS Eastern Marketing Center, Kinston (252-527-7125), on a trip he is making up to Washington DC in early November. Nick will be visiting with some of the chainstore buyers up in that area Nov. 2-3rd. We were thinking that muscadines could be a real hit in the DC market! But, we don't have a supplier for the sample! We'll keep our fingers crossed that someone can still help us out! 2. September was very eventful! There were a number of great festivals, events and meetings through the month of September, including: Sep 6-8 Grape research and extension workers regional
meeting, Univ. Arkansas The Sep 16 "Grape Day at Bannerman Vineyard" morphed into a "Grape Appreciation Day" - the turnout for this event was great and the weather could not have been more delightful. Scott Bannerman gave a great clinic on home-winemaking in the course of the day, and Tania Dautlick provided the folks with an opportunity to sample North Carolina wines from across the state. We also had a little area for sampling different varieties of fresh muscadines (Triumph, Carlos, Noble, Nesbitt, Doreen). I enjoyed the many comments people had about the different varieties - very favorable for all! I had a good chuckle when one northern lady came by my table and "flat told me" that she could not return to New York City without bringing several bushels of muscadine grapes. She said, "If I go to NYC without these grapes my name is mud." Most of her family still lives in eastern NC, and this stop at Bannerman's Vineyard for Carlos grapes is "mission critical" if she is to have a safe return to the Big Apple! Right now we're "crunching the numbers" from all the surveys we collected at the State Farmers Market (Raleigh) on Sep 22nd. A big thank you to my Research Technician, Rocco Schiavone, for doing such a great job in working with Tania to conduct a survey where we asked people to evaluate five fresh muscadine varieties (Carlos, Triumph, Tara, Nesbitt, Noble) for color appeal, size, flavor and give and overall preference. We should have these results ready for the mid-November muscadine advisory. We wish to express our special gratitude to Hinnant Farms and Vineyard for supplying the grapes! Developing new markets for muscadines was a theme echoed at the annual meeting for southern region grape research and extension workers that I attended Sept. 6-8, in Arkansas (officially called the SERA-IEG 24). I noted a great deal of interest in developing "fresh juice" markets for muscadines. We were fortunate to tour the Post Familie Vineyards (1-800-AR-JUICE), in Altus, AR. Six generations of the Post family have produced grapes in this Ozark Mountain region near Altus. They are the #1 winegrower in Arkansas today, and do an incredible volume of non-alcoholic muscadine juice products as well as a large selection of both vinifera and muscadine wines! In this region of the world, it is possible to grow both muscadines and vinifera in the same location! During the State Fair this week, North Carolinians are being given an opportunity to try some muscadine juice products from Duplin Cellars - don't forget to visit the State Fair (Oct 13-22) and see the NC Grape Growers exhibit! 3. Why should I attend a Strawberry Meeting? This
is such a strange enough idea, that I actually went downtown this morning
to visit with Tania Dautlick to see what she thought of the idea of
encouraging grape growers to attend the NC Strawberry Expo, Nov. 8-10,
2000, McKimmon Center, Raleigh. She agreed with me that it might be
very beneficial to go just on the basis of the "Planning for Success"
business workshop being offered on Wednesday afternoon (12:30-3:30 pm,
Nov. 6). Here is an excerpt from the program: "Do you know where you are going? Do you know what you should change? This workshop provides the opportunity to assess your business direction. It will emphasize planning tools and help you put "punch" in your business. Participants will develop a plan with six major components, each with goals and actions. This workshop will also provide a forum for sharing issues and strategies to broaden your horizons in creating your master plan. Both new and established growers will find this workshop worthwhile. You'll be sent a pre-workshop packet to help you prepare; to get the most out of this session you'll need to utilize your own information and financial data. The workshop fee includes all materials, and there is a discount for a second family member to encourage spouses to attend. Seminar leader Don Rogers is Vice President-Consulting at First Pioneer Farm Credit in New England. During his 18 years with Farm Credit, he has helped over 1,500 farm families meet their personal and business goals. His work ranges from small beginning farms to large agribusinesses. Says one Virginia strawberry grower who has heard him speak, "I just wish he was closer so I could have him as a consultant all the time!" This will be an exciting, dynamic session. Space is limited, so register early! Registration for the Expo itself is not required to attend this session. Other growers raising vegetables and small fruit for retail market are welcome." For questions, workshop information, registration, changes,
or cancellations, please contact 4. Winter Viticulture Classes: This winter Jim
Law will be teaching 4 classes at Linden Vineyards in Virginia: Sat., Feb 10 Vineyard Establishment Sat., Feb 24 Making Wine in the Vineyard You can find details Linden's web site under 'seminars'. 5. Bill Cline's Plant Pathology Corner: As you all know, Bill Cline, Dept. of Plant Pathology, NC State (NCSU Hort Crops Res Sta Castle Hayne), is a regular contributor to this grape advisory. This week, Bill has been answering questions about Pierce's Disease. Que. I am going to start with the assumption that I will plant winegrapes, so I am wondering what the choices might be. Muscadine grapes appear to be a good possibility, but I have been reading that some growers in NC are planting V. vinifera and French-American hybrids. Apparently, Jeff Bloodworth is also experimenting with muscadine-like hybrids. Given my specific location in Onslow County, what would be the full-range of options? Ans. Bunch grapes are being grown in the mountains and western piedmont of NC, but not in the coastal plain where your farm is located. The reason for this is the prevalence of fungal and bacterial diseases in the coastal plain, especially Pierce's Disease, caused by the xylem-limited bacterium Xylella fastidiosa. Pierce's Disease clogs the vascular elements in grape stems and eventually kills the vine. It is of little importance on the native muscadine grapes (V. rotundifolia), but can be devastating to bunch grapes. Texas A&M has a good information note about the disease and the insect vector(s) on bunch grapes at: http://cygnus.tamu.edu/Texlab/Pierce/pierce-toc.html 6. Please look forward to your next issue of the
Muscadine Grape Advisory in mid-November. Dr. E. Barclay Poling - Muscadine Specialist
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