UK Viticulture and Enology Research and Extension

Grants and Contracts Details

Description

Over the past few years commercial grape growers and winemakers have made much progress toward increasing the quality of fruit and wine production in Kentucky. Many of these vineyard and winery owners rely on the University of Kentucky for assistance during establishment as well as assistance in troubleshooting difficult issues that often arise as their business expands. The objectives below objectives are set to directly help grape and wine producers improve their product quality and encourage the financial success of their grape and wine operations. 1. Identify the best vineyard management practices and grapevine cultivars for the Kentucky grape and wine industry Baseline – The UKHRF vineyard research and demonstration projects include 4 acres of research vines designed to test nearly 60 different wine and table grape cultivars, clones and rootstocks trained to 6 different trellis systems. The UKHRF vineyard serves a vital role to both current and potential grape growers in the state of Kentucky providing valuable information regarding expected performance and growth habit of important grapevine cultivars. Methodology – Continue long-term cultivar evaluation trials, while removing underperforming grapevines, and expanding the planting of high performing cultivars to include only the most commercially important grapevine cultivars most adapted to the Kentucky climate. This improved vineyard design will maximize placement of grape cultivars with similar growth habit and management requirements while streamlining the amount of labor required to maintain vineyard experiments. Vine performance data will be collected including phenological dates, cold hardiness, trellis performance, fruit composition, frost/freeze outcomes, and rootstock performance. Distribution and Impact - The data collected from these experiments could potentially impact all grape growers in Kentucky. This research will continue to assist new and existing grape growers to improve vine management strategies, planting decisions, and assessment of variable climate effects on vine performance; such as the evaluation of frost or freeze damage. This data will be made available to all grape growers and wineries in Kentucky through distribution of an annual research report published through UK, electronic distribution (UK grape and wine listserve), educational meetings, and upon request. In addition, updated information will be made available on the University of Kentucky Crop Diversification Center Website. 2 Over the past few years commercial grape growers and winemakers have made much progress toward increasing the quality of fruit and wine production in Kentucky. Many of these vineyard and winery owners rely on the University of Kentucky for assistance during establishment as well as assistance in troubleshooting difficult issues that often arise as their business expands. The objectives below objectives are set to directly help grape and wine producers improve their product quality and encourage the financial success of their grape and wine operations. 1. Identify the best vineyard management practices and grapevine cultivars for the Kentucky grape and wine industry 2. Offer vineyard and winery educational meetings and consultation through University of Kentucky Extension 3. Compile data on current grapevine acreage and varieties planted in Kentucky 4. University of Kentucky Student Winery 5. Wine and Grape Testing
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date9/16/169/15/18

Funding

  • KY Governor's Office of Agricultural Policy: $416,301.00

Fingerprint

Explore the research topics touched on by this project. These labels are generated based on the underlying awards/grants. Together they form a unique fingerprint.