From Karl Denninger at Market Ticker
"I have written several times over the years about our insane
policies with regard to so-called "pollution", which utterly ignore and
in fact propagate some of the worst pollution of our water supplies ever invented.
I am specifically referring to farming interests using fertilizers and not being held responsible for that which escapes their lands and winds up in public waterways. This is responsible for the Gulf of Mexico "dead
zone", as algae blooms are "fed" by said fertilizers and then die off,
with their decay creating a hypoxic condition in the water column that
essentially prohibits animal life (think FISH folks!) in that region."
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Sunday, June 15, 2014
2014 seedlings planted!
Hurrah! Finished planting my 2014 seedlings:
218 feet of rows
457 seedling still alive ...
We
have our first 'second generation' crosses in this batch: (cinerea x
Carnelian) x Villard Blanc, and (cinerea x Carnelian) x Blanc Du Bois.
The
2014 class includes about 100 vinifera 'op' seedlings that are not
expected to survive for long. They won't get sprayed, and they are
planted by the river where the bugs hang out. Who knows, maybe some
North American genes got into the mix and a couple will survive.
It
also includes about 190 wild cinerea seedlings (thanks, Jack!) . Most
will be male. I currently have 5 unique 'wild' cinereas that have
bloomed, and probably another 1 to 4 which have not matured enough to
bloom. I'm hoping the class of 2014 will produce another 15 or 20.
Have I
mentioned that cinereas are the only vines to consistently bloom after
the annual 'late frost' here and they make a decent wine on their own?
I had
my worst 'success rate' for germination and seedling survival. About
16% of the pots failed to produce a single surviving seedling, and the
seedling to seed ratio was a low. I think it was about 50% in the past,
this year it was around 16%. This number ignores all the pots that
produced zero seedlings.
I
credit this potting soil used. This year I used raw vineyard soil for
germination, which meant lots of clay and a pH of about 8. I thought I
might as well start screening out vines that don't like a high pH from
day one.
I'm debating doing this a second time. The local cinerea seedlings didn't seem to mind, but everything else took a hit.
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Mediterranean pollen sources growing in the greenhouse
Some rooted cuttings from Greece and North Africa look like they are going to survive. They have been in the greenhouse all winter, and have a head start compared to the vineyard. All three of these budded last fall, and remained fairly inert until a couple of weeks ago.
Being hot climate, low latitude vines, they should produce some interesting crosses with native Texan vines. Algeria and Texas. Algeria is at about the same latitude as Tulsa, and Greece is about the same latitude as Kansas City.
Glen Rose, Texas is roughly on the same latitude as Alexandria, Egypt. Last year, we started a 'Muscat of Alexandria' vine, which did very well in the vineyard. It started budding out in January, though, and had to be moved into the Green house, where all these vines will have to stay. The shock of moving to the greenhouse will probably delay blossoms until next year.
Itonychi Mavro: Based on genetic evidence this is either a child or parent of Black Morocco
Olivette Blanche
DVIT 2044 (originally collected in Algeria)
Being hot climate, low latitude vines, they should produce some interesting crosses with native Texan vines. Algeria and Texas. Algeria is at about the same latitude as Tulsa, and Greece is about the same latitude as Kansas City.
Glen Rose, Texas is roughly on the same latitude as Alexandria, Egypt. Last year, we started a 'Muscat of Alexandria' vine, which did very well in the vineyard. It started budding out in January, though, and had to be moved into the Green house, where all these vines will have to stay. The shock of moving to the greenhouse will probably delay blossoms until next year.
Itonychi Mavro: Based on genetic evidence this is either a child or parent of Black Morocco
Olivette Blanche
DVIT 2044 (originally collected in Algeria)
Sustainable winegrowing
For a quick overview, there is a power-point review (PPT) titled "Sustainability Initiatives in the Global Wine Industry" by Thrupp, Fetzer and CSWA (California Sustainable Winegrowers Association).
There was no mention of grape breeding for sustainable growing, though. I may not have done enough searching, though. Dr. Andrew Walker is located in California and has done a lot of breeding for Pierce's Disease (PD) tolerance (ie, PD management without chemicals) , so it seems strange his work wasn't mentioned in the materials I reviewed.
To see 'sustainable grape growing' investigate grape breeding, there is 'PIWI International (grape breeders interested in North American x European crosses)
"PIWI" is a German abbreviation and stands for fungus resistant grape varieties. These were created by crossing European grape varieties and American fungus resistant varietals.
There is also'GrapeNet' which seem interested in enhancing the genetic diversity of commercial grapes. I've only taken a quick look, though. The site had not been updated for 2014:
Sunday, March 9, 2014
'Vinifera', a socio-political term
Using the distinction that 'species' in the context of sexually reproducing
organisms is a gene pool whose individuals can produce fertile
offspring, there are only two vitis species: 'muscadine grape' and
'grape'. If you go back far enough, both Vitis species come from North
America. Here is an ancestry chart for Vitis based on "A phylogenetic analysis of the grape genus (Vitis L.) reveals broad reticulation and concurrent diversification during neogene and quaternary climate change":
Most grape breeders are aware of this, but it doesn't feel comfortable. That's the socio-political or cultural side intruding on our thoughts.
As breeders, we should try to differentiate the scientific and cultural, though. Vinifera means 'European commercial grape' and European's have every right to define what specific ancestry provide membership in that socio-political class. If Canadians want to think of themselves as 'European', and use the same definition for vinifera, it is equally logical.
Logical, but delightfully inconsistent. Folks in Germany, who have an interest in doing things differently than France, call the variety 'Regent' vinifera. Folks in Canada, who have an interest in doing things like they are done in France, don't. In fact, sales of 'Regent' grapes are banned in Canada.
In general, I try to avoid using the term 'vinifera' entirely. When the term comes to mind, I just replace it with 'European commercial grape'. Everyone knows what I mean, and there is no confusion between the scientific and socio-political. If we want to breed a healthy, good tasting grape for the region we live in, the term 'vinifera' confuses our efforts.
Of course, once you want to sell the results of your breeding, the socio-political is impossible to avoid. Participating in the world of commerce requires one to live with certain logical impossibilities.
Ref: "A phylogenetic analysis of the grape genus (Vitis L.) reveals broad reticulation and concurrent diversification during neogene and quaternary climate change" Yizhen Wan,et. al.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3750556/
Most grape breeders are aware of this, but it doesn't feel comfortable. That's the socio-political or cultural side intruding on our thoughts.
As breeders, we should try to differentiate the scientific and cultural, though. Vinifera means 'European commercial grape' and European's have every right to define what specific ancestry provide membership in that socio-political class. If Canadians want to think of themselves as 'European', and use the same definition for vinifera, it is equally logical.
Logical, but delightfully inconsistent. Folks in Germany, who have an interest in doing things differently than France, call the variety 'Regent' vinifera. Folks in Canada, who have an interest in doing things like they are done in France, don't. In fact, sales of 'Regent' grapes are banned in Canada.
In general, I try to avoid using the term 'vinifera' entirely. When the term comes to mind, I just replace it with 'European commercial grape'. Everyone knows what I mean, and there is no confusion between the scientific and socio-political. If we want to breed a healthy, good tasting grape for the region we live in, the term 'vinifera' confuses our efforts.
Of course, once you want to sell the results of your breeding, the socio-political is impossible to avoid. Participating in the world of commerce requires one to live with certain logical impossibilities.
Ref: "A phylogenetic analysis of the grape genus (Vitis L.) reveals broad reticulation and concurrent diversification during neogene and quaternary climate change" Yizhen Wan,et. al.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3750556/
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Ohio uses a 90% Ohio grown grape threshold
I came across an interesting comment that sheds some light on the 'Go Texan' wine label debate I've followed and participated in. The comment was in the Feb 28, 2014 issue of the 'Ohio Grape-Wine Electronic Newsletter'. It cites a presentation called “A Review and Update on The Ohio Quality Wine Program” by Todd Steiner, OSU State Enologist:
"The Ohio Quality Wine Program has been in the works since 2007 and wines that are submitted to it and receive a silver medal score or better qualify for the Quality Seal. Some stipulations are that the quality wine must be made from at least 90% Ohio Grown Grapes and you must have at least 50 cases on hand for sale. The amount of case requirements is lower for Ice Wines for participation in the Ohio Quality Wine Seal program. All wines are analyzed to ensure that quality and chemical requirements are in compliance. When you purchase a wine from a retailer/wholesaler with an OQW Seal on it you can rest assured that the wine inside is a high quality wine and a great representative of that particular variety."
It seems Ohio uses a 90% Ohio grown grape threshold, runs a wine tasting contest, and if you get silver or better, the award logo can be placed on the logo.
"The Ohio Quality Wine Program has been in the works since 2007 and wines that are submitted to it and receive a silver medal score or better qualify for the Quality Seal. Some stipulations are that the quality wine must be made from at least 90% Ohio Grown Grapes and you must have at least 50 cases on hand for sale. The amount of case requirements is lower for Ice Wines for participation in the Ohio Quality Wine Seal program. All wines are analyzed to ensure that quality and chemical requirements are in compliance. When you purchase a wine from a retailer/wholesaler with an OQW Seal on it you can rest assured that the wine inside is a high quality wine and a great representative of that particular variety."
It seems Ohio uses a 90% Ohio grown grape threshold, runs a wine tasting contest, and if you get silver or better, the award logo can be placed on the logo.
A peek at the Vitis family tree
This is a very interesting chart. It is too big to display here. Please click on the link and locate monticola, rupestris and vinifera.
It comes from the article, "A phylogenetic analysis of the grape genus (Vitis L.) reveals broad reticulation and concurrent diversification during neogene and quaternary climate change", by
Yizhen Wan, (lead author)
Heidi R Schwaninger,
Angela M Baldo,
Joanne A Labate,
Gan-Yuan Zhong,
Charles J Simon
According to the chart, which uses DNA evidence to track several million years of grape migrations, it seems the family tree of the vines we know of as 'vinifera' (Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, etc.) started off in the North American gulf region. Members of this gene pool split off and crossed what is now the western deserts and then hopped to Asia, probably using the land bridge across the Bering Straight. In fact, this migration seems to have crossed through Texas, since some of the earliest groups to split off stayed in the Texas hill country (monticola). Based on this work, one of the closest North American relatives to the vinifera gene pool seems to be rupestris, a wild vine found across the American south, including Glen Rose.
It comes from the article, "A phylogenetic analysis of the grape genus (Vitis L.) reveals broad reticulation and concurrent diversification during neogene and quaternary climate change", by
Yizhen Wan, (lead author)
Heidi R Schwaninger,
Angela M Baldo,
Joanne A Labate,
Gan-Yuan Zhong,
Charles J Simon
According to the chart, which uses DNA evidence to track several million years of grape migrations, it seems the family tree of the vines we know of as 'vinifera' (Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, etc.) started off in the North American gulf region. Members of this gene pool split off and crossed what is now the western deserts and then hopped to Asia, probably using the land bridge across the Bering Straight. In fact, this migration seems to have crossed through Texas, since some of the earliest groups to split off stayed in the Texas hill country (monticola). Based on this work, one of the closest North American relatives to the vinifera gene pool seems to be rupestris, a wild vine found across the American south, including Glen Rose.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)