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few of you might have noticed I was missing for a couple days. I had the great pleasure and opportunity to attend a meeting called"A Day with Grape Germplasm Resources at Geneva" What a trip!
Monday I left at noon and met up with the lead person at our Cold Hardy Grape Trial at Willsboro and we made the trip out to Cornell University at Geneva, NY in the heart of the Finger Lakes. We stayed at the Ramada Inn on the edge of Seneca Lake , at the very top corner of it. Our rooms were on Lakeside ground floor. Out the back door was a large patio with even a tent covering the center area. A very short walk (less than 100 feet) along a cobblestone path and you were at the edge of the lake. It was really a magnificant spot and I feel like we were in the best rooms in the place.
Here is a view of the Seneca Lake
At 6:00 PM we went to a welcoming barbeque. After some introductions, etc, we had a dinner at the picnic tables under the Pavillion. The first one to sit down with me was Tim Wiegle of the IPM Team(Integrated Pest Management). I had talked with him at a conference we had sponsored at Willsboro in June. One by one all these leading people at Cornell's grape program came over and sat with me. Then who comes over and asks if the spot next to me is taken, but Bruce Reisch. Most of you won't know the name, but he is the Team Leader of the grape breeding progam at Cornell and has developed and introduced many of the leading hybrids being grown today. We had some nice discussions all around the table. Little old me talking with all these giants in the eastern grape industry. I think Al would recognize Wayne Wilcox's name also. I won't bore youwith all the names, but it was quite an elite group in attendance. We had a wine tasting of about 30-40 wines and adjourned for the evening.
At the tasting and barbeque were also many of the leading amateur grape breeders. Most of them were staying at the same motel. We had an evening tasting party in one of the rooms and it was a great time with wonderful discussions.
The main event was held in the morning inside andwas a joint meeting ofthe USDA grape genetics team and The Cornell grape breeding program.
Located at the Cornell site is one of two USDA Germplasm Repositories where they have 1400 grape varieties kept growing of hybrid vines from all over the world. Chuck Simon talked about the Repository and resources to access the information about those varieties. We had several discussions on the Grape Genome Mapping work being done there also. Peter Cousins talked about the work being done in developing new rootstock varieties using the gene mapping to discover what genes are responsible for certain traits and then using the mapping to select parents for crosses. Very interesting work. There is a large network of scientists working there, alongside the Cornell staff in what seems like great cooperation.
The afternoon saw field trips to various Cornell vineyard sites. We started in the rain at the USDA Repository and Peter Cousins gave a nice guided
tour of varieties.
Next was a tour of Bruce Reisch's new variety selection plantings. They are developing very disease resistant varieties. They plant 4000 vine crosses every year in a no spray plot. The varieties are selected for their ability to resist any disease pressure. The ones that exhibit any disease are cut and pulled from the plot. Then the next year they are moved to another site and the process cointinues for a number of year. There are a few varieties that show great promise of resistance to almost all disease. Here is a picture of Dr Reisch in the first plot.
Test evaluation Plot
A red variety that has come most of the way through the program with no sprays of any kind- being grown more extensively to provide wood to send to a largergrouptest. We may be drinking wine from these some day....
I have many more pictures and so much more to share. It all made my head spin and was probably the most informative trip and Meeting I have ever had the pleasure of attending. Thanks to everyone there and especially Kevin for taking me along. I will add more when I get more time. I even have pictures of the Campbell's Early grapes NW grew - in the Germplasm Repository. They are delicious - I had to sample one since they were almost ripe.
If any of you get a chance to visit the Finger Lakes - do so. As Joan can tell you it is beatiful country and is covered with vineyards and wineries. I drove right by my brother's farm that lives near Geneva. I will have to get out and visit him next time.Edited by: appleman
few of you might have noticed I was missing for a couple days. I had the great pleasure and opportunity to attend a meeting called"A Day with Grape Germplasm Resources at Geneva" What a trip!
Monday I left at noon and met up with the lead person at our Cold Hardy Grape Trial at Willsboro and we made the trip out to Cornell University at Geneva, NY in the heart of the Finger Lakes. We stayed at the Ramada Inn on the edge of Seneca Lake , at the very top corner of it. Our rooms were on Lakeside ground floor. Out the back door was a large patio with even a tent covering the center area. A very short walk (less than 100 feet) along a cobblestone path and you were at the edge of the lake. It was really a magnificant spot and I feel like we were in the best rooms in the place.
Here is a view of the Seneca Lake
At 6:00 PM we went to a welcoming barbeque. After some introductions, etc, we had a dinner at the picnic tables under the Pavillion. The first one to sit down with me was Tim Wiegle of the IPM Team(Integrated Pest Management). I had talked with him at a conference we had sponsored at Willsboro in June. One by one all these leading people at Cornell's grape program came over and sat with me. Then who comes over and asks if the spot next to me is taken, but Bruce Reisch. Most of you won't know the name, but he is the Team Leader of the grape breeding progam at Cornell and has developed and introduced many of the leading hybrids being grown today. We had some nice discussions all around the table. Little old me talking with all these giants in the eastern grape industry. I think Al would recognize Wayne Wilcox's name also. I won't bore youwith all the names, but it was quite an elite group in attendance. We had a wine tasting of about 30-40 wines and adjourned for the evening.
At the tasting and barbeque were also many of the leading amateur grape breeders. Most of them were staying at the same motel. We had an evening tasting party in one of the rooms and it was a great time with wonderful discussions.
The main event was held in the morning inside andwas a joint meeting ofthe USDA grape genetics team and The Cornell grape breeding program.
Located at the Cornell site is one of two USDA Germplasm Repositories where they have 1400 grape varieties kept growing of hybrid vines from all over the world. Chuck Simon talked about the Repository and resources to access the information about those varieties. We had several discussions on the Grape Genome Mapping work being done there also. Peter Cousins talked about the work being done in developing new rootstock varieties using the gene mapping to discover what genes are responsible for certain traits and then using the mapping to select parents for crosses. Very interesting work. There is a large network of scientists working there, alongside the Cornell staff in what seems like great cooperation.
The afternoon saw field trips to various Cornell vineyard sites. We started in the rain at the USDA Repository and Peter Cousins gave a nice guided
tour of varieties.
Next was a tour of Bruce Reisch's new variety selection plantings. They are developing very disease resistant varieties. They plant 4000 vine crosses every year in a no spray plot. The varieties are selected for their ability to resist any disease pressure. The ones that exhibit any disease are cut and pulled from the plot. Then the next year they are moved to another site and the process cointinues for a number of year. There are a few varieties that show great promise of resistance to almost all disease. Here is a picture of Dr Reisch in the first plot.
Test evaluation Plot
A red variety that has come most of the way through the program with no sprays of any kind- being grown more extensively to provide wood to send to a largergrouptest. We may be drinking wine from these some day....
I have many more pictures and so much more to share. It all made my head spin and was probably the most informative trip and Meeting I have ever had the pleasure of attending. Thanks to everyone there and especially Kevin for taking me along. I will add more when I get more time. I even have pictures of the Campbell's Early grapes NW grew - in the Germplasm Repository. They are delicious - I had to sample one since they were almost ripe.
If any of you get a chance to visit the Finger Lakes - do so. As Joan can tell you it is beatiful country and is covered with vineyards and wineries. I drove right by my brother's farm that lives near Geneva. I will have to get out and visit him next time.Edited by: appleman
