Tasting Wine Cultivars by Region

(Wines&Vines) - Thirty-three winemakers, growers and industry researchers eschewed time in the vineyard or lab Aug. 15 in favor of attending a wine tasting in Geneva. The “Cultivar by Region” tasting provided the first opportunity to taste and compare wines made from grape cultivars grown at various sites in New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut as part of the NE 1020 project, a comprehensive study that involves researchers in 24 states from California to Vermont.

Initially funded through the Viticultural Consortium via the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the project began Oct. 1, 2004, and will continue until Sept. 30, 2017. The purpose of NE 1020 is to evaluate the performance not only of the major global cultivars, the Vitis vinifera, but also of new or previously neglected wine grape cultivars in the different wine grape growing regions across the United States.The ultimate goal is to provide information to grape growers and wineries that will aid them in making planting decisions and will ultimately improve the entire industry’s competitiveness in the world market.

According to Denise Gardner, Penn State extension enologist, scientists at approximately 15 universities that focus on viticulture-based research came together to organize and develop a standardized viticulture protocol to evaluate the performance of both existing and emerging wine grape varieties across the upper Midwest and the East. Because of the range of climates within the East, not all the same varietals were planted at each site. Similar, but different, varietals were determined based on the growing season and dormant season temperatures. For example, there are two Penn State research vineyards—one located in Biglerville, Pa., at the Fruit Research and Extension Center near Gettysburg, Pa., in the southeastern region of the state, and a second vineyard in North East, Pa., near Lake Erie. The Biglerville site is designated as “warm/hot, mild” site—a warm/hot growing season, mild dormant season—while the North East vineyard is listed as a “warm, cold” site because of its warm growing season and cold dormant season. Each location in Pennsylvania has 20 varieties planted. For example, core varieties planted in Biglerville include Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, while Chambourcin and Vidal Blanc are grown in North East.