Are you an extension agent, germplasm curator or viticulturist looking to automate vineyard trial plots? Or a forward-thinking farmer seeking to dip a toe in or upgrade your mechanization game? Scheid Family Wines is offering three V-Mech units designed for mechanized pre-pruning and/or shoot thinning, each located at their vineyard in Greenfield, CA. Get the […]
Projects Underway
For the Love of Science
February, the month of love, romance or, as some may say, chemistry. Mostly, we view the chemical compounds that attract us to potential mates as positive. For the poor vine mealybug, their sex pheromone may be their undoing. As explained in the Research Focus article in our February newsletter, two USDA-ARS scientists—Jacob Corcoran and Walt […]
A Big Quiet Moment
Despite the frigid temperatures in some parts of the country, January came in hot for NGRA. So much happened this month of 2024! From the annual meeting of a flagship NGRA research project, VitisGen3, to our First-of-Year Board meeting, from our first-ever booth at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium (booth graphics sponsored by Wonderful […]
Sponsor the NGRA Newsletter!
New this year, the National Grape Research Alliance is offering the opportunity to sponsor our monthly NGRA newsletter, the only national industry publication to focus exclusively on grape research. Our newsletter reaches a national audience of 8,000 subscribers (as of June 2024) innovative, first-adopter growers as well as university scientists and federal administrators each month, […]
Nick Dokoozlian Honored with Rich Smith Award
SACRAMENTO, CA, January 25, 2024 – The eighth annual Rich Smith Award of Excellence for outstanding contributions to the American grape and wine industry was presented yesterday to Dr. Nick Dokoozlian, Vice President of Winegrowing Research at E. & J. Gallo Winery and Research Chair of the National Grape Research Alliance (NGRA). The prestigious award […]
Remembering Deb Golino
Deborah Golino, the Director of UC Davis’ Foundation Plant Services (FPS) until her retirement in 2021, passed away on December 23, 2023. She was 70. Deborah was a long-time NGRA Board member. Later, she would become one of our first three Science Advisory Council members, appointed in 2020. She was ever an ally, advisor and […]
Meet Us in Sacramento!
For the first time ever, NGRA will have an exhibitor booth at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium! The auspicious 30th anniversary of the show will take place January 23-25, 2024, in Sacramento, CA, where NGRA is based. The exhibits will be open on Day 2 and 3 of the show, and our booth (A2152) […]
The Clock Is Ticking: The Need for Precision Grape Breeding
By Margaret Leigh Worthington On June 7, 2023, Margaret Leigh Worthington, Associate Professor of Horticulture and Director of the Fruit Breeding Program at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, testified at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics and Research on the Farm Bill’s Horticulture Title, […]
Putting the ARS in Grape Research
One of the most impactful ways the National Grape Research Alliance serves the research needs of the grape and wine industry is through our close working relationship with the USDA—in particular, its Agricultural Research Service. ARS is the Department’s in-house (or intramural) research arm.* The agency employs 2,000 scientists and has research units across the […]
Witch Fingers and Moon Drops
Today is Halloween, and yes, I have some Witch Fingers in my fridge. Well, technically, they’re Moon Drops. I’m talking about grapes, of course. These spooky-themed table grapes have long, tubular, seedless berries with snappy skin and a flavor some compare to Welch’s grape concentrate. Their skins may be dark red (Witch Fingers, which taper […]