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) […]
Projects Underway
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 […]
USDA-ARS Celebrates 100 Years of Grape Breeding
On September 11, 2023, at the San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center (SJVASC) in Parlier, CA, the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) celebrated the 100th anniversary of the USDA-ARS Grape Breeding Program. Its century of cooperative grape breeding research has impacted the way the world grows, cultivates and consumes grapes—and changed the very grapes themselves. This […]
100 Years
In one of the articles cited in this month’s NGRA Update, the one with the clever title, “Changing Old Viticulture for All the Right Rieslings,” this paragraph caught my eye: In 2011, scientists and industry experts [in France] launched LACCAVE, a project aimed at examining the future of French winemaking. Sticking to business as usual, […]
The 2024 Rich Smith Award of Excellence
Nominations closed October 27, 2023
Unquestioned Answers
At the GiESCO (Group of International Experts for Cooperation on Vitivinicultural Systems) Conference, held July 17-22 in Ithaca, NY, Cornell University’s Terry Bates gave a thorough and thoughtful tribute to legendary Cornell viticulture professor Nelson Shaulis. Dr. Shaulis’ legacy, Terry said, includes teachings and techniques for vine size management (he invented the Geneva Double Curtain […]
Research Priorities Refresh: A Labor of Love
Continuing from my report on the Midyear Board Meetingon June 26, 2023, in Napa, I’m turning the lens to the research focus of the NGRA Midyear Board meeting on June 26. Our robust agenda included in-depth reports on ongoing and prospective new research, and most importantly, included an exciting update of our industry research priorities […]
Building Blocks
On June 26, 2023, NGRA held our Midyear Board Meeting in Napa, CA. We had a packed research agenda, hearing about priority research we support and ratifying new research priorities for the industry at large. (See more here.) But the headline for my column this month is about the new members, new Board directors, and […]