Bob Parke and Tom Plocher{aka Bob and Doug MacKenzie, honorary hosers, eh?
This is the main page of a report prepared by Tom Plocher and Bob Parke, authors of Northern Winework, an upcoming book on growing grapes in cold climates. In 1998, Tom and Bob went to Europe and Asia to search out wine grapes with potential for producing cold climate wines. To view specific grape varieties of interest, visit this page. Click on the book cover for a larger view (large file)...
Grant # 59-3148-8-016
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Foreign Agriculture Service
International Cooperation and Development
Research and Scientific Exchanges Division
Room 3230, South Building
Washington, D.C. 20250-1091
Team Members:
Thomas Plocher, 9040 152nd Street North, Hugo, MN 55038
612 951-7390 (tel) 612-951-7438 (fax) Email Tom
Robert Parke, 17090 116th Street, Stillwater, MN 55082
612 439-8400 (tel) Email Bob
Countries Visited: Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Denmark
Dates of Visits: 27 August-22 September, 1998
The area of the northern United States with severe winters, such as Minnesota, has a great need for grape germplasm with extreme winter hardiness to support both their grape breeding programs and fledgling commercial vineyards. In other regions of the United States--Maine, the Lake Superior shore, and Puget Sound-- successful viticulture is severely constrained by an extremely cool and wet growing season. Varieties that can grow normally, set fruit and ripen fully under these conditions would be a boon to viticulture in these areas.
Given these needs, exploration and first-hand documentation of these Baltic and Belarusian grape selections is extremely important. Subsequent importation of the most unique selections would provide the grape industry in cold winter and cool regions of the U.S. with some of the most outstanding material in the cool climate viticulture world to grow and to use in breeding. The visit to the Baltic countries and Belarus reported here was undertaken with three objectives: 1) to examine and eventually import through the USDA quarantine system, valuable grape germplasm from the Baltic countries and Belarus, 2) to export contemporary winemaking techniques to Latvia via hands-on, "on the farm" collaboration and advising during the harvest season, and 3) to lay the groundwork for future collaboration with grape breeders in the Baltics and Belarus.
The authors traveled for three weeks in Latvia, Estonia, and Belarus, exploring both private and institutional vine collections, delivering seminars and lectures on grape breeding, grape growing, and modern winemaking, and meeting with grape breeders. Approximately 150 grape varieties were tasted and evaluated during the various visits. Most of these were not considered ripe by standard criteria of ripeness. Many were far from ripe. However, a few varieties were evaluated as truly outstanding for their ability to set and ripen fruit, without disease, in the wet, cool Baltic weather. None of these varieties has ever been described outside of the Baltic region. Without the USDA support for this evaluation trip, these varieties would remain virtually unknown to the West, growing in obscure, isolated plantings in these countries. This and subsequent reports to be published by the Minnesota Grape Growers Association, describe these very special grape varieties in some detail. Also described are the details of the three weeks of visits, contacts made, and plans for future visits to and collaboration with this Baltic region.
The acquisition of Vitis germplasm to foster these needs is extremely important to the development of a lasting commercial wine industry in these cold climate regions of the United States. For many years, Estonia, Latvia, and Belarus have been engaged in breeding new grape varieties, as well as in evaluating existing varieties from other regions of the former Soviet Union. Review of vineyard data, as well as years of correspondence with grape professionals in these countries suggested that there are grape varieties currently grown there that set new standards for Botrytis resistance, earliness of ripening, growth and inflorescence under extreme cool temperatures, and tolerance to winter cold. Exploration and first-hand documentation of these grape selections is extremely important. Subsequent importation of the most unique selections would provide the grape industry in cool regions of the U.S. with some of the most outstanding material in the cool climate viticulture world to grow and to use in breeding.
The visit to the Baltic countries and Belarus reported here had three objectives:
1) to examine and eventually import through the USDA quarantine system, valuable grape germplasm from the Baltic countries and Belarus
Andrash Fazekash Vineyard near Madonas, Latvia (8/29)
Belarusian Research Institute for Fruit Growing, Samokhvalovitchy (Minsk Region), Belarus (8/31-9/2)
With Dr. Loiko, visited the collective farm vineyard of Viktor Govhurudin which included some 60 grape varieties.
Dr. Loiko also presented his cold hardy Juglans regia program and lead us on a tour of his seedling orchard containing some 600 Juglans regia seedlings. Many of these seedlings are distinctive for their extreme lateral bearing habit and precocity of bearing.
Belarusian Research Institute for Fruit Growing, Pinsk, Belarus (9/3-9/5)
Attended the 50th Anniversary Conference of the Pinsk Station. Tom Plocher presented a paper on controlled freezing tests of cold tolerance in Vitis riparia hybrids. Robert Parke presented a lecture on evaluating grape ripeness for winemaking.
Visited a newly planted 20 hectare collective farm vineyard, located in central Belarus between Minsk and Pinsk. This is the largest vineyard undertaking to date in Belarus.
Latvian Institute for Biochemical and Biomedical Research, Riga, Latvia (9/7)
Worked with Dr. Andris Dishlers to start some test lots of wine from Black Currant, Sorbus Aucuparia, and Apple.
Rapina College of Agriculture, Rapina Estonia (9/9-9/10)
Tom Plocher presented a lecture to college students and faculty on grapegrowing in Minnesota and special vine training techniques for maximizing sun exposure.
Polli Institute of Horticulture, Karksi-Nuia, Estonia (9/12)
Latvian Institute for Biochemical and Biomedical Research, Riga, Latvia (9/14)
Worked with Dr. Andris Dishlers to start some test lots of wine from Skujins 675 and Varajane Sinine grapes.
Dobele Horticultural Plant Breeding Experiment Station, Dobele, Latvia (9/15)
Dr. Sylvia Ruisa lead us on a tour of the test vineyard at Dobele, which includes the most complete collection of Pauls Sukatnieks varieties in the Baltics.
Evalds Pupols Vineyard, near Viesite, Latgale, Latvia (9/16)
Horticulture Society of Latvia, Riga, Latvia (9/17)
Danish Grape Growers Association, Copenhagen, Denmark (9/18)
Tom Plocher presented a lecture on Minnesota grape growing and breeding with Vitis riparia. Robert Parke lead a program of wine tasting that focused on wines produced from Vitis riparia hybrids (imported from Minnesota for this occasion) and the issues and problems involved in producing such wines.
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Balsgard, Sweden (9/20)
Together with Kimmo Rumpunen, Tom participated in a television program for Malmo TV on the subject of grapegrowing in the Baltic region. This provided an opportunity for Tom to disseminate some of the information he had gathered during the three weeks of vineyard visits in the region.
AT THIS POINT, to follow the logical structure of this report, please visit the second page. Use the back button on your browser to return for the finish of the report...
Latvian grape breeder, Andrash Fazekash, was enthusiastic about the prospects for long-term collaboration on grape breeding through the exchange of grape pollen and breeding material with high value for crossings. He has great interest in obtaining the super early ripening Manitoba selections of Vitis riparia from Minnesota and using them in his breeding work. Also, Mr. Fazekash is willing to cooperate in providing his most promising selections for export to the U.S. if that can be arranged with the USDA. During our visit with him, Mr. Fazekash also shared his grape breeding strategies and the sources of material that he has used in his work.
Estonian plant breeder, Jaan Kivistik, also is happy to serve as a collaborator in grape breeding. With his unique collection of Baltic and Russian varieties, Mr. Kivistik is in a good position to collaborate by performing crosses in his vineyard that are of interest to cool climate regions of the U.S., and then exporting the seed to American collaborators through the USDA. We, in turn, can do the same for Mr. Kivistik.
The authors would like to make the some recommendations for following up on the trip findings.
A visit to this institute for the purpose of evaluating these grape varieties and others that are emerging as new selections from their program, would be extremely worthwhile. The potential for breeding collaboration with this institute is particularly intriguing. Also, while at the Pinsk conference, we received an invitation from Victor Kuhorev to visit his vineyard, the largest private collection of grape material in Belarus, located near the city of Vitebsk, between Minsk and Moscow. Mr. Kuhorev's collection could be visited easily during a trip to Moscow.
Summary
For many years, Estonia, Latvia, and Belarus have been engaged in developing new grape varieties, as well as in evaluating existing varieties from other regions of the former Soviet Union. However, these varieties remain unknown outside of these countries, due to political isolation lingering from the Soviet period, and serious economic limitations on their ability to promote these varieties outside their local region. The Baltic countries also are trying to revive a winemaking tradition that predates the Soviet period, but have been frustrated by the lack of modern winemaking knowhow.
General Discussion
Background and Objectives
The grape growers in Minnesota and neighboring states have long recognized that the key to a lasting and successful wine industry is the acquisition or development of disease-resistant, cold tolerant grape varieties that ripen early, within the limitations of the growing season in the Upper Midwest. In Minnesota, the most urgent need is for extremely cold hardy varieties. Grape varieties that ripen ultra early are of particular interest to regions of the U.S. with extremely cool and wet growing seasons--Maine, the Lake Superior shore in Wisconsin and Michigan, and the Puget Sound region.
2) to export contemporary winemaking techniques to Latvia via hands-on, "on the farm" collaboration and advising during the harvest season
3) to lay the groundwork for future collaboration in grape breeding.
Background and Objectives
Institutions/Sites Visited
Evaluated new selections from Fazekash's breeding program, shared breeding strategies, and discussed plans for long-term breeding collaborations.
Evaluated new Belarusian grape selections, as well as other Russian, Ukrainian, Moldovian, and Latvian varieties in the Samokhvalovitchy collection with Dr. Romuald Loiko, grape breeder and staff scientist at the Institute.
Explored the 300 variety grape collection at the Pinsk Station with Dr. Loiko and the collection's curator, Dr. Anna But-Gusim.
Tom Plocher and Robert Parke conducted the first of two seminars on modern winemaking techniques, using test wine samples imported from Minnesota to illustrate various techniques and principles.
Explored the grape collection at the college with horticulture professor, Jaan Kivistik.
Polli has the largest collection in the Baltics of Sorbus aucuparia and hybrids of Sorbus and other related genuses. They also specialize in chemical analysis of Sorbus fruits and are knowledgeable about winemaking from Sorbus fruits. We toured this collection with Dr. Toivo Univer, Research Director, and Dr. Robert Piir, Staff Scientist who leads the Sorbus project. Two outstanding Sorbus selections for winemaking potential (i.e. high sugar, moderate acidity, low tannin content) were identified. The selections have been named 'Orangnaja' and 'Rossica'.
Tom Plocher and Robert Parke conducted the second of two seminars on modern winemaking techniques.
Tom Plocher presented a lecture to a meeting of the Latvian Genetics Society. The topic was breeding strategies using wild Vitis riparia as a source of genes for winter hardiness. A tasting of Minnesota wines was conducted after the lecture for the group of 50 society members.
Evalds Pupols has the largest vineyard in Latvia, approximately two hectares of grapes positioned on one of the best sites in Latvia. This is the most complete collection of Lithuanian and Latvian grape varieties in the Baltics, and provided an opportunity to examine grape material that we had not seen anywhere else during our trip.
The Latvian Grape Growers Association, together with the horticulture Society of Latvia, sponsors an annual grape exposition on this date. Tom Plocher was the invited speaker. He presented a talk on challenges and solutions for Baltic grapegrowing, drawing on an analysis of what he had seen on his travels during the previous three weeks. The talk emphasized four solutions: good site selection, appropriate grape varieties for the short and cool growing season, training systems that maximize foliage and fruit exposure to the heating effects of the sun, and summer pruning practices to better expose fruit to the sun. Robert Parke conducted an informative discussion session on cool climate winemaking fundamentals.
Since our flight passed through Copenhagen,we had an opportunity to lay over and meet with the Danish Grape Growers Association, which now includes 450 members in the Baltic region. Association president, Mr. Peter Lorenzen and member Jens Michael Gundersen lead us on a tour of Danish vineyards around Copenhagen, where we were able to evaluate some new cool climate grape varieties. These included Rondo, a red wine type from Geisenheim, Germany and Reform, a super early ripening white wine variety from Hungary. Both were of interest for their excellent set of fruit and comparatively good ripening during one of the worst seasons out of the last 50 for rain and cold in Denmark. We also arranged contacts between the Danish growers and Latvian, Estonian, and Belarusian growers for the future exchange of information and germplasm.
Met with Kimmo Rumpunen, who manages the grape micropropagation project at Balsgard. Kimmo's operation produces and sells 25,000 grapevines each year. These are purchased by commercial nurseries in Sweden for retail sales. Kimmo is the leading grape propagator in the Baltic region. Already, he is micropropagating and selling two of the Latvian grape varieties. He represents a potential channel for distributing certified disease-free plants of many more of these cool climate varieties around the region.
Breeding CollaborationRecommendations
Import Grape Varieties
Of the eleven grape varieties discussed above, only two (Zilga and Skujins 675) have been imported into the U.S. through the grape quarantine program at Geneva, NY. The remaining nine represent varieties that are extraordinary for their ability to ripen fruit with very minimal heat, and grow and set fruit under the most adverse cool and wet conditions. Many of these deserve to be tested as potential commercial varieties for our coolest grape growing regions in the U.S. Others will be extremely valuable as material for breeding new grape varieties adapted to such climates. They should be imported quickly into the quarantine program at Geneva. Alternatively, the USDA might consider importing and consigning them for testing purposes to the new Lake Superior Shore fruit testing project underway at Ashland, Wisconsin. The project is a joint venture between the University of Wisconsin and Michigan State University, and has expressed interest in this Baltic grape material.
Evaluate Grape Varieties in Vitebsk and Moscow
Discussions with grape researchers attending the Pinsk conference indicated that there were additional grape selections and varieties of interest to growers and breeders in cold climates that either were not included in the collections we visited or had already ripened and been harvested prior to our arrival. Examples of such grape varieties that actually ripen earlier than any we were able to observe are 'Ranni TXCA' and 'Miroz' from the Tymiryazev Academy in Moscow and 'Bashkiri Ranni' from a Russian experiment station in the western Urals. The Tymiryazev Academy of Agriculture appears to be a leader in the development of northern grape varieties.
Dissemination of Information
The findings from this trip will be disseminated by several means:
1. A complete report of the trip findings, including photographs of the promising varieties mentioned above and more complete heat and rainfall data for the 1998 season, will be prepared and published in the 1999 edition of the Minnesota Grape Growers Association Annual Report. This document also will appear on the MGGA website. In addition, its availability will be advertised on the popular Viticulture newsgroup sponsored by Oregon State University (osu.orst.edu/dept/infonet/guides/grapes/).
2. Information gathered during the trip, including many of the photographs, will be included in a book on cold climate viticulture and winemaking that is in preparation by the authors.
3. The authors will present a lecture on the trip findings at the Minnesota Grape Growers Association Annual Meeting in January, 1999.
www.littlefatwino.com