- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Nearly 200 growers, vintners, retailers, sommeliers and other tradespeople attended a workshop on biodynamic winemaking Dec. 2, prompting San Francisco Examiner wine blogger Annette Hanami to suggest the process is becoming mainstream.
"Ultimately, biodynamic wines are becoming mainstream because consumers demand it," the author wrote. "Biodynamic products are becoming less 'kooky' and more attractive than the scarier mass-produced alternatives."
UC Cooperative Extension teamed up with Demeter USA to offer the biodynamic program and UC farm advisors Glenn...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
UC Cooperative Extension involvement in a biodynamic farming workshop Dec. 2 in Napa has been met with criticism from a local vintner who believes the farming system is a hoax, according to a story in the Napa Valley Register.
The article said Stu Smith, the co-owner of Smith-Madrone Vineyards and Winery, is “shocked and outraged” that UC Cooperative Extension is co-sponsoring a “Shortcourse in Biodynamic Winegrowing.”
Smith, who earned a master’s degree in enology and viticulture at UC Davis, said that UCCE should participate only if it’s a balanced...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The advisors are monitoring the pest's lifecycle, and when it's the optimum time for pesticide treatment, they send e-mail alerts to growers.
Growers then have a 10-day window to treat the vineyard, said the article, written by editor...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The federal government has pledged $1.75 million from the 2008 Farm Bill to fight European grapevine moth, a pest that made its first recorded U.S. appearance last September in a Napa County vineyard. EGVM has since spread to six grape-producing counties, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
"After increased detections of the pest in California in recent weeks, it is clear that additional funding is needed to ensure we can respond quickly and effectively to protect California's grape and wine industries," USDA administrator Cindy Smith was quoted in the
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A few of California's top vintners admit to having smuggled grapevine cane cuttings into the United States to avoid a long wait for the plant to be cleared by USDA, according to an article that moved on the Associated Press wire over the weekend. The article was published in the Fresno Bee, the New York Times and other media outlets.
Some are wondering if what reporter Tracie Cone wrote is a "winked-at act of...