Grower News and Alerts

As the 2021 harvest nears an end, here is an October 2020 conversation with El Dorado wine grape grower Chuck Mansfield of Goldbud Farms. It's a nice look back as Chuck relays his personal history and insight into what makes El Dorado tick and our wines so special. This article is part of a long series of El Dorado wine region articles written by blogger Randy Smith, The Wine Write. It all starts with the farming and we hope that you enjoy the journey. 

On October 5th, Congressman Tom McClintock met with members of El Dorado County’s wine growing community to address concerns stemming from the recent Caldor Fire. McClintock’s remarks primarily focused on the state of our federal forest lands while taking questions from attendees. While he couldn’t offer a timeline or provide a clear path to solving the complex problems facing our federal forest lands, he at least heard some concerns.

CDFA Market Enforcement Can Help

916-900-5016

This copy is from an email Lynn originally sent on Thursday, August 19, to subscribers of her blog. We share it here as important educational information.

Foothill grape growers and industry,

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone as we navigate the Caldor fire. My home is on the edge of an evacuation warning zone so I’m with all of you in using my time primarily to pack and be prepared to leave if needed, and feeling pretty exhausted.  I know many of you are already evacuated, and I’m hoping your homes, pets and family remain safe. 

The California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG) is working closely with academics and industry members in California, Oregon and Washington, through the West Coast Smoke Exposure Task Force to develop various resources to assist industry operators. UCD Viticulture and Enology's Anita Oberholster is a member of the task force,
 

• Sunridge Nurseries Inc. is proud to announce and welcome Nicholas (Nic) Podsakoff, as the new Northern Interior & US Southwest Regional Sales Manager for the company.  Nicholas will service clients in California’s northern and central interior regions as well as southwestern states including Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

It is evident that Sunridge’s commitment to the grapevine industry is strong. They are comprised of the most experienced administration, production and sales teams along with three generations of family involvement.

Lynn Wunderlich, UCCE Central Sierra Farm Advisor, has provided some timely information on boron and zinc deficiency, which seems prevalent this year and is also quite common across the foothills.

This timely information may be found on Lynn’s website here: https://ucanr.edu/sites/CentralSierraAg/Winegrapes/Grapevine_Nutrition/

he California Department of Food and Agriculture’s PD/GWSS Board highlighted the Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) in their Fall 2020 Bulletin. Vineyards in the Mid-Atlantic region have seen serious decimation from SLF and CDFA warns that California grape growing regions are “highly suitable to SLF.” Currently there are no traps or lures leaving only visual inspections to detect the pest.

Lynn Wunderlich has announced that the presentations from Foothill Grape Day 2020 are up and available online at: http://cecentralsierra.ucanr.edu/Agriculture/Workshop_Presentations_529/Grape_Day_Presentations/

Please note that Zoom is a new technology for many of us and therefore the first few recordings didn’t work out as well (need some time to edit and compress them), those presentations are available as PDF for now.

Get Your Vines Tested for Red Blotch
Here are links to a list of labs where growers may send various pest and disease samples for testing. These links were provided by Rhonda Smith, UC Farm Advisor Sonoma County.

Before sending, please check with the individual lab to verify that they test for Red Blotch Virus. ucanr.edu/LabList or http://cesonoma.ucanr.edu/files/27431.pdf