The LIVE Board of Directors would like to invite our membership to discuss the future of herbicide use standards at a special board meeting.
RSVP is required, click the link below to register.
The 2018 Oregon Wine Symposium is Feb. 20-21
Learn, connect and grow at the Oregon Wine Symposium, the premier educational event and trade show for the Northwest wine community. The Symposium is comprised of two full days of panel discussions and presentations covering the most relevant topics in viticulture, enology and wine business. Presented by leading wine industry experts, the Symposium is a must-attend event for winery and vineyard owners, vineyard managers, winemakers, marketing and sales managers and winery staff. Registration includes access to the Northwest’s biggest wine industry trade show, featuring more than 180 exhibitors.
Department of Crop and Soil Science Special Seminar
PRESENTED BY: DR. TIMOTHY PAULITZUSDA-ARS
WHEAT HEALTH, GENETICS AND QUALITY RESEARCH UNIT, PULLMAN, WA
This non-credit online course will cover the most relevant principles of vineyard production from vineyard design to pest management. Online participants will learn jointly with upper division students at Oregon State University who are taking this course as part of the B.S. in Horticulture Degree, with an option in Viticulture and Enology. This course provides professional development for industry members seeking continuing education or for those new to vineyard and winery production. Focus will be placed on the importance of making informed vineyard management decisions by understanding impacts on grapevine physiology, sustainability, and economics.
Major topics to be covered include vineyard site selection and design, nutrient management, irrigation management, canopy management, vineyard floor management, pest management, managing fruit yield and quality, harvest operations, vineyard technology, labor and economics.
Dates and Times - Registration closes 08:00 am, March 23, 2018
Tuesdays and Thursdays, April 3 to June 7, 2018
Lectures are held 8:00 - 9:50 AM PST
This course will be offered online. Once registered, you will be contacted with connection details for the online classroom. Those who live/work in close proximity to the OSU main campus (Corvallis) must check with the instructor if they choose to participate in the classroom rather than online.
Registration fee - $500 (on or before March 16, 2018), $600 (March 17 - March 23, 2018)
For more details on this course, please see the course brochure.
UPDATE 3/19/18: This is the rescheduled event that was postponed from March 1 due to weather and soil conditions.
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LIVE and Bethel Heights are hosting a morning field day to demonstrate equipment to manage undervine weeds without herbicide.
Ted Casteel (Bethel Heights) will show his Clemens Multiclean and Grape Hoe. Representatives from Clemens, Oregon Vineyard Supply, Atlas, and Pape will be available to answer questions and show off their available equipment.
See you there!
Join us for educational sessions, luncheon, and our annual membership meeting. Doors open at 8am. Coffee, pastries, and lunch by The Rogue Gourmet Catering Company.
$65 early registration through April 1. $80 from April 1-19.
Schedule (Subject to Change)
8:00 Check in and Continental Breakfast
9:00 LIVE Board Meeting and Organizational Updates
10:45 Clean Plants: James A. Stamp, Ph.D. - Stamp Associates Viticulture, Inc.
Grapevines are a naturally weedy species and physically or pathologically challenged plants grow well under nursery conditions. Most US vines are produced in California but the CDFA regulations that govern their production are insufficiently rigorous. Consequently, diseased or physically imperfect vines are frequently delivered to winegrowers. The following will be discussed:
- The process of grapevine propagation and opportunities for disease contamination and avoidance: the importance of timing of order placement in relationship to propagation schedule
- Why it is important to test grapevine nursery stock: historical observations and the present day situation including detection of virus and crown gall in Protocol 2010 nursery stock
- How to test nursery stock for important viruses: up front testing of mother vines, testing of finished product
- How to examine nursery stock to detect physical imperfections and the relationship with fungal pathogens
- Green potted and dormant vines in relation to virus pressure
About James Stamp
Dr. James A. Stamp is a Sebastopol, California scientist who specializes in grapevine nursery plant material quality and propagation, and the critical evaluation of vineyard performance issues. He has more than 30 years of experience in California viticulture and established Stamp Associates Viticulture, Inc. after founding Novavine grapevine nursery, working in the agbiotech industry and completing a post-doctorate at UC Davis. Stamp Associates advises growers and winemakers in the U.S. and overseas in the establishment and management of high quality, pathogen-tested vineyards.
11:15 Guest Perspective: Fred Merwarth - Winemaker & Vineyard Manager, Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard
Hermann J. Wiemer is regarded as one of the pioneers of viticulture and winemaking in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. As a native of Bernkastel, Germany who emigrated to the Finger Lakes in the 1960s, Hermann J. Wiemer was uniquely qualified to help establish and create a wine region now known for its Riesling identity. Today, Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyards has three properties, all at different stages of sustainabile production: from organic and biodynamic, without the use of herbicides since 2004; to a vineyard with minimal input but challenged by mildew; to a new property with a history of heavy inputs that they are in the initial stages of cultivation and a shift away from herbicides.
About Fred Merwarth
In 2003, Hermann’s long-term apprentice Fred Merwarth took charge of winemaking and vineyard management. Fred’s talent and ambition brought fresh energy and vision to the winery, placing it on a new trajectory. In 2007, Hermann officially retired, handing over the winery to Fred, who has perfected Hermann’s detail-oriented approach to viticulture and winemaking, extensively working on understanding the relationship between the vines and soils of the Finger Lakes. The winery has been recognized for the last 9 years as one of the world’s Top 100 Estates by Wine & Spirits Magazine; Wine Spectator listed the winery on the top 100 Wines in the world in 2010; and critics and connoisseurs such as Robert Parker, Eric Asimov, Stuart Piggott, consistently mention Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard as the top Riesling producer in the US.
12:15 Lunch, Award Ceremony & Board Elections
1:15 Keynote Address: Joe Whitworth - President, The Freshwater Trust
The Freshwater Trust is a freshwater conservation and restoration organization based in Portland, Oregon. TFT understands that fixing the water quality and quantity issues in the West can and will not be done in a silo and certainly not in the absence of the largest water users in the country. Today, under the direction of Whitworth, the nonprofit works with dozens of farmers, ranchers and winemakers in Oregon, Idaho and California to protect and restore local waterways. For example, TFT partnered with Red Lily Vineyards and Pearl Family Vineyards to restore the streamside running along the winery properties. The native trees and shrubs planted filter nutrients, reduce erosion, sequester carbon, and improve native fish habitat. Out in Eastern Oregon, the organization compensates farmers and ranchers for not taking water out of rivers and tributaries in certain times of the year when fish need it the most. Their projects are proof that working lands and healthy rivers can coexist. Furthermore, the organization uses new tools and technologies to quantify the amount of impact each restoration project is having over time, so they can guarantee that the effort is making a difference. Whitworth will provide an overview of the current state of water in the West and the role winemakers and other agricultural entities have to play in its future.
About Joe Whitworth
Joe has been responsible for strategic direction of The Freshwater Trust for more than a decade, growing the organization’s budget tenfold during that time. He is focused on the next generation of conservation tools at the intersection of technology and finance to get results on the ground. In addition to formal advisory roles in B Corp, foundation and government settings, he is a patented inventor, author of the book “Quantified: Redefining Conservation for the Next Economy” published by Island Press, and has served as founding board chair of the Council for Responsible Sport. Joe has also served as a guest lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a J.D. from Lewis & Clark College with an emphasis in natural resources and water law.
2:45 Closing Remarks & Adjourn
The 2018 LIVE Annual Meeting is Presented by TricorBraun Winepak
Habitat restoration using native plants in and around wine grape vineyards has the potential to improve biological control of pest insects and mites. Dr. David James from Washington State University will present information on research conducted over five years on the best native plants to use in regional viticulture to achieve enhanced IPM and make vineyards ‘hot spots’ of biodiversity. He will also present information on the prospects of using flowering native plant species for in-row ground covers that are hardy and drought tolerant. The beauty of shrub-steppe native plants and their associated insect biodiversity can benefit not only pest management but also nature conservation and the quality of farm and community life. Please join us for a presentation of Dr. James’ findings and an opportunity to discuss with regional growers the opportunities and challenges for enhancing biodiversity in local vineyards. Please register by April 24.
Please join a meet-and-greet social with the LIVE board and staff at the Picnic Shelter in Hood River's Port Marina Park on June 29. Learn more about LIVE certification, inspection process, and benefits from organizational leadership and members. LIVE standards are internationally accredited and support environmentally and socially responsible winegrowing through third-party certification and education.
Please RSVP here and contact Brighid O'Keane, LIVE's Outreach Director, if you're interested in bringing wine to share.
The Marina Park picnic shelter is located on the west side of the Hood River Marina, just north of the Hood River County Historic Museum and the Yacht Club.
Please join us for an open vineyard inspection at Canoe Ridge Vineyards on Monday, July 23rd. This will be a casual opportunity to shadow the inspection of a LIVE vineyard and ask staff questions about the program and membership. Growers interested in LIVE will learn more about the inspection process and certification requirements. RSVPs are required as we have a minimum and maximum participation cap to run this event.
As part of our sustainability certification process, LIVE works with 3rd-party contractors to inspect our member vineyards and wineries and verify compliance to program standards. Inspections take place years one and two for new vineyard members, and every third year after receiving certification.
Regularly scheduled LIVE board meeting