Extension and Outreach Through UC Davis Viticulture and Enology On-The-Road Events

At the end of the 2014-2015 funding cycle we will have produced five On-the-road educational events. In addition, we hosted several industry-related events on the UC Davis campus. The first On-the-road educational event in this grant cycle took place in Lodi in April 2014. Like the previous Lodi event, it was held at the Woodbridge Winery in their barrel room. The general theme was water issues. The event was well attended, with approximately 60 attendees. The next On-the-road event will be in the Foothills. To determine what topics to present, we conducted a survey of growers and vintners in the region, consulted with the local farm advisor (Lynn Wunderlich) and visited potential host wineries. As a result of the background work, we are presenting an On-the-road event that will take place at Terra D’Oro Winery (Plymouth, CA) on Feb 27, 2015, with David Mills, Anita Oberholster, David Block, Linda Bisson and Lynn Wunderlich confirmed to speak. We have two more On-the-road events scheduled before the end of the funding cycle. One event is scheduled to take place at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier on March 31, 2015, and the other is scheduled for April 1, 2015, at the University of California Cooperative Extension Office in Salinas. The event in Parlier will mainly address enology issues (as discussed during our visit to the area in early November 2014). The event in Salinas will cover mainly viticulture topics and enology related to viticulture. For the Parlier event we have confirmed David Block, Anita Oberholster, Dario Cantu and Andy Waterhouse and for the Salinas event, we have David Block, Anita Oberholster, Larry Bettiga and Dario Cantu. In addition, we occasionally help the Napa Valley Vintners with their educational events and have presentations by Sue Ebeler, Linda Bisson, and Anita Oberholster scheduled for February 4, 2015, at the Napa Marriott. We are also in the process of scheduling an educational event in Sonoma later in April 2015, as part of the next grant cycle. Other extension efforts building from AVF support of the IRM include: hosting and setting up seminars for the International Cabernet Symposium, the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, National Grape and Wine Initiative, and co-chairing Recent Advances in Viticulture and Enology with Anita Oberholster. In November 2014, Anita Oberholster and Karen Block organized a tasting of wines irrigated with well versus recycled winery water for the Napa Valley Grapegrowers, as part of their Rootstock event. In addition, each year, Karen Block organizes the UC Davis Viticulture and Enology Unified Reception, which brings together 150-200 alumni, faculty, friends and students on Wednesday evening of the Unified Wine and Grape Symposium in Sacramento.