2005 Annual Report 1.What major problem or issue is being resolved and how are you resolving it (summarize project aims and objectives)? How serious is the problem? What does it matter? The Pacific Northwest is a young, rapidly expanding grape-growing region. Value-added products with beneficial health attributes, associated agri-businesses, and tourism make viticulture a strong contributor to the regional economy as much as $2.4 billion from wine and wine grapes in Washington alone. The public's awareness of and demand for purple grape juice and red wine have been raised by recent scientific evidence of their beneficial effects on cardiovascular health. The semi-arid climate of the inland northwest allows growers to use irrigation as a tool to optimize the vineyard microclimate for premium quality grapes. This unique management opportunity combined with regular risks of winter injury in the region pose challenges to the development of integrated production practices and to the selection of appropriate cultivars, particularly among wine grapes. Current production methods reflect the historical development of European tradition and the transfer of conventions from California, neither of which is wholly suitable to the Pacific Northwest's environment. One focus of this project is to develop irrigation practices for semi-arid regions like the inland northwest with hot summers and cold winters, to promote sustainable production of high quality wine and juice grapes. Automated instruments will be used to determine vineyard water use in real time. Farming practices that optimize the vineyard microclimate (i.e., temperature and light) and an automated method to estimate yield will be developed. Farmers manage water, nutrients, and cultural practices according to specific crop needs to minimize environmental concerns, such as runoff and leaching and to optimize grape quality for successful competition in a global market. Wine and juice quality are directly related to water management. Science-based estimates of actual vine water use will enable management of irrigation water in a cost-effective and environmentally sound manner while simultaneously maximizing product quality. This research will assist juice grape growers in transition from rill to drip irrigation, and assist wine grape growers in more effective targeting of irrigation schedules. In addition, cultivars, clones, and grafting methods suitable for this climate will be identified. Indicators of vine growth and physiological status will be measured regularly in all studies, using standard techniques. Management strategies, particularly irrigation, will be tied to indicators of grape quality: sugars, acids, pH, color, phenols, and aroma compounds. Grapes from experiments on irrigation, farming practices, and cultivar selection will be assessed for quality and sensory preferences in the finished product. Potential benefits: Improve farmers' knowledge of grapevine water relations and fruit ripening in semiarid and northern regions; Enhance farmers' management of grapevines for sustained production of high quality fruit in the Pacific Northwest; Increase growers', juice processors', and wineries' production efficiency with a new technology for estimating grapevine yield; Improve farmers' abilities to efficiently manage water, a limited resource in semiarid regions like the inland northwest. Customers: Grape growers in the Pacific Northwest and other semiarid regions with hot summers and cold winters. Grower acreage is variable, ranging from small (<10 acres) to large (>500 acres). Small growers predominate in Idaho. Juice processors and wineries who process fruit from Pacific Northwest growers, and related agri-businesses who service their vineyards; Rural communities in the Pacific Northwest; Regional tourism; The general U.S. public due to health benefits of purple grape juice and wine. 2.List the milestones (indicators of progress) from your Project Plan. FY2004 Objective 1: Develop irrigation practices that support sustainable production of high quality wine and juice grapes. A. Measure variations in grapevine water use under regulated deficit irrigation. 1. Vine water use in deficit-irrigated wine grape vineyard; 2. Whole-vine photosynthesis. B: Determine how different irrigation strategies influence grapevine horticultural attributes and grape composition for premium wine production. 1. Establish field trials; 2. Develop laboratory analytical methods. Objective 2: Determine effects of the variations in temperature found in the field environment on budburst, flowering, and fruit quality of grapevines. 1. Phenols and volatile analysis (Merlot); 2. Improved temperature-control device; 3. Control aerial temperatures. Objective 3: Develop and test an automated method for estimating yield in grapevines. 1. Sampling unit and sensor location. 2. Account for vegetative mass; 3. Test lower-cost DAC system in research vineyards. Objective 4: Evaluate non-grafted wine grape varieties and clones grown in a cool, semiarid climate for horticultural characteristics, berry composition, and wine quality. 1. Identify sentinel vines, collect data. FY2005 Objective 1: Develop irrigation practices that support sustainable production of high quality wine and juice grapes. A. Measure variations in grapevine water use under regulated deficit irrigation. 1. Vine water use in deficit-irrigated wine grape vineyard; 2. Compare sap-flow methods; 3. Whole-vine photosynthesis. B: Determine how different irrigation strategies influence grapevine horticultural attributes and grape composition for premium wine production. 1. Field data collection; 2. Perform laboratory analyses; 3. Data analysis. Objective 2: Determine effects of the variations in temperature found in the field environment on budburst, flowering, and fruit quality of grapevines. 1. Phenols and volatile analysis (Merlot); 2. Develop soil heating system; 3. Control aerial temperatures. Objective 3: Develop and test an automated method for estimating yield in grapevines. 1. Sampling unit and sensor location. 2. Account for vegetative mass; 3. Test lower-cost DAC system in research vineyards; 4. Test sensors and DAC unit in commercial vineyards (V. vinifera and V. labruscana). Objective 4: Evaluate non-grafted wine grape varieties and clones grown in a cool, semiarid climate for horticultural characteristics, berry composition, and wine quality. 1. Collect second season data. FY2006 Objective 1: Develop irrigation practices that support sustainable production of high quality wine and juice grapes. A. Measure variations in grapevine water use under regulated deficit irrigation. 1. Vine water use in deficit-irrigated wine grape vineyard; 2. Compare sap-flow methods; 3. Whole-vine photosynthesis. B: Determine how different irrigation strategies influence grapevine horticultural attributes and grape composition for premium wine production. 1. Field data collection; 2. Perform laboratory analyses; 3. Data analysis. Objective 2: Determine effects of the variations in temperature found in the field environment on budburst, flowering, and fruit quality of grapevines. 1. Phenols and volatile analysis (Merlot); 2. Develop soil heating system; 3. Control aerial temperatures. Objective 3: Develop and test an automated method for estimating yield in grapevines. 1. Sampling unit and sensor location. 2. Sensitivity in multiple-wire trellises; 3. Test sensors and DAC unit in commercial vineyards (V. vinifera and V. labruscana). Objective 4: Evaluate non-grafted wine grape varieties and clones grown in a cool, semiarid climate for horticultural characteristics, berry composition, and wine quality. 1. Collect third season data. FY2007 Objective 1: Develop irrigation practices that support sustainable production of high quality wine and juice grapes. A. Measure variations in grapevine water use under regulated deficit irrigation. 1. Field deployment of heat-pulse sensors. B: Determine how different irrigation strategies influence grapevine horticultural attributes and grape composition for premium wine production. 1. Field data collection; 2. Perform laboratory analyses; 3. Data analysis. Objective 3: Develop and test an automated method for estimating yield in grapevines. 1. Sensitivity in multiple-wire trellises; 2. Test sensors and DAC unit in commercial vineyards (V. vinifera and V. labruscana). FY2008 Objective 1: Develop irrigation practices that support sustainable production of high quality wine and juice grapes. A. Measure variations in grapevine water use under regulated deficit irrigation. 1. Field deployment of heat-pulse sensors. B: Determine how different irrigation strategies influence grapevine horticultural attributes and grape composition for premium wine production. 1. Field data collection; 2. Publish results. Objective 3: Develop and test an automated method for estimating yield in grapevines. 1. Sensitivity in multiple-wire trellises; 2. Test sensors and DAC unit in commercial vineyards (V. vinifera and V. labruscana). 4a.What was the single most significant accomplishment this past year? The grape industry's standard practice for yield estimation in vineyards is labor-intensive and provides only a snapshot of the status of the vineyard, suggesting to us the need for an automated method of crop monitoring to improve vineyard efficiencies. In the Horticultural Crops Research Unit's, Prosser, WA worksite, an apparatus was devised to monitor the vineyard and estimate grapevine yields by exploiting the trellis structure upon which the vines are supported. A U.S. patent (no. 6,854,337) was issued in 2005. Collaborators included present and former faculty of Washington State University. If brought to market by a suitable engineering firm, this automated method and apparatus for estimating vineyard yield could be applied to trellised commercial vineyards worldwide, giving growers, wineries, and juice processors real-time data on the status of the crop, information that they do not have at this scale with current practices. 4b.List other significant accomplishments, if any. None. 4c.List any significant activities that support special target populations. None. 5.Describe the major accomplishments over the life of the project, including their predicted or actual impact. The mechanism of sunscald in red wine grapes was identified in a field experiment wherein the temperature and solar radiation exposure of grape clusters were controlled in situ. A major winery in Washington already has incorporated these results into their management strategies via targeted fruit thinning from the western exposure of vines in north-south rows, where sunscald is more likely to appear. Various individual growers have reported less use of foliage wires on the west side of the vine canopy, also to mitigate sunscald. A national crop protection company has cited and has been distributing our published results to grape growers as evidence that application of one of the company's products may reduce sunscald in grapes because it is reported to reduce fruit surface temperatures. 6.What science and/or technologies have been transferred and to whom? When is the science and/or technology likely to become available to the end-user (industry, farmer, other scientists)? What are the constraints, if known, to the adoption and durability of the technology products? A method and apparatus for monitoring trellised crops and estimating their yield was made public with the issuance of U.S. patent no. 6,854,337. The method and apparatus have been described in trade publications, at grower meetings, at industry field days, and to international scientific audiences. The technology will become available to end users (growers, wineries, juice processors) only when pursued by an engineering development firm with the capability of incorporating more affordable sensors and and of writing user-friendly software interfaces obviate any data processing by the farmer. Constraints to adoption of the method include concerns about costs in large operations, lack of concern about actual yields among small-scale growers, and the level of desire for real-time data for refining management decisions (i.e., information overload). 7.List your most important publications in the popular press and presentations to organizations and articles written about your work. (NOTE: List your peer reviewed publications below). Tarara, J. and S. Spayd. Tackling 'sunburn' in red wine grapes through temperature and sunlight exposure. The Good Fruit Grower. April 1, 2005. p. 40-41 Tarara, J. (presenter) and J. Perez Pena. Photosynthesis and Transpiration under RDI-an Argentinian Odyssey along the Columbia. Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers, Annual Meeting, Yakima, WA, February 2-4, 2005 Tarara, J. (presenter) and J. Perez Pena. 2004. Using whole-vine photosynthesis to understand the effects of water stress on premium wine grapes. Annual Conference, Northwest Center for Small Fruits Research, Boise, ID, December 2-3, 2004 Keller, M. (presenter), L.J. Mills, J.M. Tarara, J. Ferguson and S.E. Spayd. 2004. Rootstock and varietal effects on the variability in cluster initiation and development. Annual Conference, Northwest Center for Small Fruits Research, Boise, ID, December 2-3, 2004. Shellie, K.C. March 22, 2005. Oral presentation. "Raising the Bar on Quality." Idaho Grape Growers and Wine Producers Annual Meeting. Caldwell, ID. Shellie, K.C. January 29, 2005. Oral presentation. "Wine Tasting: Detecting Defects, Describing attributes, & Standardized methods of Evaluation". Ste. Chapelle Winery, Caldwell ID. Shellie, K.C. December 2, 2004. "Water Management to Optimize Canopy, Yield, and Quality of ‘Merlot’." Proceedings of the Northwest Center for Small Fruits Research. Shellie, K.C. June, 2005. Oral Presentation. "'Merlot' Vine Water Status Impacts Yield, Berry And Wine Quality." American Society of Enology and Viticulture Annual Meeting. Seattle, WA. Shellie, K.C. August 2005. Oral Presentation. "Vine Water Stress in 'Merlot': Impact on Yield Components, Berry and Wine Composition". Groupe d'Etude des Systemes de Conduite de la Vigne (GESCO) 2005. Geisenheim, Germany. Capital Press Agriculture Weekly. Friday, July 22, 2005, article about K. Shellie. Wine in the West. By Carl Sampson. Researcher seeks answers for Idaho winemakers, by Pat MCCoy. Timely water stress benefits grapes, by Scott A. Yates. Lee, J. Presentation titled "Defining Idaho Wines." Idaho Grape Growers and Wine Producers Annual Meeting, Caldwell, ID, March 2005. Review Publications Lee, J., Finn, C.E., Wrolstad, R.E. 2004. Comparison of anthocyanin pigment and other phenolic compounds of vaccinium membranaceum and v. ovatum native to the pacific northwest of north america. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 53(23) p. 959-964. Perez Pena, J.E., Tarara, J.M. 2004. Whole-canopy photosynthesis and transpiration under regulated deficit irrigation in Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon. Ph D Dissertation. 2004. Washington State University. 234 p. Shellie, K. 2005. Merlot vine water status impacts yield, berry and wine quality. American Society of Enology and Viticulture. 56(3):301A. Shellie, K. 2004. Water management to optimize canopy, yield, and quality of 'Merlot'. Proceedings of the Northwest Center for Small Fruits Conference. Boise, ID. p. 84-85. Perez-Pena, J., Tarara, J.M. 2004. Using whole-vine photosynthesis to understand the effects of water stress on premium wine grapes. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture. 55(3) p. 298A.