Advisory Board: SAVI
maintains an Advisory Board consisting of specialists in
the fields of sustainable viticulture – organic and
biodynamic. These experts include University Extension
specialists, vineyard owners, economic advisors, and consultants
practicing in sustainable viticulture. The advisory
board will serve as a conduit for dissemination of related
information through a newsletter to be published at least
quarterly.
Our
advisory board members include:
Chuck Blethen, Executive
Director, Southern Appalachian Viticulture Institute,
Marshall NC (Author, viticulture instructor, and winemaker)
Dr. Connie
S. Buckner, Marshall NC (Director of the
Madison Campus of Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community
College)
Charlie Caldwell, Winemaker & Vineyard
owner, Black Squirrel Vineyard and Winery, Council
Bluffs, Iowa (20 acres of native grapes growing organically
for 5 years).
Hugh Courtney, Josephine
Porter Institute for Applied Biodynamics, Woolwine
VA
Dr. Jeanine Davis, Mills River NC (NCSU
Extension agent with the most experience in organic growing
methods)
Julie Duriga,
CPA, Asheville NC (Experienced in working
with small businesses and farmers for business plan
development and economic viability assessment)
Amanda Gentry,
Winemaker & Vineyard owner, New River Winery, Nathans
Creek NC (2 acres of grapes growing organically for
5 years)
David Kendall, Marshall
NC (Our local NCSU Extension Agent in Madison County
NC)
Lon Rombough, Grape Breeder & Author, “The
Grape Grower – A Guide to Organic Viticulture”,
Aurora OR
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Radio
Interview
Chuck Blethen was interviewed by
Lynn Krielow Chamberlain of Wine & Dine
Radio on Thursday, April 5th. Click here to listen to the complete interview about Wild Mountain Muscadines.
Mountain Viticulture: Vitis
Vinifera (European grape cultivars) are currently grown
in large vineyard plantings in the coastal and piedmont
areas of NC. The weather is warm, humid, and low altitude
with high disease pressure. Vinifera that are available
for planting in the USA are not cold-hardy and thus are
not suitable for growing in the mountains of WNC. Further,
vinifera are not resistant to any of the pests, molds,
fungi, and other diseases indigenous to North America,
thus requiring stringent chemical spraying regimens to
keep them alive and producing acceptable crops. All of
the vinifera must be grafted to wild American grape root-stock
to prevent the indigenous root louse, phyloxera, from killing
the vines. Most of the soils in the mountain counties of
NC are residual soils from 600 million years of weathering
granite. These soils tend to be low pH, high in Aluminum
ions, and be either hard-pan red clays or extremely rocky
residual soils. “Rich
soils,” those dark soils with lots of humus, tend to
occur in “bottom land” and are not particularly
good for grapes because the low lands are also where cold
air accumulates and causes frost damage to vines. The best
farm sites for grapes are on the south or southeast facing
slopes – not on the bottom of the valleys or on the
top of the mountains.
Sustainable Viticulture: When
a process is sustainable, it can be maintained indefinitely.
Sustainable food production can be maintained indefinitely
because sustainable farmers do not take more resources to
produce food than they give back. A reliance on renewable
resources - as well as on symbiotic relationships with nature
and the surrounding community - means that these farms do
not damage the environment, are humane for workers and animals,
provide a fair wage to the farmer, and support and enhance
rural life. Because sustainable farmers see nature as an
ally rather than an obstacle, they are able to produce more
wholesome food while using less fossil fuels (thus lessening
the impact on global warming), and without using any synthetic
pesticides, artificial hormones, or antibiotics. Growing
grapes in a sustainable environment is beneficial to the
farm, the community and the ultimate consumer.
Grapes can be used for making pies, preserves,
jams, jellies, juice, providing fresh table fruit, raisins,
and wine.
As of January 1, 2009 there were over 520 vineyards in 15
wine-producing countries using biodynamic viticulture, and
thousands more using organic or natural growing methods.
It is a recognized fact that the overwhelming majority of
vineyards in North America are using traditional chemical
spray methods of growing wine and table grapes, resulting
in wines being sold containing residual pesticides. More
and more farms worldwide are making the transition to sustainable
viticulture growing methods. We recognize the difficulty
in dealing with such entrenched chemical methods but each
month that passes brings more and more data to the forefront
that confirm the viability of sustainable viticulture. Lessened
impact on the earth, improved health of vines, more intense
colors, and better flavors have led to superior tasting wines.
(http://www.boissetfamilyestates.com/press/FortuneBiodynamics.pdf)
The mountains of Western North Carolina represent an ideal
location for propagation of vineyards and wineries. The job
creation possibility is large and the potential for agri-tourism
income and tax revenue for the state is significant.
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