Thursday, Aug. 5: 

Netting options, Bird control without nets, yellow jacket abatement and wildlife predation: ground squirrels, turkeys, coyotes, etc.

– with Ken Swegles, Bob Neithold and Rick Anzalone at Ascona Vineyard

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Tuesday, July 13, 2:00pm: 

Pre-veraison practices and issues with Chris Bowland, vineyard manager, Williams Selyem

–  including bunch closure, pre-veraison spray programs (organic), and preparing for heat events.  (see more below).

Location:  on Zoom

Chris Bowland manages over 400 acres of Estate and a number of grower vineyards in the Russian River and Bennett Valley AVA’s for Williams Selyem.  We are fortunate to have him talk to us on pre-veraison issues and practices, including bunch closure, pre-veraison spray programs (focus on organic), as well as preparing for heat events.

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Friday, May 21, 10:00am: 

Tailgate with Fritz Westover of Westover Vineyard Advising/Virtual Viticulture Academy on a wealth of useful early season practices (see more below).

Location:  Muns Vineyard 

This will be our first in-person meeting in over a year! This is not on Zoom! And we are fortunate to have as our speaker Fritz Westover of Westover Vineyard Advising/Virtual Viticulture Academy who is in the area for the Regenerative Viticulture program at Paicines Ranch this weekend (see the prior email notice). Fritz was previously program director for the Vineyard Team on the Central Coast and now is a vineyard consultant out of Texas, with a national reach through his web-based programs. We were able to persuade him to make a stop in the Santa Cruz Mountains. We had a Zoom program with Fritz last year on early season practices and this time he will talk about some additional topics.  Plus, this is an opportunity to interface with him in person, in the vineyard – and for us to see each other.

Fritz’s talk will include:

– a pruning critique (post-pruning)

– shoot thinning practices

– leaf vs. petiole analysis and establishing a fertilization/nutrition program

– spray program considerations

– drought considerations

and time for Q&A.

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Thursday, April 8, 3:00pm (on Zoom):   Carbon Capture and Assessments of Healthy Soils in Vineyards of the Santa Cruz Mountains: Planning Tools and Funding Opportunities
  Our speaker is Dr. Christopher Potter, Ph.D. of CASA Systems in Los Gatos. A soil scientist with over 10 years of field experience working in agriculture in northern California, Christopher Potter specializes in carbon farm planning. He will cover the basics of the carbon cycle, sequestration and the benefits of carbon to soil health, enhancing soil microbiology; field-based methodologies for measuring changes in crop production, soil carbon, and microbial activity; and composting, mulching and other management practices to improve vineyard soil health. And, he will let us know about a grant program available from Santa Clara County for its Agricultural Resilience Incentive (ARI) program that funds compost and mulch application and practices that improve soil health.  Dr. Potter has received major grant funding from the State of California (CDFA) Healthy Soils Program and has worked for several years under the CDFA Demonstration programs in croplands, orchards, and rangelands to assess carbon capture and improvements in soil water retention and drainage.  He has lived in Los Gatos for the past 25 years.

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Friday, Jan. 22, 3:00pm (on Zoom):  Weed Management, with John Roncoroni, UCCE Weed Science Farm AdvisorJohn Roncoroni, UCCE Weed Science Farm Advisor, specializes in vineyard weed management and speaks to growers throughout Northern California. John will talk about all things weeds, including: identifying and targeting weeds; understanding the lifecycle and avoiding seed regeneration; organic herbicides; weed management options.
  Also, it has been a great disappointment to many of us that WeedSlayer is being investigated by the CDFA. Specifically, the AgroGold component of the 2-part system came under investigation the end of last year when it was reported that non-organic ingredients were found (sp. glyphosate and diquot).  We will speak to this to the extent that we are able as results of the investigation have not yet been reported. And, John Roncoroni will talk about organic herbicide alternatives.

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January 14, 3:00-5:00pm:  The Chemistry of Smoke Taint with Phil Crews, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry UCSC, winemaker and proprietor, Pelican Ranch Winery (an updated repeat of the program in December)

Now that this year’s harvest is in there are still many questions by winemakers about the impact of smoke on this vintage and what to expect with the resulting wine. Phil Crews, PhD, is Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCSC, has taught courses on the chemistry of winemaking, and will give a presentation on the Chemistry of Smoke Taint for winemakers. Bring your questions! This will include an overview of the volatile phenols and address:

– how smoke interacts with fermentation

– what might be expected during and post fermentation, as the wine progresses and ages.

– what do the lab results really mean (how do you decipher the results, are all the volatile phenols equally important)?

– what actions can be taken at this point in time, if any, to mitigate possible smoke taint

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For more information on meetings, contact info@vascm.org

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