College puts wine lecture series online
Cool climate growing and winemaking lectures available live or in archived video from Brock University in Ontario
Dr. Jim Willwerth (left), Dr. Linda Bramble (center) and Dr. Lester Kwong are scheduled to speak this spring as part of an online lecture series from Brock University's Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute.
St. Catharines, Ontario—Winemakers and grapegrowers have a new way to keep up with current information about how to grow grapes, deal with winemaking problems or utilize the latest marketing tools. With the advent of online lectures, any member of the industry—a beginner or a seasoned veteran—can log onto the lecture series offered by Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute in St. Catharines, Ontario, which covers topics in enology, viticulture, marketing and business practices.
Ten lectures remain in the ongoing 2011 series: All will be webcast live or may be viewed later, when they become part of the archive containing previous lectures. Most lectures begin at 3 p.m. Eastern time. View them live by visiting brocku.ca/ccovi up to an hour before the starting time. It’s best to check the website first to test your system’s compatibility.
What to expect this month
Wines & Vines spoke with two lecturers who will be talking in early March. Both gave brief synopses of their presentations.
Dr. Jim Willwerth, viticulturist at Brock University, chose “Coming Out of the Cold: the State of the Vine” for his March 9 topic. He will review the complex physiological and biochemical changes that take place in grapevines when they transition from cold-hardy to cold-tender status as winter comes to an end.
During acclimation, which begins at the onset of dormancy, starches hydrolyze to simple and complex sugars, which act as “antifreeze” in the vine and prevent ice accumulation. Deacclimation is the reciprocal process: Vines metabolize their carbohydrates, starch accumulates and protein structure and conformation are modified.
After discussing these and other changes, Willwerth will examine the current status of the vines as they lose their cold-hardiness: This is a critical time for potential winter injury from spring frosts.
Dr. Linda Bramble, author, educator and CCOVI professional affiliate, will speak a March 16 about “Why Entrepreneurs Decided to Regulate Themselves: the Paradoxical Story of VQA.” In 1995, in the wake of a recession, the Tory government came into power in Canada with a platform that included deregulating business, ending governmental red tape and helping new businesses get off the ground.
At the time, however, the wine industry decided to press for increased regulation and requested legislation for a VQA system that would establish guaranteed minimal standards of wine quality. This paradox, Bramble will explain, came about because the wine industry at this juncture needed to differentiate itself from the industry of the past. Increasing its standards would, vintners felt, help Canada’s competitive edge in the worldwide marketplace.
Classes later this spring will include Dr. Lester Kwong’s “The Pricing of Organic Wines” on April 13, and Dr. Ronald Jackson speaking about “Botrytis—the Jekyll-and-Hyde Fungus” on April 20. Two lectures by research scientists at the Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre in Summerland, B.C., are scheduled for April 6 (“Science: A Key Ingredient in B.C. Wine Production”) and April 27 (Using Nitrogen Fertilizers to Increase Grape Quality; Grapevine Trunk Diseases”).