The Emerging Florida Wine Industry1 R
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were below 10°C for 4 months in Gainesville. Temperatures 7. Florida Crop and Livestock Reporting Service. Cash receipts from in Gainesville are lower than in Homestead, Florida earlier farming. Oct. 14, 1982. in the fall; hence acclimation to cold probably starts earlier. 8. Florida Crop and Livestock Reporting Service. Tropical fruit. Oct. 22,1982. Mango freezing tests. Seedling turpentine mango in pots 9. Florida Crop and Livestock Reporting Service. Avocados. April 20 growing in Gainesville were killed at less than -3°C on 1983. February 9 and August 10, 1983, -4.5°C on April 29, 1983, 10. Halma, F. F. 1942. Leaf sap concentration and cold resistance in the and -5.0°C on May 16, 1983 (Fig. 5). The response of seed avocado. Calif. Avocado Soc. Yearbook 48-53. 11. Harris, J. A. and W. Popenoe. 1916. Freezing-point lowering of the ling mango trees is more difficult to explain. Freezing at leaf sap of the horticultural types of Persea americana. T. Agr. Res temperatures above — 3.0°C occurred on 2 occassions as re 7:261-268. J 5 ported previously (3); however, in 2 other tests the leaves 12. Hodgson, R. W. 1933. Resistance to low winter temperature of sub were not damaged above —4.5°C. Results do not con tropical fruit plants. Proc. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 30:349-354. 13. Hodgson, R. W. 1934. Further observations on frost injury to sub clusively indicate whether turpentine mangos acclimate to tropical fruit plants. Proc. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 32:227-229. cold but suggest that they do not. 14. Krezdorn, A. H. 1970. Evaluation of cold hardy avocados in Florida. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 83:382-386. 15. Krezdorn, A. H. 1973. Influence of rootstock on cold hardiness of Literature Cited avocados. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 86:346-348. 16. Krome, W. K. 1958. Observations on cold damage to avocado in 1. Camp, A. F. 1930. Variety, propagation and planting tests of pear, Dade County. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 71:338-341. avocado, Japanese persimmon, fig, and other fruits. Florida Agr. 17. Manis, W. E. and R. J. Knight, Jr. 1967. Avocado germplasm evalu Expt. Sta. Annu. Rpt. 81. ation: technique used in screening for cold tolerance. Proc Fla 2. Camp, A. F. and H. S. Wolfe. 1934. Variety tests of minor fruits State Hort. Soc. 80:387-391. and ornamentals. Florida Agr. Expt. Sta. Annu. Rpt. 65-66. 18. Scholander, P. F., H. T. Hammel, E. D. Bradstreet, and E. A. 3. Carmichael, W. W. 1958. Observations of cold damage to mangos Hemraingsen. 1965. Sap pressure in vascular plants. Science 148: in Dade County and the Lower West Coast. Proc. Fla. State Hort. 339-345. Soc. 71:333-335. 19. Wilcox, D. A., F. S. Davies, and D. W. Buchanan. 1983. Root tem 4. Chen, P. M., P. H. Li, and M. J. Burke. 1977. Induction of frost peratures, water relations, and cold hardiness in two citrus root- hardiness in stem cortial tissues of Cornus stolonifer. Michx. by stocks. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 108:318-321. water stress. Plant Physiol. 59:236-239. 20. Weiser, C. J. 1970. Cold resistance and injury in woody plants. 5. Dexter, S. T., W. E. Tottingham, and L. F. Graber. 1932. Investi Science 169:1252-1278. gations of the hardiness of plants by measurements of electrical 21. Yelenosky, G. 1979. Water-stress-induced cold hardening of young conductivity. Plant Physiol. 7:63-79. citrus trees. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 104:270-273. 6. Fling, H. L., B. R. Boyce, and D. J. Beattie. 1967. Index of injury- 22. Young, R. H. 1961. Influence of day length, light intensity, and a useful expression of freezing injury to plant tissues as determined temperature on growth, dormancy, and cold-hardiness of Red by the electrolytic method. Can. J. Plant Sci. 17:229-230. Blush grapefruit trees. Proc. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 78:174-179. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 96: 215-219. 1983. THE EMERGING FLORIDA WINE INDUSTRY1 R. P. Bates 1970's, one winery based on grape and several fruit (pri Food Science and Human Nutrition Department, marily citrus) wineries existed on a small scale. In 1981, 3 University of Florida, grape wineries were established and 2 more commenced Gainesville, FL 32611 operation in 1983 (Table 1) (1). The current annual crush capacity of Florida wineries is about 240,000 gal, supported Additional index words. Vitis bunch grapes, muscadine by bearing and planted vines of about 150 and 200 acres, grapes. respectively. These wine plantings, distributed roughly 40% bunch grapes and 60% muscadines are estimated to Abstract. Since 1980 Florida has gone from 1 to 5 com represent about 50 % of grape acreage in Florida—the total mercial wineries. The current combined capacity of over of which has increased 300 % in the last 7 yr. 200,000 gal has stimulated wine grape plantings; now Florida is an excellent wine market, in fact, third largest around 350 acres and projected to reach 2,000 by 1990. in the U.S. with wine consumption of over 26 million gal Factors responsible are favorable Florida farm winery legisla in 1982 (3). This figure is somewhat higher than Illinois tion, enthusiastic Florida Grape Growers Association support, with 25 million gal but considerably below the top 2 states- better wine grape cultivars and cultivation practices, im California and New York at 109 and 52 million gal, respec proved grape handling and wine making procedures, high tively. A large proportion of wine is consumed by tourists; wine quality standards, increased interest in local wines by however, and even then Florida ranks only 16th in per Floridians and tourists as well as dedicated researchers and capita wine consumption at 2.56 gal. This is higher than winemakers. Constraints to continual growth are high grape the U.S. average of 2.21 gal., appreciably above any other production and harvesting costs, undeveloped marketing Southern state, but far from the California figure of 4.45 strategies, lack of consumer familiarity with local wine types gal. and current national/international wine surpluses. These posi Despite this comparatively large and expanding Florida tive and negative factors are discussed from the standpoint market, by far the majority of wine consumed in the U.S. is of industry capabilities and supporting research efforts. produced in California (69%) or imported (26%), mostly from Europe. Only 5% is produced in other states. Florida's present contribution is insignificant and only New York, There are few Florida agroindustries which have de Washington, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio and a few other veloped as rapidly as commercial wine making. In the mid states warrant recognition in the reporting table (3); yet, statistics concerning number of wineries and initial growth iFlorida Agricultural Experiment Stations Journal Series No. 5151. in Florida are impressive. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 96: 1983. 215 Table 1. Commercial wineries of Florida. Capacity Grape (gal) First plantings35 Current Label vintage Locationy Wine types (acres) (planned) Midulla's Vineyards 1981* 513 S. Florida Ave. Dry, white, rose & 60 100,000 Tampa, FL 33602 red (bunch) (mostly (200,000) (813) 223-1222 Citrus bunch) Alaqua Vineyards 1981 Rt. 1, Box 97-C4 Dry, semi-dry sweet 10 8,000 Freeport, FL 32439 white & red Muscadines (25,000) (904) 835-2566 (Muscadines) Florida Heritage 1981 P.O.Box 116 Dry, semi-dry & 6 20,000 Anthony, FL 32617 sweet white dry Mostly (40,000) (904) 732-3427 red (Muscadines) Muscadines Dry white (bunch) Lafayette Vineyards 1983 Rt. 7, Box 481 Bunch white 50 10,000 Tallahassee, FL 32308 Muscadine Red & Bunch & (50,000) (904) 878-9041 white Muscadines Wines of 1983 1205 8th Ave. Bunch white None 100,000 St. Augustine Tampa, FL 33605 Muscadine Red & (120,000) (813) 875-0629 white ^Produced citrus based table and dessert wines and cordials under Fruit Wines of Florida label since 1973. yAll wineries have visitor tours and tastings; check for details. XA11 wineries purchase additional grapes from Florida Grape Growers Association members. The Grapes serious long-term limitation. Existing cultivars and new breeding lines, in combination with the accumulating ex Grape production is primarily in Central, North and perience and enology backgrounds of Florida winemakers, West Florida with little commercial development in the will make it possible to vary the final wine character sub lower third of the peninsula (Fig. 1). At this time there stantially by proper attention to cultivation, handling, wine are no vineyards of Vitis vinifera L. or vinifera hybrids be making and cellar practices and judicious blending (8). cause these species are not adapted to Florida conditions Native species combined with high quality cultivars through based on 400 yr of poor results. With present cultivars and careful selective breeding have been essential in grape de cultivation practices it is impractical, if not impossible, to velopment and represent a challenging opportunity. Breed grow vinifera or hybrids commercially in Florida (2), al ing emphasis has been on Euvitis (bunch grape) and Vitis though in the Florida Keys and near the barrier islands rotundifolia Michx. (muscadine) species (12, 13, 16). Over lacking the Pierce's disease insect vector, vinifera and the last decade a number of cultivars and breeding lines susceptible species can survive. have been developed or discovered which are suitable for Lack of dominant vinifera germplasm is probably not a wine. Florida has relied mostly on native species for bunch grape cultivars and has drawn heavily upon cooperative JACKSONVILLE breeding efforts in other southern states in muscadine de velopment (Table 2) (10, 16, 18). Both sources will continue to make vital contributions in the constant search for better wine cultivars.