Wine-Grower-News #269 4-29-14 Midwest Grape & Wine Industry Institute: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Wine Information in this issue includes: In Search of Cold Climate Kosher Wine 5-2, 2012 Census of Agriculture Full Report will be available Upper Midwest Results from the 2014 Pacific Rim Wine Competition 6th Annual International Cold Climate Wine Competition 5-15, Deadline for Organic Farming Research Foundation Grants Making just a few seconds count for $$$$$$$$ (Good Marketing Stuff!) Presentations from the 17th NE Winery & Grape Growers Conference 5-3, Vineyard Canopy Management Workshop – Mechanicsburg, IL 5-4, Wine Barrel Profiles and Barrel Toasting Demo – Kasota, MN 5-(4-6), Inside Missouri Cooperage Seminar - VESTA 6-(6-8) Kothe Distilling Technologies Workshop – Chicago Two Upcoming Distilling workshops – American Distilling Institute Show n Tell Neeto-Keeno Stuff 6-9, Society of Wine Educators CSW & CSS Exams – ISU FREE: Society of Wine Educators CSW and CSW Study Webinars U.S. Total precipitation map for the year ending 4-29-14 Videos of Interest Marketing Tidbits Notable Quotables Articles of Interest Calendar of Events In Search of Cold Climate Kosher Wine I recently was called by a Rabbi located in a metro area in Iowa. He was a hobby winemaker looking to find vineyard to pick some grapes this coming harvest season. He was looking for some Chardonnay! That is when we began an interesting but awkward conversation. An uncultured Lutheran trying to explain Cold Climate hybrid winegrapes and a Jewish Rabbi trying to explain the methodology of making Kosher wines. This conversation ended on a high note with both parties increasing their wine IQ. This conversation tweaked my interest into Kosher Wines. I decided to study-up on this topic. First, I needed to refresh my memory on what a Kosher wine is. According to Wikipedia, a Kosher wine is produced according to Judaism's religious law, specifically, Jewish dietary laws (kashrut). To be considered Kosher, Sabbath-observant male Jews must supervise the entire winemaking process and any ingredients used, including finings, 1 must be kosher. Wine that is described as "kosher for Passover" must have been kept free from contact with grain, bread and dough. When kosher wine is produced, marketed and sold commercially, it must have the hechsher ("seal of approval") of a kosher supervising agency or organization, or of an authoritative rabbi who is preferably also a posek ("decisor" of Jewish law) or be supervised by a beth din ("Jewish religious court of law"). There are two styles of Kosher wine: mevushal and non-mevushal. “Wines marked as mevushal have been flash-pasteurized so that non-Jews—say, waiters in kosher restaurants can uncork and serve them to observant Jews according to strict Jewish law. Non-mevushal wines undergo no pasteurization and for the most part are favored for home use by the Kosher community. (1) What kind of potential Kosher wine market could there be in the Upper Midwest? I found the following Jewish population levels in Iowa and our neighboring states*: State 2012 Population % of Population IA 6,240 0.2 IL 297,935 2.3 KS 17,775 0.6 MO 59,175 1.0 MN 45,635 0.9 ND 400 0.1 NE 6,100 0.3 SD 345 0.0 WI 28,255 0.5 U.S. 6,721,680 2.2% * Jewish Virtual Library As you can see from the above table, the pickens are pretty slim in ND and SD, but producing and marketing Kosher wines in the more populated metro areas could offer a profitable marketing niche. For a few wineries, marketing to both the consumer and to other wineries for resale could provide income and increase the wine selection our region has to offer. So, what kind of Kosher Cold Climate Wines are available on the market today? I went to Kosherwines.com located in central Illinois. They are the self-professed largest Online Kosher wine retailer in the U.S. Concord was the only Cold Climate wine they offered. French vinifera dominated 99+% of their wine offerings. In recent times, there has been an increased demand for kosher wines and a number of wine producing countries now produce a wide variety of quality kosher wines under strict rabbinical supervision, particularly in Israel, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, South Africa, and Australia. Two of the world's largest producers and importers of kosher wines, Kedem and Manischewitz, are both based in the Northeast U.S. Kosher retail wine sales in the U.S. currently run in the $28+ million range. (2) Do we have any Cold Climate wineries in the Midwest producing Kosher wine? If so, I sure would be interested in hearing about them. mlw 2 References: 1. Imbibe Magazine 2. America’s Kosher Wine Scene, 3-23-13, The Jewish Week 5-2, 2012 Census of Agriculture Full Report will be available On May 2, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will publish the 2012 Census of Agriculture full report. Iowa had the 3rd highest survey response rate, ranking just behind Alaska and Indiana. You can join NASS on May 2, 11 a.m. CST for a live national webcast of this census data release. - During the webcast, you will learn about the latest Census data at the national, state and county levels on a range of topics, including value of production, marketing practices, on-farm conservation, demographics, organic production, and many other topics. - As part of the webcast audience, you can ask NASS officials questions, either via Twitter or directly through the webcast tools. - If you miss the event, it will be posted online along with a number of other materials that highlight the results. Visit www.agcensus.usda.gov for event log-in information. NASS created a number of online tools to find and use data of interest. The complete data series will be available in multiple formats from www.agcensus.usda.gov, including: - The entire report or individual tables will be available in text or PDF format. - Quick Stats 2.0 – an online database to retrieve customized tables. You can now view a new tutorial video online that will walk you through the process of easily finding the data most valuable to you and your organization. - Desktop Data Query Tool- a downloadable desktop tool to analyze data without Internet access once you have downloaded and installed this tool. - API – a tool for developers. As you start using the Census data, you and/or others in your organization can share benefits it provides you and the agriculture industry. The online portal, Your Census. Your Story, is an easy way to speak up about the value of Census data. Upper Midwest Results from the 2014 Pacific Rim Wine Competition The 29th Annual Pacific Rim Wine Competition was held on Wednesday and Thursday April 23 & 24, 2014 at the National Orange Show Events Center in Southern California. Here are the results for our Iowa and neighboring states wineries. 3 State Winery Award Wine_____________ Iowa Ackerman Winery Bronze Peach Bronze Plum Gold Raspberry Kansas Holyfield Vineyard & Winery Gold Chardonel Missouri Augusta Winery Bronze Norton Gold Chambourcin Gold Chardonel Gold Vidal Montelle Winery Bronze Vignoles Silver Chambourcin Gold Seyval Blanc St. James Winery Bronze Norton Bronze Vignoles Bronze Blackberry Bronze Blueberry Silver Norton Silver White Blend Silver Raspberry Gold Peach Gold Strawberry Gold Best of Class Red Blend Gold Best of Class White Blend Gold Best of Class Muscat Gold Best of Class off dry Riesling Twisted Vine Vineyard Bronze Cranberry Nebraska Rockin Rooster Winery Silver Jalapeno Gold Aronia Berry Wisconsin Cedar Creek Silver Marechal Foch Silver sweet Riesling Gold Gewurztraminer Gold Best of Class Vidal Wollersheim Winery Gold Prairie Blush Gold Best of Class Sweet Riesling Gold Best of Class Seyval Blanc ____________________________________________________________________ Complete results of the 2014 Pacific Rim Wine Competition can be found here: http://origin.library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1109702661700-22/2014+Results+by+Winery.pdf The standard wine container of the ancient world was the amphora (something which can be carried by two), a clay vase with two handles. Amphorae varied greatly in height. The largest stands as tall as 1.5 meters (5ft) high, while some were fewer than 30 centimeters (12in) high - the smallest were called amphoriskoi (literally "little amphorae"). Most were around 45 centimeters (18in) high. They were produced on an industrial scale until approximately the 7th century AD. Wooden and skin containers seem to have supplanted amphorae thereafter. 4 6th Annual International Cold Climate Wine Competition North America’s Only Wine Competition Dedicated Exclusively to Cold-Climate Varities. Online registration opens May 16th, 2014, for all commercial wineries producing wine from the 38 qualifying cold-hardy grape varieties. Registration, information and competition rules can be found on the official website: http://www.mngrapegrowers.com/competition 5-15, Deadline for Organic Farming Research Foundation Grants The Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) invites proposals from all applicants, and particularly encourages farmers, ranchers, researchers, and Extension personnel to consider applying for funding. Funding is offered for research on organic farming and food systems and the dissemination of these research results to organic farmers and the greater agricultural and research communities. Farmers and ranchers often find that working with a professional researcher helps to design and carry out a research project, and OFRF encourages applications from such partnerships. Funding Decisions will be made in November of 2014 and the applicants will be notified by December 31, 2014. The body of the grant application cannot be over 9 pages long. Grant Application Information: http://www.ofrf.org/research/grants Deadline for Application: Thursday, May 15, 2014.