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P-92<br />

P. Cousins* 1 <strong>and</strong> A. Garris 2<br />

Quality improvement in Vignoles through clonal selection<br />

1 USDA-ARS, Grape Genetics Research Unit, Geneva, New York, USA; 2 Department of<br />

Horticultural Sciences, Cornell University, Geneva, New York, USA<br />

Corresponding author: peter.cousins@ars.usda.gov<br />

Vignoles is a valuable component of the variety mix in the eastern United States. Consumers<br />

appreciate its distinctive apricot, peach, <strong>and</strong> citrus notes in wines. Because it is relatively winter<br />

hardy (reliably to – 26 ºC), Vignoles is grown in such diverse locations as New York, Missouri,<br />

Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Nebraska <strong>and</strong> Michigan. However, Vignoles has small,<br />

tight clusters prone to bunch rot later in the season, <strong>and</strong> losses up to one third of the crop are<br />

possible in rainy years. Despite consumer dem<strong>and</strong> for Vignoles, the production of these wines is<br />

limited by bunch rot susceptibility associated <strong>with</strong> compact cluster architecture. Development of<br />

chemical <strong>and</strong> cultural practices to counter bunch rots in Vignoles remains challenging. Our goal<br />

is to select an improved, loose-clustered clone of Vignoles that will contribute to an integrated<br />

approach to disease control. Following gamma radiation, irradiated buds <strong>and</strong> non-irradiated<br />

controls were bench grafted onto 3309C rootstock. A total of 2336 vines, including 30 nonmutagenized<br />

Vignoles control vines, were planted in 2007 (500 vines) <strong>and</strong> in 2008 (1839 vines).<br />

The experimental vineyard is located at the Cornell Lake Erie Research <strong>and</strong> Extension<br />

Laboratory (Portl<strong>and</strong>, New York) in the Lake Erie shore grape <strong>and</strong> wine production region. The<br />

clones were planted at a spacing of 4 feet between vines <strong>and</strong> 9 feet between rows. Vines were<br />

cultivated in grow tubes <strong>and</strong> drip irrigated to promote rapid vine establishment <strong>and</strong> growth. The<br />

vines were trained to a bilateral cordon, spur pruned, <strong>and</strong> cultivated following st<strong>and</strong>ard practices<br />

for hybrid wine grape varieties in western New York, including fertilization <strong>and</strong> weed, pest, <strong>and</strong><br />

disease management. Many clones planted in 2007 fruited in 2008, but fruit was dropped to<br />

encourage vegetative establishment. The generation of new clones <strong>and</strong> the establishment of the<br />

vineyard are complete. The second stage of the project is evaluation of cluster looseness <strong>and</strong><br />

bunch rot susceptibility. A pyramidal selection approach for cluster compactness is being<br />

followed, using berries per centimeter as a measure of cluster compactness. Screening in the<br />

population of clones has identified several clones <strong>with</strong> looser clusters than control, nonmutagenized<br />

Vignoles vines.<br />

173


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