Extension and Outreach through UC Davis Viticulture and Enology On the Road Events
By the end of the 2018-2019 funding cycle, we produced the four On the Road educational events (San Diego, Monterey, Lake, and Tulare) proposed in the 2018 AVF Extension and Outreach grant. We substituted Tulare for the originally proposed Kern County program due to the departure of the Farm Advisor, Ashraf El-Kereamy. In addition, we have completed one of the proposed events for the 2019-2020 funding cycle (proposed in 2019), and we expect to complete all of the proposed events before the end of the grant period (April 15, 2020).
The first On the Road event in the current (2019-2020) grant cycle took place in Temecula at the Wilson Creek Winery, on November 18, 2019. To determine the most relevant topics to present, we worked closely with Carmen Gispert, Viticulture Farm Advisor for Riverside, San Diego, and San Bernardino counties. This program was initially proposed as an experiment to bring an On Campus, theme-based, continuing education program to a region far from the Davis campus. We had several discussions with Carmen and in the end, we brought topics she thought would be of interest to her stakeholders (a traditional On the Road program). Anita Oberholster gave two talks,
one focused on cleaning and sanitation and the other covered smoke exposure. We introduced Mason Earles (AI and viticulture) and Megan Bartlett (Improving Grapevine water-use efficiency and drought tolerance), two of our new faculty members. David Block spoke about Phenolic Extraction and Wine Quality and Johann Martinez (Kurtural Lab) spoke about the Effects of Irrigation, Shade Nets, and Crop Load on Grape Composition and Wine Quality. We were excited to have such a great turnout, with 80 growers and vintners attending.
We plan to complete four more On the Road events (for a total of five) before the end of the current funding cycle. The first of the four events is scheduled to take place in San Joaquin County at Burgundy Hall in Lodi on March 17, 2020. We worked with Stephanie Bolton (Lodi Winegrape Commission), to determine topics and speakers of interest. Confirmed speakers include Anita Oberholster, Megan Bartlett, Elisabeth Forrestel, Mason Earles, David Block, and Ben Montpetit. The second event is scheduled on March 31, 2020, in Napa at COPIA. We worked with the Napa Valley Vintners to determine speakers of interest, which include: Anita Oberholster, Megan
Bartlett, Elisabeth Forrestel, Mason Earles, David Block, Andrew Waterhouse, and Ben Montpetit. The third (of the four left to complete) On the Road program is scheduled for April 8, 2020, in Stanislaus County in Harvest Hall. We are working with Kari Arnold, the local farm advisor, to determine topics and speakers. The fourth program of 2020 and fifth overall is scheduled to take place in San Luis Obispo County. We are currently looking at March 19 or April 9, 2020 as favorable dates and have discussed topics with Mark Battany. Other extension efforts include organizing this year’s On Campus programs while we go through the process of hiring an event
logistics person.
