Contact: Fran Pontasch, 979-458-0131, fmpontasch@tamu.edu
CAT SPRING – The 26th annual Gulf Coast Grape Grower Field Day will be 9-4 p.m. Feb. 2 at the Cat Spring Agricultural Society Hall, 13035 Hall Road in Cat Spring.
Registration is $35 at the door and includes lunch, presentations and a wine social, according to Fran Pontasch, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service viticulturist in College Station.
This year’s field day will address the challenges that affect growing grapes and making wine in a high humidity, hot climate, with corresponding research updates and information on best viticulture management practices.
Morning topics will include talks from industry experts and AgriLife Extension updates on rootstocks and diseases. Afternoon activities will include a perspective on the future of hot climate grape varieties, Pierce’s disease and PD-tolerant Walker varieties, and a wine pour.
Additional topics include disease control, weed control and harvest issues. Speakers from AgriLife Extension horticulture will include Dr. Justin Scheiner, College Station; Dr. Jim Kamas, Fredericksburg; Dr. George Ray McEachern, College Station; Michael Cook, Denton, and Pontasch.Other speakers will be Kirk Williams, Texas Tech University viticulture certificate instructor in Lubbock, and Fritz Westover of Westover Vineyard Advising in Houston.
Attendees will also have time to visit sponsor booths and view Texas A&M University graduate research posters.
For more information, and to RSVP, contact Pontasch at 979-458-0131 or fmpontasch@tamu.edu. RSVP is requested to ensure an accurate meal count.
More information on viticulture and enology can be found at aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/vitwine and on Facebook at Texas Viticulture & Enology.
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