American Vineyard Foundation

Wines & Vines, Feb, 1998 by Larry Walker

Justin Meyer, president of the American Vineyard Foundation, told Wines & Vines in an end-of-the-year interview that the Foundation's 30-member board may take another look at establishing a system of mandatory fund raising to help keep key research projects in viticulture and enology moving forward.

Meyer said the board has avoided such a move in the past for two reasons: the fear of lawsuits by those who are against any form of mandatory collection of dues by a commission or marketing order and the desire to avoid being a divisive influence in the industry.

"However," Meyer said, "the situation has changed since a court ruling that marketing orders are not unconstitutional." Meyer said he would not attempt to influence the board. "I think what we want to do is go out and do some informal polling to see what the industry wants, then taking a reading of board members on the subject."

Meyer said he had no idea how the board would move on the issue. Meyer said that direct contributions from California vintners and growers came to $1,018,665 in 1997. "About 20% of the wineries in the state contributed, but those contributions probably represented 90% in volume. We have the large producers covered but we can't seem to get the small producers interested. We've written letters asking what the problem is but they just won't give," he said.

He said there had been letters of support from groups all up and down the state. "I just don't know what the outcome will be," he repeated. "I know that if it will be divisive, we won't go for it," Meyer concluded. (The AVF board met in January, but no decisive action is expected.)

Meyer was a key player in reviving AVF when the latest wine and grape marketing order was voted down. "The AVF was there, although it had been inactive, and it seemed a good vehicle to fund research. When the joint marketing order was voted down I stood up in a Wine Institute meeting and said it was important that research in viticulture and enology didn't end because of lack of funds. I was appointed as a committee of one to look into future funding. It's one of those things that if I had known going into it how much work it would be, I would never have volunteered," Meyer laughed.

"Anyway, I talked to some of the AVF board members - I remember talking to Louis Martini and Fred Franzia and there were others - and we decided the AVF was the best way to get the funding organized. So we brought it back to life and established a 30-member board of directors. We thought it was important that every part of the state be represented. We have members on the board now from Temecula to Mendocino. And we have both growers and vintners on the board, although I try not to talk about that. I like to say we have people who are interested in research. I think when the last marketing order was killed, there was some animosity between growers. I like to stay away from that."

Wines & Vines asked Patrick Gleeson, the executive director of the AVE about some of the key research concerns of members. It was the right question at the right time. Gleeson had just completed a survey and issues in viticulture and enology were rated on a scale of 1 to 3, with 3 being the most critical, 1 being least important. The issues were scored within a category. In the case of viticulture, the categories were production, disease, pests and plant materials. For enology, the categories were composition, fermentation, aging, contact, process technology, method development, stability, bottling, environmental and other. The issues were then given overall ratings within the broader categories of viticulture and enology.

"We were very pleased with the survey. It was a huge success. We had 455 responses out of a possible 2,200 or 21%. We believe this positive response reflects a significant show of support for AVF research projects," Gleeson said.

The issue of most overall concern was the "Impact of Viticultural Practices on Wine Quality," which drew a 2.83 score. "Rootstock Evaluation" was also of great concern with a 2.77 score. Other critical issues included rootstock responses to pests and diseases, Pierce's Disease, powdery mildew, Eutypa and integrated pest management on the viticulture side, and color extraction, composition, stuck fermentation and cork taint on the enology side. (See Charts A and B for the ten top issues in enology and viticulture.)

"In general," Gleeson said, "things have not changed all that much in the past ten years. The same issues are seen as important. What they really want are answers. They are saying, 'Please address issues like Pierce's Disease and Eutypa.' Those are hot issues! Our job now is to go to the research community and say, this is what needs to be addressed."

Gleeson said, "To put it in simple terms, three things are needed to solve a problem: first, you have to have a problem; second, you need money to address the problem and third, a qualified scientist to work on the problem. Well, we know what the problems are, but we haven't always had the money to address the problem. What's important is the researchers are realizing that we are in a partnership. There has been a growth of trust with increased communication between the AVF and researchers."