Enology and Viticulture

Looking for materials from a workshop or presentation? See our presentations page for educational materials from our 2010-2012 workshop series.

Harvest and Fermentation Update from the Enology Services Lab at Appalachian State University:

Click here for a preliminary overview of NC harvest 2011, or check out the full presentation version updated in February 2012. We plan to provide access to regularly compiled data from hundreds of juice and wine samples submitted to the Enology Services Lab in a confidential and anonymous format for your reference.

Information includes popular NC varieties, as well as average BRIX, pH, acids, VA, Residual Sugar, etc on juice and wine samples submitted from August through early October 2011.

As you will see from the data, the more samples and descriptive information (varietal, vintage, etc) that you send, the more details we can provide and well help you consider your own data in the context of other data collected throughout the state. Feel free to make suggestions on how this may be made most useful for your own needs.

North Carolina is a very diverse grape growing region with successful commercial plantings of European wine varieties (Vitis vinifera), Muscadine varieties (Vitis rotundifolia) and several French-American Hybrid varieties. Additional fruit crops produced in North Carolina including apples, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries are also fermented into wines.

Increasing the quality and sustainability of grape and wine production is the focus of the Enology and Viticulture program at Appalachian State University.

The primary objective for this program is to directly assist wine and winegrape producers in North Carolina with product quality improvement at a time of rapid industry growth. Nationally, North Carolina is ranked 10th in number of wineries, with a growth rate over the past five years higher than that of other forthcoming wine producing states such as Virginia and New York.

In 2005, the full economic impact of the North Carolina wine and grape industry was estimated to be $813.3 million including $158 million in direct employment. At that time wine represented $122.4 million in tourism dollars. In the past 5 years, the number of wineries has increased from 49 to over 106, more than doubling the presence of these businesses. In that time, total wine production in North Carolina showed an increase of 60 percent. The number of grape growers has increased from 350 to 400 in five years, with a vineyard acreage increase of almost 40 percent. The North Carolina Wine and Grape Council reported 4800 tons of grapes harvested in 2009. Additionally, 85 percent of North Carolina wineries are small businesses that produce 5,000 cases or less per year. Only 2 percent of wineries in the state produce 50,000 or more cases per year.

Many wine grape grower and winemakers find themselves at a similar stage of development; either in establishment, expansion, or in the early stages of viable yields. Those producers who have been in operation for five years or more are pursuing a quality of product to the national industry standard.

To address this need, the Enology Services Laboratory at Appalachian State University provides vital analytical information to growers and wine makers. The sensory analysis of wines is another practice vital to quality wine production. A sensory analysis team established in a winery evaluates products from pre- harvest fruit source to fermentation and aging to bottling. Wine industry members are also encouraged to utilize the sensory panel analysis offered through the Enology Services Laboratory.

The Enology Services Laboratory at ASU has been collecting preliminary data from over 1,000 samples submitted since August of 2010 on grapes, juice, must, and wine. A database is currently under construction to allow for quantitative analysis of results.