UC Blog
Wine alcohol content is going up
The Wall Street Journal's wine critic, Lettie Teague, said winemakers are beginning to push beyond wine's traditional alcohol-content ceiling of 14 percent - sacrificing the favor of some wine afficionados for flavor and intensity.
The federal government taxes wines with 7 to 14 percent alcohol as "table wine," and taxes wines with 14 to 24 percent alcohol at a much higher rate as "dessert wine."
A wine's alcohol is determined by the grape's sugar content. As grapes ripen, they accumulate sugar, which is converted to alcohol during the fermentation process. The higher the sugar, the higher the potential alcohol of the wine.
UC Davis agricultural economist and director of the Robert Mondavi Institute Center for Wine Economics Julian Alston has charted the sugar content of grapes over the past 30 years, Teague reported. He said grape sugar is on its way up, leading to wine with higher alcohol contents.
Alston attributes the change to climate, later harvests and growing popularity of big-flavored, full-fruit wines.
"Mr. Alston calls this 'the Parker Effect,'" Teague wrote, "a reference to wine critic Robert M. Parker, who seems to get blamed for most things in the wine world these days."
Parker is a U.S. wine critic with international influence, according to Wikipedia. He created a 100-point wine grading system and says he scores wines on how much pleasure they give him. Parker believes corruption and other problems have made his consumer-oriented approach necessary and inevitable.
Meanwhile, many fine wine purveyors won't even try wines with alcohol content above 14 percent, Teague reported."I won't taste wines over 14 percent alcohol, because I want a balanced wine, and I think 14 percent is the threshold of a balanced wine," the story quoted Rajat Parr, wine director of the San Francisco-based Michael Mina restaurant group.
"Is (this) just the next form of wine snobbery . . .?" muses Teague.
Wine tasting (Photo: Brenda Dawson)
Farm advisor hails self-pollinating almond
A self-pollinating almond variety under study at the USDA's research facility in Parlier would relieve farmers of costly annual bee rental to pollinate their trees, according to an article in Saturday's Fresno Bee.
"That is like the Holy Grail," UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Roger Duncan told Bee reporter Robert Rodriguez.
"You can feel that hairiness with your tongue," the release quoted USDA geneticist Craig Ledbetter. “That can turn off U.S. almond consumers, who are used to the smooth texture of Nonpareils."
Ledbetter used Tuono as the male parent in conventional hybridizations with California almond cultivars and selections. In 2008, he brought eight promising self-pollinating selections to the California Almond Board for evaluation of taste and appearance. Testers rated the nuts comparable to Nonpareils, the USDA release said.
ABC Action News in Fresno also took on the story. It said Ledbetter began his work with self-pollinating almond trees 17 years ago out of fears Africanized bees could kill off local hives.
"It was out of those concerns we really started the program," Ledbetter told reporter Dale Yurong. "It's ironic that a different bee problem (Colony Collapse Disorder) came up."
Bee hives in a California almond orchard.
Weekend Family Fun on the Farm
I just checked the weather. Only a few clouds in the forecast, some sunshine and temperatures in the low 70s this weekend, sunshine again next weekend. It looks just perfect for a family trip out to a farm or two to enjoy a picnic on the green grass under the blossoms. Here's a few suggestions for getting out there:
Blossoms, Bees & Barnyard Babies by
Sonoma County Farm Trails Sunday April 18, 2010
A one-day event offering the public "a behind-the-scenes peek at Sonoma County's finest food and agriculture" For $25 per vehicle or $10 per person, visitors can walk through orchards and fields in bloom, see newly-born animals, sample local honeys and learn the art of beekeeping, and a whole lot more. Reserve Your All-Farm-Pass today, available until sold out. On-line at the site above or 707-837-8896
Mariposa Agri-Nature Trail presents A Weekend in the Country - April 24 & 25, 2010 - Saturday 10:00 am - 5:00 pm ** Sunday 10:00 am - 4:00 pm ** (866) 425-3366
A full schedule of events is planned, with farmers, vintners and ranchers at 11 different beautiful foothill locations opening their gates to the public, offering tours, demonstrations, tastes and even catch-&-release fishing for the kids. Tickets are $10 per person or $25 per family, purchased in advance at the Mariposa Visitors Center, participating wineries or at the first location you visit on the day of the event. Check out the schedule of events and a very sweet video at their website
Apple Blossom Festival - April 17 and 18, 2010 presented by the Apple Hill Growers Association, El Dorado County
Experience the incradible beauty of mother nature as thousands of apple trees flaunt their spring bloom. A variety of activities are offered by many of the 55 individual ranches who are members of the assoication. There's an Apple Blossom Cross Country run for the ambitious. (register at www.applehill.com) Other adventures: complimentary wine and dessert pariehs, a train around Cider Lake, horse and pony rides, an opportunity to get inside a real bakeshop kitchen, at-the-orchard cooking classes, quilt show and quilt raffle, wine tasting, and even artists painting "in the open air" Lots to enjoy before there's even an apple in sight! (530) 644-7692
Volunteers battle Sudden Oak Death
To better understand the extent of sudden oak death in California, UC Berkeley professor Mateo Garbelotto is enlisting volunteers in "SOD blitzes" to scour neighborhoods and wildlands for symptoms of the devastating disease, according to a story in the Oakland Tribune.
Sudden oak death, caused by a fungus Phytophthora ramorum, has resulted in widespread dieback of coast live oak, California black oak, Shreve oak, tan oak and canyon live oak in Central and Northern California and Oregon coastal areas.
The Oakland Tribune article, written by Jonathon Morales, said the blitz isn't comprehensive or scientific, but Garbelotto believes the volunteers' efforts are helpful. The SOD blitzes inform and educate the community about Sudden Oak Death, get locals involved in detecting the disease, and produce detailed local maps of disease distribution."If you were to think, 'Oh, I know where sudden oak death is' and you're using data that was produced two years ago, probably you actually don't have a good idea where it is," Garbelotto was quoted.
The blitzes also benefit property owners by letting them know whether their own trees are infected. If detected early, Garbelotto said, there's a chance a property owner can save the tree.
Blitzes are scheduled for April and May. Dates, locations, contact information and reports on previous blitzes are on Garbelotto's Forest Pathology and Mycology Lab Web site.
A Big Sur tan oak that succumbed to sudden oak death.
Share value of UC with anecdotes, Berkeley prof says
Relating the economic impact of University of California programs may not be the best way to increase the university's share of the state budget, according to UC Berkeley emeritus professor of Agriculture and Resource Economics George Goldman.
Goldman presented his ideas about public perceptions of UC economic benefits at a recent faculty seminar. The event was covered by UC Berkeley student blogger Tess Townsend at http://caledinsider.org. Underscoring the emerging importance of citizen journalism, Townsend writes that her work has been picked up by the likes of Politico, the National Student News Service and the Colbert Report.
Goldman said in his presentation that anecdotes are more powerful than numbers in communicating the value of programs.“People don’t change their minds based on economic impacts,” Goldman was quoted in the blog.
Publicizing the fiscal impact of UC may be futile.
“The good news is maybe we don’t need to know,” Goldman was quoted. “Maybe we just need to say this is the state of California, this is the University of California, and the state needs this institution.”
George Goldman