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Summer 2000 Newsletter
General Winery News Special Report Our Featured Restaurant Personnel Corner |
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General winery news:
Napa & Sonoma still clear of glassy-
On June 23 of this year a federal emergency declaration was issued for the glassy-winged sharpshooter infestation in California. A joint state-federal plan will allocate $36 million to preventing the spread of this pest, which has already devastated vineyards in Riverside County. Infestations have also been found in eleven other counties including Fresno, Sacramento, Kern and Tulare. If unchecked, it is feared that the insect will spread northward, further damaging California vineyards and other crops.
According to Ed Weber, Napa County Farm Advisor for the University of California Co-op Extension (and a JPV alumnus), the GWSS was inadvertently introduced into Southern California about 10 years ago and is of particular concern to grape growers due to its ability to transmit Xylella fastidiosa, the bacterium that causes Pierce's Disease. The GWSS was identified about three years ago in the Temecula region of Southern California. Today, Pierce's Disease is so widespread that the future viability of the region to produce grapes is in doubt. | ||||
 Glassy-winged sharpshooter adult next to the smaller blue-green sharpshooter. The GWSS feeds on over 100 plant species including almond, apple, apricot, cherry, citrus, eucalyptus, grape, magnolia. oak, peach and walnut.
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"We are being extremely vigilant," reports Philippe Pessereau, JPV's viticulturist. "As soon as vine growth began this year, we set traps in all our vineyards and currently monitor them a minimum of every two weeks. Results are sent to the Napa County Ag Commis-sioner. So far, the insect is not present in any of our vineyards."
In "Vineyard Views," a University of California Co-op extension newsletter dated December 29, 1999, Weber describes the scope of the threat: "Several factors make the glassy-winged sharpshooter a much more important vector of Pierce's disease than the blue-green sharpshooter (BGSS), which is currently the most important vector in the North Coast:
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 Adult glassy-winged sharpshooters ona grape cane. |
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"Glassy-winged sharpshooters could dramatically change this pattern. They feed on stems rather than leaves, and will often feed right at the base of canes. By inoculating Xylella fastidiosa so close to the vine's permanent wood, infections made during the summer months are likely to result in chronic Pierce's Disease. This will give rise to exponential increases in disease incidence and Pierce's Disease will no longer be just an edge disease.
"Of considerable importance right now is identifying where in California glassy-winged sharpshooters already exist and trying to limit their spread to other areas. One of the likely ways that spread will occur is with the movement of contaminated nursery stock. GWSS feed and reproduce on a wide range of ornamental plants. Many large ornamental nurseries are in Southern California and they ship plants throughout the state." The California Dept. of Food & Agriculture is currently inspecting all such shipments from infested counties, but a visual inspection program may not be sufficient because the egg masses of GWSS are very difficult to detect. Trapping in retail nurseries is already occurring in Napa County, but because plants move in and out relatively quickly, most introductions will not be detected this way. For further information about Pierce's Disease and glassy-winged sharpshooters, go to the following websites:
Joseph Phelps Vineyards launches new on-line shopping page at www.jpvwines.com A new, more efficient, on-line shopping page is up and running on the web, with a good assortment of wines available for sale. (It's important to note that we can only ship to reciprocal states which include AK, CA, CO, IA, ID, IL, LA, MN, MO, MT, NE, NH, NM, NV, OR, RI, WA, WI AND WV.) The new page is being hosted by Winetasting.com, a new on-line shopping site where, beginning in October, customers will have the option of purchasing wines from different wineries in the same shopping cart, and having them ship in one package with one credit card charge. In addition to Phelps, other participating wineries include Arrowood, Burgess, Chateau Montelena, Far Niente, Trefethen, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Ravens-wood and Schramsberg. At this time we only have the ability to program a 10% case discount into the site, so Phelps Preferred members will still have to order directly from the winery to receive their additional discount. Take a look and let us know what you think.  Next News Story |
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