Vineyards

Finger Lakes in New York is one of the most beautiful places to visit. Of course, there are beautiful places all over the world worth visiting. However, many will only get to visit them virtually, as in playing at an online casino South Africa.

But Finger Lakes is famous for its wine and beer and of course the wonderful scenery.  There are fabulous waterfalls, state parks, gorges and the lakes to visit.  It has become a wonderful spot for summer vacationing.   Not many people are aware of just how fabulous a region it is and what the region has to offer in terms of natural beauty and attractions. The area deserves more attention.

Some of the must do things when visiting the Finger Lakes:

Visiting the wineries

There are well over 100 wineries in the region and therefore wine tasting is one of the most popular things to do in the Finger Lakes. There are a number of wine trails.  Below are two to check out. The Keuka Wine Trail and the Seneca Lake Wine Trail.   It would be difficult to do too many but a couple is definitely doable and you get to enjoy the scenery along the way.

Keuka Wine Trail:

Keuka Spring Vineyards

When you enter the tasting rooms of the winery you will be presented with the many awards on display from their wines.  You can try a variety of white wines which include a few of their Gewurztraminers and also their red wines.  Save some room in your luggage so you can buy a few bottles to take home.

Hunt Country Vineyards

Great wine and a farmhouse lunch.  The Hunt family make great efforts to be sustainable, running their vineyard and farms on solar power energy and they are certified organic.  For instance, vin order to deal with weeds they use a mixture of clove oil and molasses.  If sustainability is important to you, drop in and discuss the things they are doing in order to be more sustainable in their wine growing.

Dr. Konstantin Frank

One of the very best wineries is situated overlooking the Keuka Lake.  Dr. Frank brought the vinifera grape varieties to the region and these preceded European wines that came to Northeastern US.   It is definitely worth a visit to enjoy the wine and food and go on the tour and learn about the history of Dr. Frank.

McGregor Vineyard

This vineyard is also on the Keuka Wine Trail and known for their production of vinifera wines. The wine experience is really fun and you get to order warm brie to taste with the wine.

Seneca Wine Trail:

Wagner Vineyards

They don’t only have wine but they have their own craft beers too. A great location with views of Seneca Lake. On Friday Nights you have a real treat with Pub Night on the Brew Deck.  Live music and dancing plus a great barbecue to enjoy.

Glenora Wine Cellars

Not only a wonderful winery with great tasting rooms but they have an amazing on- site restaurant called Verasions with wonderful views of the vineyards.  You can enjoy steak or seafood dishes and of course wine.  Here you can enjoy a lavish night out.

Fulkerson Winery

Situated near Watkins Glen they Fulkerson Winery has wonderful tasting rooms.  They also have a great gift shop where you can buy equipment to make your own wine.  It is located on a beautiful farm where you can rent out their farmhouse for a week if you want to extend your trip.

Beer Trail

Finger Lakes is fast becoming a place for craft beers.  There are over 75 craft breweries to check out.  One such brewery near Watkins Glen on Seneca Lane is Two Goats Brewery.  They offer draft Craft brews together with fabulous sunsets over the vineyards and Seneca Lake.  Definitely worth a visit.

Ithaca

Ithaca has over 150 waterfalls within a 10-mile radius of downtown.  Ithaca Falls is in the center of downtown and the amazing Taughannock Falls at Taughannock Falls State Park.  Taughannock Falls is said to be 33 feet taller than Niagara Falls! And don’t leave Ithaca without visiting the campus of Ivy League school, Cornell University

Watkins Glen

Watkins Glen is located on the southern tip of Seneca Lake.   The main street in Watkins Glen is filled with eateries and the Seneca harbor is only a short walk away. You should visit the Watkins Glen Park gorge trail where you can experience one waterfall after another. The trail has 19 waterfalls through a two- mile path and is not difficult and is suitable for every age.   Don’t miss this magical trail.

At the Seneca Harbor you must take a trip on the schooner, True Love.  The schooner was actually used in a classic film which starred Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn, The Philadelphia Story, back in 1940. You can enjoy a two- hour sailing trip while eating and drinking and enjoying wonderful music and the sunset with friends or with lovers.

Letchworth State Park

Letchworth State Park is where you can see the New York waterfalls, known as the “Grand Canyon of the East”.   You would likely be happy renting a cabin for the entire week and enjoying the area. There are 3 large waterfalls and perhaps 50 small ones that flow into the Genesee River too.   You can picnic, hike, swim or fish.  You can also do kayaking or whitewater rafting. And of course enjoy the wonderful scenery.

Corning

Visiting Corning is definitely a must.  It is surely one of the best small towns in the area.  Market Street is very welcoming and there are so many different eateries to choose from at any time of the day.  One such place is Hand and Foot.  Poppleton’s Bakery offers a fabulous breakfast and for lunch it is worth visiting Market Street Brewing Co. where you can enjoy a great draft craft beer with your meal.

There are also some lovely boutiques and other quirky shops.  Don’t forget to visit the Corning Museum of Glass where you can enjoy some very impressive glass blowing demonstrations and also experience some hands- on glass blowing.  There are some wonderful glass artifacts to view, some dating back hundreds, if not thousands of years.
Don’t leave town without visiting the Rockwell Museum which has a wonderful collection of American Art.  The Museum also has a very nice terrace with wonderful views over the town of Corning.

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SPARC Theater, sponsored by the Livermore Shakespeare Festival, will present “Life is a Cabernet” outdoors at the Darcie Kent Vineyards, 7000 Tesla Road in Livermore, today through Sunday, Aug. 15, and again next week, from Aug. 19-22.

The presentation is described as “an interactive evening of Bingo & the Bard” under “the comfortable shade of a majestic old Pepper Tree.”

“Rehearsals have been so much fun,” said artistic director Lisa Tromovitch. “We cast five insanely talented performers with musical theater and opera backgrounds, Shakespeare chops, and even stage combat training, who look forward to getting back ‘on the boards,’ in this case literally.”

The 90-minute cabaret performances will begin at 6 p.m. Tickets are $35 for front-row seats, $30 for second-row seats, and $150 for tables seating up to six guests. Tickets may be purchased by calling 925-443-BARD or by going to livermoreshakes.org/life-is-a-cabernet/.

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This article first appeared in Winepress magazine and is republished with permission.

Compaction under wheel tracks on vineyards is one of the concerns highlighted by a new Marlborough soil quality report, along with reducing levels of soil carbon under vines.

“Some vineyards are better than others, there is no doubt about it,” says Marlborough District Council environmental scientist Matt Oliver, who co-authored the report, presented to council last month.

“But they all have compaction to some degree. They all have degraded soil carbon to some degree.”

The Soil Quality Monitoring Programme has been operating for 20 years, looking at pasture, cropping and viticulture soils, and has begun to clearly identify a declining trend in some soil quality parameters, according to the report.

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* Monitoring shows Marlborough’s soil quality in ‘gradual’ state of decline

Oliver says compaction is a “fallout of our current practices”, with wheel tracks constantly impacted by mowing, trimming and spray runs.

“The compaction is slowly getting deeper and deeper and harder and harder – you are cutting off your supply of nutrients to the vines.” That comes at a cost to business, he adds.

“The biggest impact is probably on the bottom line of the producers; on their profits.”

The degraded soil carbon levels mean growers not already doing so need to look at integrated management of the undervine area, he says.

“You bite the bullet and do something different, such as undervine mowing or cultivating instead of just spraying.”

SCOTT HAMMOND/STUFF/Marlborough Express

A major issue raised by the new Marlborough soil quality report is the impact on soils of establishing new vineyards on what was pasture, including through spraying, cultivating, and earthworks around irrigation.

The report indicates that vineyard management can yield good remedial results, with three of the four 2020 vineyard wheel samples within the target range, and the observation of “good vineyard management practice in the form of well vegetated wheel tracks” observed during sample collection.

Compaction is also evident in vineyards other than the wheel area, “but seems to be dependent on the length of time a vineyard has been in production and the management regime”, says the report.

“Older vineyards tend to have reduced air filled porosity (AFP) in vine, wheel and interrow samples whereas younger vineyards often only show compaction under wheel tracks.”

It also notes that compaction may be increased where vineyard soils are stony, due to heavy rollers used to bury stones.

Nurturing soil recovery is not a one size fits all process, and procedures need to consider soil types, vineyard management and the business model, with remediation designed to be “part of a profitable bottom line”, says Oliver.

It could mean replacing an undervine spray round with mowing, reducing the width of the spray strip, or reducing the number of tractor passes done, and the number done in the wet. Where viable, companies could consider the potential to reduce runs by using multi row machinery, he adds.

Other options available are the addition of compost and other organic matter, or using a side throw mower.

“None of this is new stuff,” says Matt.

“They are all well proven techniques.” He also notes that if companies are putting in place remedial measures, “they should institute them across their entire vineyard area”.

Another major issue raised by the report is the impact on soils of establishing new vineyards on what was pasture, including through spraying, cultivating, and earthworks around irrigation.

“That actually takes out a lot of soil carbon,” says Oliver.

“Within 18 months the area under vine will have suffered a reduction in soil carbon, and reduced ability to hold water and nutrients in the soil. And there are a whole lot of consequent problems with that.”

Supplied

New vineyards are most vulnerable to soil compaction.

He would like to see growers consider the soil more when putting in new developments.

“Think about whether you need to do all that cultivation. Could you mulch or just spray the site then rip? If the cultivation is essential, think about how you can put back the soil carbon that you will lose.”

Going forward, he would like to see absentee landlords taking note of their soil stats, and for contracting companies to incorporate soil conscious practices in their management regimes, with a checklist looking at soil compaction and undervine soil carbon and spray regimes.

Oliver notes that viticulture is a relatively benign land use when it comes to water quality, but less spraying of drains would improve its footprint.

“How much money do we spend on spraying out the drains?” he asks. “Those are the sorts of things that have a material impact on water quality.”

Marlborough is in a good place environmentally, “and what we are talking about here is that, irrespective of what land use you indulge in, you have an impact”, he says.

“We are trying to become aware of what those impacts are and then address them.”

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Oregon’s status as a wine industry leader holds strong as signs point to recovery.

In 2019, the Oregon wine industry had its most successful year on record, with retail and wholesale profits up 12% and 13% respectively. Despite only making up 1.2% of wines produced in the United States, and 0.15% of wine sold across the world, Oregon labels continue to give the state a reputation, accounting for 5% of Wine Spectator’s top 100 Global Wine List. 

While the full impact of COVID-19 on Oregon’s wine industry is still being determined, recent data suggests Oregon wines continued to command a high price relative to competitors.

Due Oregon’s unique soil diversity, Oregon grapes have seen a 15% increase in sales to out-of-state vintners. Oregon Winemakers continue to pour record amounts of money into research and development. 

Despite suffering COVID-19 losses, there are plenty of bellwethers to believe Oregon wine will be quick to recover.

Source: Oregon Wine Board. 

“Our onsite sales were down 30% in 2020, but offsite sales actually increased 1.5% from last year.”says Sarah Murdoch,director of communications for the Oregon Wine Board.

It may not seem like much, but growth by any metric during a year when most vineyards had to focus on cost-saving measures is welcome news for an industry beleaguered by a year of setbacks. 

Murdoch says the biggest pandemic sting was felt in May of 2020, the annual celebration of Oregon Wine Month. Wine is a highly seasonal business, and typically the wine board organizes events and tastings throughout the month. The summer tasting room experience is not something able to be recreated online. 

But over the holidays, when offsite wine sales are at their highest, some vintners have seen substantial growth. 

RELATED STORY: State of Grapes

“Online sales have been very important for us, and they have increased substantially, especially ” during our busiest months.” says José Cruz, winery sales ambassador for Willamette Valley Vineyards. Ordering online and over the phone had already become the bulk of the company’s sales. Over the holiday season, company sales more than doubled. 

With wine discovery platforms like PIX set to make finding top-rated wine easier than ever, consumers wanting to order high-quality wine from home will be able to rely on more than just the label to make buying decisions. 

Lambs deployed by Soter Vineyards to manage flammable debris. Credit: Soter Vineyards

Wildfires remain a concern for Willamette Valley vintners. Not only do fires pose a risk to workers, smoke has the potential to damage red wine grapes. As climate changes continues to create extreme weather patterns, these fires are sure to increase.

To combat fires, vineyards have deployed sheep and other livestock to manage flammable materials. Testing for smoke damage is also becoming cheaper, faster, and more accurate. 

Now that COVID-19 dining restrictions have been lifted across the state, efforts to bring attention to Oregon wine have resumed. The annual Wine Media Conference, which was held in Eugene August 5-7, will bring wine bloggers and industry influences together to promote the state’s very best in wine. 

RELATED STORY: Winemakers Test for Smoke Damage

Residents will have to upload their COVID-19 vaccination card in order to attend. A measure Murdoch says will ensure the wine tasting experience is safe and enjoyable. 

Concern remains over the COVID-19’s delta variant, which has the potential to shut down indoor dining once again if the number of unvaccinated Oregonians remains stable.

But as of now, the industry is going back to showcasing the region’s quality using the only metric that matters: taste. 

“There’s always the worry we are about to go back to restrictions. We’re still struggling,” Murdoch says “But we’re making a comeback.” . 

 To subscribe to Oregon Business, click here.

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Owner and winemaker Maynard James Keenan has expanded the existing kitchen at the Old Town Scottsdale Merkin Vineyards location, which now features a Morello Forni Cupola Dome wood-fired oven, imported from Italy. With the kitchen expansion comes the introduction of the company’s new executive chef, Steve Zimmerman, along with exciting additions to the current menu.

“He’s the perfect culinary artist for our vision,” said Keenan.

Before joining Merkin, Zimmerman was executive chef at the Wyndham Phoenix Hotel. He joined Widewaters Hotels in 2017 and created Tres Kitchen and Bar, a Southwestern Mediterranean wood burning restaurant concept as well as developed and oversaw the culinary programs for two additional hotels.

“Our dishes feature ingredients grown in our Northern Arizona greenhouses, gardens, and orchards, and we supplement with produce sourced from local Arizona growers,” said Keenan. “Merkin Vineyards farm-to-table, vine-to-glass concept is the cornerstone of our success, and it’s a concept we intend to continue developing.”

The new menu will update regularly with dishes that highlight Merkin Vineyard’s ingredients as they change throughout the season. Handmade pizzas, pastas and cast-iron skillet items will be a welcome addition. A classic margarita pizza, the Calabrian with chorizo, schinken, bacon, calabrian chiles, fig jam and fontina cheese and the Crucifixen, which features Merkin farm cruciferous veggies, roasted garlic, Parmesan spread, fresh mozzarella and fontina cheeses, will be part of the core menu. Plus, a daily seasonal specialty pizza. Small batch house-made pasta will feature Merkin classics such as gnocchi, cacio y pepe, and lasagna cupcakes as well as a fresh daily dish using seasonal ingredients. Charcuterie and cheese boards, seasonal salads and other shareable appetizers including bacon wrapped dates will also be served. Keenan and his team pride themselves on making everything from scratch, aiming to serve exquisite food that pairs well with the award-winning Arizona wines.

In addition to Caduceus Cellars, Merkin Vineyards Four 8 Wineworks, and the Puscifer-branded canned bubbly wine, the storefront also has a revolving supply of sundries from the Merkin farms, including olives, apple butter and jam plus house-made gelati and sorbetti inspired by seasonal ingredients.

Merkin Vineyards is located at 7133 E. Stetson Dr., Ste. 4, in Scottsdale and is open Sunday through Thursday, 11am–9pm, and 11am–11pm on Friday and Saturday. For more information, visit www.merkinoldtownscottsdale.com.

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France’s wine production could drop by as much as 30 per cent this year to its lowest level in decades after vineyards were hit by spring frosts and summer downpours, its farm ministry said.

The weather toll on the harvest could bring further headaches for a French wine sector that has seen demand dented over the past year by the coronavirus pandemic and US tariffs.

Champagne producers have warned their harvest potential has been cut by about half due to severe spring frosts followed by torrential summer rain that caused mildew fungus.

In its first outlook for national wine output, the French farm ministry on Friday projected 2021 production at between 32.6 million and 35.6 million hectolitres, 24-30 per cent less than last year.

A hectolitre is the equivalent of 100 litres, or 133 standard wine bottles.

“Wine production in 2021 is forecast to be historically weak, below levels in 1991 and 2017 that were also affected by severe frost in spring,” the ministry said in a report.

Overall production would be the lowest since at least 1970, ministry data showed, with nearly all production hit by frosts.

Meanwhile, mildew disease spawned by soggy summer conditions affected areas including Champagne, Alsace and Beaujolais.

Wine producers have previously projected that frosts may cut French production by a third.

With grapes about 10 days to two weeks behind last year’s growth pace, there was still time for yields to recover slightly, said Jerome Despey, a producer and head of the wine committee at farming agency FranceAgriMer.

Early harvesting was just starting in the far south of France compared with late July in 2020, he said.

Champagne producers say their longstanding practice of adjusting supply with stocks from previous seasons will prevent any spike in prices of the sparkling wine.

The impact on the wider wine market may depend on whether coronavirus variants lead to further restrictions on hospitality and tourism.

“Wine producers are facing major difficulties this year,” said Mr Despey. “The lost production will never be made up for by market prices.”

In Italy, the world’s largest wine producer, farmers association Coldiretti estimates output could fall 5-10 per cent this year, to 44-47 million hectolitres.

High temperatures have led to the harvest starting a week early in the south, while in the north grape growth was running about 10 days late after heavy rain, Coldiretti said.

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It’s harvest time in the Texas Hill Country, and so the winemaking begins. Grape stomping, or pigeage (pronounced peej-AHJE), means “punching down,” was once a key component in the winemaking process. Since the introduction of modern machinery, this traditional method of maceration with bare feet is now done primarily for entertainment and photo ops.

Should you want to get your feet “wet,” here are several area vineyards and wineries hosting grape stomps this season. Most require reservations.

Barons Creek Vineyards

Aug. 6-8

5865 U.S. 290 East, Fredericksburg; 830-304-3000 (pre-purchase tickets)

290 Wine Castle Chateau de Chasse

Aug. 14-15 and 21-22

101 Durango, Johnson City; 512-790-2654

Hye Meadow Winery

Aug. 7, 14, 21 and 28

10257 U.S. 290 West, Hye; 830-308-8551 (pre-purchase tickets)

Messina Hof Winery-Hill Country

Harvest Festival with grape stomps

Sunset Festival on Sept. 3; Daytime Festival on Sept. 4

9996 U.S. 290 East, Fredericksburg; 830-990-4653 (pre-purchase tickets)

Pedernales Cellars

Sept. 4-5

2916 Upper Albert Road, Stonewall; 830-644-2037 (pre-purchase tickets)

Texas Heritage Vineyard

Aug. 7

3245 U.S. 290 East, Fredericksburg; 830-992-3323 (pre-purchase tickets)

Texas Wine Collective (McPherson Cellars/Lost Oak Winery/Brennan Vineyards)

Grape Stomp and Paella Party on Aug. 14

10354 U.S. 290 East, Fredericksburg; 830-997-7470 (pre-purchase tickets)

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In a non-COVID year, Australia’s vineyards host more than eight million wine tourists. While these visitors benefit wine producers and regional communities, they also generate a substantial amount of greenhouse gases.

If fact, our recent research showed tourist visits to vineyards comprise more than one-third of the industry’s total carbon footprint.

Wine tourism – also called “cellar door” visits – involves visiting vineyards, wineries, wine festivals and events to taste, drink and buy wine.

The Australian wine industry has already been forced to adapt to the effects of climate change. If it fails to curb emissions associated with wine tourism, the industry is contributing to its own demise.

Temperature change and ‘terroir’

In 2019, wine tourism contributed A$9.3 billion to the Australian economy – creating more jobs and economic output than any other part of the industry. It promotes exports and provides vital financial support for small winemakers and family farms that rely on cellar door sales to visitors.

When wine tourists aren’t in vineyards and tasting rooms, they often visit local restaurants, as well as cultural attractions such as museums, concerts and festivals.

Wine tourism gives travellers the chance to experience a region’s “terroir” – the particular geology, landscape, soil and climate that come together to make a region’s wine special.

Wine grapes however are particularly susceptible to temperature changes. In fact, the wine industry has been described as “the canary in the coal mine” for the way climate change will affect agriculture.

In Australia, winemakers have already been forced to adapt to heatwaves, drought, increased fire risk and salinity.

Previous research commissioned by Wine Australia has found global warming will bring many changes to the industry. For example, Australian winemakers may struggle to grow cool-climate varieties such as chardonnay and pinot noir.

Despite the industry’s vulnerability, the environmental sustainability of wine tourism is rarely addressed by either the industry or the academic literature. Our recent research sought to close this knowledge gap.

Our findings

Past research into the wine industry’s carbon footprint has examined factors such as the emissions created by shipping the wine in heavy glass bottles.

Our research examined wine tourism activities that create carbon emissions, such as those associated with transport, accommodation, food and shopping. We traced how much wine tourists spend on the journey and the energy required to produce those services. We then allocated a share of total emissions to cellar door visits.

We found Australian wine tourism generates 790,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emisisons each year – one-third of the industry’s total carbon footprint. This translates to an average 101 kilograms of carbon emissions per winery trip, per person.

Domestic overnight wine tourists contributed the majority of environmental impacts (82%). However, due to their higher spending at wineries, their carbon emissions were lower than that of travellers from overseas when measured per dollar of spending.

We estimate one-quarter of wine tourists in Australia come from overseas, and long-haul flights form around 75% of international wine tourism’s carbon footprint.

Because of factors such as shorter flights, visitors from countries nearer to Australia – such as New Zealand, Hong Kong, China and Singapore – produce 20-40% fewer emissions per dollar spent than visitors from the United States and the United Kingdom.

Stock up at the cellar door

Given the emisisons associated with international wine tourism, Australian wineries should target visits by domestic tourists. This would benefit both the environment and regional economies starved of international visitors during the pandemic.

In terms of overseas travellers, the Australian wine industry should target short-haul markets such as China, Japan and Singapore. This would reduce the industry’s reliance on tourists travelling to Australia on emissions-intensive long-haul flights.

Many of us will be wine tourists at some point – perhaps for an afternoon, overnight or even on an overseas trip to a famous wine region. So what can you do about your carbon footprint?

Visit accredited wineries that commit to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. And while you’re there, buy more bottles than you might have otherwise.

The typical Australian wine tourist buys three or four bottles at the cellar door. Why not make it a half dozen or more? A trip in which you buy ten bottles is more environmentally friendly than ten trips where you buy one bottle each time. And join the wine club for direct shipping.

Our cellar door purchases can also boost the bottom lines of wineries and enable them to invest in environmental sustainability. Few virtuous acts taste as good.

Ya-Yen Sun does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

/Courtesy of The Conversation. This material comes from the originating organization and may be of a point-in-time nature, edited for clarity, style and length.

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For episode three of the Stoel Rives | Deeply Rooted Podcast, host Kirk Maag sat down with Elin Miller, Founder of UmpquaNut Farm and Umpqua Vineyards. In the episode, Elin talked about breaking barriers as one of the first women to be elected for the Future Farmers of America and the progress made for women in agriculture. Elin also shared challenges facing Oregon vineyards, her service on the Oregon Board of Agriculture, and helping small farmers worldwide with her nonprofit See more +

For episode three of the Stoel Rives | Deeply Rooted Podcast, host Kirk Maag sat down with Elin Miller, Founder of UmpquaNut Farm and Umpqua Vineyards. In the episode, Elin talked about breaking barriers as one of the first women to be elected for the Future Farmers of America and the progress made for women in agriculture. Elin also shared challenges facing Oregon vineyards, her service on the Oregon Board of Agriculture, and helping small farmers worldwide with her nonprofit work.

Returning to the Family Farm

After a successful career in the agribusiness industry, Elin and her husband felt the pull of owning land to farm. “I always wanted to farm,” Elin said, adding her husband, “had farmed we bought back the family farm that had fallen out of the family.” After planting hazelnuts on the farm in the Umpqua valley, they also planted wine grapes on adjacent land that had been in the family since the mid-1800s.

Growing hazelnuts and wine grapes are part of the richness and diversity of agriculture commodities here in Oregon. There is a diversity of products that Oregon agriculture produces, from hazelnuts, wine grapes, and in Eastern Oregon- corn, wheat, alfalfa, and cattle.

Breaking Ground and Diversity in Agriculture

As a high school freshman, Elin looked back at an event that would become a turning point that pointed her towards a career in agriculture. Fred McClure, the first African American national officer for Future Farmers of America (FFA), visited her class and spoke about the opportunities in agriculture. Elin said, “it was so inspiring. I said, ‘wow,’ if only I could be like him. And that began my journey of working towards getting my American Degree and being able to run for national office (in the FFA).” In 1979, Elin became the third woman to be elected to national office for the FFA.

Since Elin’s election to national office, Elin noted that now about half of the leaders for the FFA are women. But, there is still much more work to be done. “Every company continues to struggle in diversifying and to attract and retain diverse talent. We in agriculture need to always continue to look at diversity and make sure we are reflective of the various opportunities and individuals we work with on a global and local basis,” Elin said. Host Kirk Maag added that agriculture needs to continue to ask, “how do we as an industry make sure every person that has a passion for agriculture feels welcome, and feel like there is a place for them in the industry. The more we can promote that message, we will expand the diversity of folks involved in our industry.”

Representing the Wine Industry in Oregon and Challenges Ahead

As the Oregon Wine Council chair, the association represents about 60% of the Oregon wine grapes grown, produced, and sold in the state. The council was formed in 2019 to bring a broader focus and voice for the industry to Oregon lawmakers. “We came off the economic impact of COVD, the economic impact of the smoke (from the forest fires), and then into this very difficult legislative session, potentially raising taxes on wine. I think we have been relatively successful in the challenges that have faced us in this legislative session,” Elin said.

Elin further discussed the impact of ‘smoke taint’ from the devastating Oregon forest fires in 2020. “There’s a lot more information that is available on how you can mitigate the potential negative effects with wine. As the science progresses, people are learning a lot more on how to utilize those grapes, but at the same time the worst thing that can happen is if those grapes are not going to end up producing a high-quality bottle of wine. It’s important that at the end of the day for Oregon, and brands, we have the highest quality wine output,” Elin said.

In addition to representing the wine industry in the Oregon Wine Council, Elin is also a member of the Oregon Board of Agriculture and serves on the board for nonprofit Cultivating New Frontier in Agriculture (CFNA). Through all of Elin’s board service, she values the opportunity to help shape the future of agriculture with her leadership experience. “One of the things I think that is important for any position in leadership is being able to gather people together and really look at what strategic direction we should be thinking about.”

To listen to this episode and future episodes, subscribe to the Stoel Rives | Deeply Rooted podcast at https://www.stoel.com/the-stoel-rives-deeply-rooted-podcast or on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. See less –

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Taste and history are two assets of the city of Malatya in southeastern Turkey. Recently the 8,000-year-old Arslantepe Mound has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. This long-awaited inclusion will help for the recognition of the city in the world, but it is not only historical assets that the city possesses. Malatya apricots are already world famous, and the city has numerous registered flavors.

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The very first Arslantepe excavations started in 1930 at Atatürk’s request, and since 1961 carried out by the La Sapienza University of Rome. The Anatolian Civilizations Museum in Ankara houses many Arslantepe artifacts. The mound carries the traces of many civilizations, starting from the late Chalcolithic period, between the fourth and third millennium BC. The importance of Arslantepe lies in the fact that it represents the birth of one of the earliest city-states of Anatolia, where the first state model emerged, and that it created a central hierarchal authority controlling the agriculture, trade and regional economy around it. Agriculture and trade had always been important in the history of Malatya, for centuries its environs were famed for its fruit orchards and in particular apricots. The ancient name of the city is Melita, which comes from the Hittite word melit, or milit, which means honey. The word later passed to Greek, and eventually forming of the basis of the word melittology used for beekeeping. Today Malatya has good honey, but it is the almost honey-sweet apricots the city is famed for.

Malatya had always been like the fruit basket of eastern Anatolia region being home to wonderful vineyards and fruit gardens bearing the sweetest fruits. The 17th century Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi describes the city as a heavenly place blessed with delicious fruits, mentioning the existence of 7,800 vineyards and 600 fruit and vegetable gardens. He seems to be fascinated by the abundance of apples, cherries, apricots and grapes. He reckons that the climate is a very pleasant one with crisp clean air and plenty of fresh water sources, the fruit orchards flowing like a river along the long valley of Malatya.

Today, most of those fruits are listed in the geographical appellation list of Turkey. Malatya has in total 12 tastes registered, 4 local dishes and products with regionality indication, and 7 fruits and dried fruits with geographical appellation. Needless to say, the apricot took the lead and got listed back in 2002. Its fame was already in dried fruit shelves around the globe, especially in Europe, but it was in 2007 that the Malatya apricot got registered by the EU, receiving the title of protected designation of origin. When talking of apricots in Malatya it is not only the fresh fruit itself that has tremendous economic value—actually dried apricots have more, the city produces 90 percent of all apricots exported from Turkey. Considering that Turkey is the number one apricot producer in the world, one can easily say that the city is the epicenter of apricot growing in the world. There are many apricot products in the city, even the dried varieties are dazzling, sun-dried with rich toffee-like flavor, fresh looking bright orange oven-dried ones with fruitier taste, butterflied extra sour ones ideal for cooking in meat stews, and so on. The variety of apricot flavors extend to apricot nectar, jams and preserves, apricot-based Turkish delight and above all apricot fruit leather, which must be the most intensely flavored of all. Just nibbled with a handful of almonds or apricot kernels, it makes the most ideal healthy snack ever. By the way, apricot kernel of Malatya also got in the GI list in 2020.

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In such an apricot-centric city, it seems that the other stars of the fruit basket go missing unfortunately, but Malatya is also reputed with its cherries, especially the Dalbastı variety, which is not a word easy to translate. “Dal” means branch in Turkish, and “bastı” stands for “laden with, or “heavily crowded with,” which indicates a fruit that comes in cascading clusters, branches bursting with cherries. Mulberries are also very important in Malatya’s culture, but only its fruit leather is listed with regional indication. Normally, the fruit leather made from white mulberry juice (dut pestili) is silky smooth, but here it is dotted by the crunchiness of poppy seeds. Then there are the grapes, of course. Here the most famous ones are the deep dark colored black grapes. Among all, two varieties are listed: “Köhnü Üzümü” from Arapgir district, and “Malatya Banazı Karası,” the latter usually dried in whole bunches, making the most attractive decoration in winter tables. Arapgir grapes are now also revived in wine making in the city Tokat, giving promising results. Grape products are also abundant in Şire Pazarı in town, which gets its name “Şire” meaning grape juice or must. Threaded walnut garlands dipped in thickened grape juice that gels around the nuts and forms the tastiest health snack, hanging up in Şire Pazarı gracefully like the most delicious edible decoration ever. Of course, the walnuts are also listed, the fat, pale-colored “Hekimhan Cevizi” grown in Hekinhan district is another GI list product of the town. Last but not least, a surprising 2017 addition to the list is not a fruit, but an herb, so tasty and colorful that it is almost treated like a fruit in Malatya. It is the purple basil, “Reyhan” in Turkish. It is not only the trademark herb of Malatla cuisine, but it is made into salads, pesto-like pastes with walnuts, turned into jams, jellies, and the brightest colored warm tisanes or cold sherbets.

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It would not be a far-fetched description to call Malatya the fruit basket of Anatolia, even if the basket would be full of apricots.

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Cork of the Week: Another grape from Arapgir is making a comeback in bottles. Karaoğlan is an indigenous grape of the region, now revived to make a wonderfully balanced delicious wine in Tokat. Powerful, yet velvety, this newly re-discovered grape variety will surely conquer the heart of wine lovers, even the name meaning “Black Boy” has heroic annotations, often a loving nickname for brave-heart young men of Anatolia, sometimes the hero of a desperate love, sometimes the unsung hero in defense of a good cause.

Fork of the Week: Malatya cuisine is one of the richest in Turkey, yet to be discovered, not justly recognized. Now we have a new book published by Chef Ali Açıkgül, owner of Chefs Academy in Ankara. He is originally a native of Malatya, still having elderly relatives living in rural Arapgir district. The book is both in Turkish and English, gives a selection of the childhood tastes of the chef (44 one of them, if not more hidden in between the lines), some almost forgotten, giving a broad insight to the local produce and traditions. The book is only available on the internet, but probably his Academy in Ankara would stock copies.

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