Outer Coastal Plain Vineyard Association
Minutes of 1/27/10 Meeting
On January 27, 2010 the quarterly meeting of the OCPVA was held at the Rutgers Agricultural Research Center in Centerton, NJ. The meeting was called to order at 6 PM by Larry Coia.
Old Business: The membership was reminded that dues for the 2010 year are now due. An application is available on the Association website and reminders were sent to members.
New Business:
1. The Association is receiving inquiries from people interested in starting new vineyards in the OCPVA or elsewhere in New Jersey. There is a potential for members who are interested to provide “fee for service” advice to those seeking such information. Any members who are interested in offering themselves for such services should make the Board aware of it so that they can be listed on the website as potential consultants to start up operations. Also the Association will email members to inquire about their interest in such a service.
2. Block Grant Discussions. As previously noted the Association has been granted a USDA Block Grant. We have not yet received the funds from the grant but a discussion was held regarding the intended use of those funds as follows:
Surveys Dan Ward will be requesting all members to submit their priorities for proposed research so that he can gather the information for submission to Viticulture Consortium East for possible inclusion in their research programs. Members will be asked to rank their priorities which will be later narrowed down to the most popular topics.
Dan will also be sending out a vineyard survey in which he will compile information of New Jersey’s current vineyards. It is important that all current vineyard owners respond to this on a timely basis.
Vineyard Site Mapping: Part of the funds will also be used to create a statewide vineyard suitability mapping tool which is being developed collaboratively with Rutgers and Rowan University personnel. The work on this has begun in advance of the funding from the grant. The mapping will be a comprehensive database of many criteria that when finished will have a variety of uses and contain extensive information.
Symposium: The Association’s first Symposium will be held on March 27, 2010 at Rutgers Agricultural Research Center in Centerton. The agenda will focus on the comparison of New Jersey’s potential for growing high quality wine grapes and the practices and experiences of Bordeaux. An impressive group of presenters with extensive experience in Bordeaux will present the program. Specific information about the program and the people on it will be available soon. The program will be limited to 80 registrants. There was also a discussion on the type of marketing and advertising to be undertaken to promote the symposium.
3. Bench Grafting Demonstration: Association members were given a practical bench grafting demonstration by Frank Salek of Sylvin Farms Winery. Frank has been grafting his own vines for many years and gave attendees an informative presentation which included a slide presentation of his methods and a “hands on” grafting demonstration using his own grafting machine.