Meet the Hosts:

Anne and Randall met up at the Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Alliance conference in late February. A few weeks after that we met up to record this episode that gives a background on us. Anne and Randall got into the grape and wine industry in different ways, but also share some common experiences.

In this episode:

• Recap of the IGGVA (Illinois) Annual Grape and Wine Education and Conference and what makes these conferences valuable (2:00)
• State grapes: what are they, pros and cons, etc. (7:02)
• How Anne and Randall got into the grape and wine industry (14:45)
• What are we up to now (41:05)

• Where Tom’s cultivars are grown
• How grape breeding and new wine cultivars fit into sustainability in light of recent weather events in wine production regions

• What characteristics of Petite Pearl in the vineyard and winery should be consistent between regions
• How having options for grape varieties provides wineries with the ability to adapt to their market and regional weather conditions
• How state-centric promotion the wine industry could limit the impact of lesser known wine grape regions and recognition of the wines from those regions

• Are the traits of a wine grape directly correlated with its parents?
• The current gaps in cold hardy wine grape cultivars

In this episode we are joined by Tom Plocher of Plocher Vines, who has been breeding wine grapes in Minnesota. So far Tom has released Crimson Pearl, Petite Pearl, and Verona but more cultivars are on their way.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• How Tom got into grape breeding
• The process of developing grape cultivars
• Tom looks for in a wine grape from both the vineyard and winery perspective
• Why late budbreak continues to be an important trait

This is part 1 of our conversation with Tom, so look for part 2 soon.