To: Virginia Vintners and Prospective Vintners

From: Bruce Zoecklein

Subject: Change in Laboratory Services, Winery Planning and Design Workshop Registration to Close.

Laboratory Services. As noted in the previous edition of Enology Notes, demands on the Enology-Grape Chemistry Group's no charge extension laboratory service have increased dramatically. In the year just ending, we conducted 1632 separate analyses for the Virginia wine industry. The costs associated with the analysis services is in excess of $18,000 annually, not including labor. We simply do not have the resources to sustain this effort while offering extension programs and conducting research.

Each bonded winery in the state should be able to conduct alcohol, pH, TA and sulfur dioxide in-house. These are basic assays that should be part of each and every winery's HACCP plan. The ability to perform these tests is simply a part of being in the commercial wine industry. Any Virginia bonded winery that would like assistance in establishing a lab and/or in conducting these tests can contact my office.

As of January 15, 2001, the laboratory will not conduct analysis on alcohol, pH, TA and sulfur dioxide, unless a winery is having a problem. The laboratory service will remain in effect to provide supplemental quality control analysis, to help in trouble-shooting problems and to provide sensory evaluations. For example, we will continue to conduct HPLC analysis for organic acids, run electrical conductivity tests for bitartrate stability and nepholometric analysis for protein stability.

Winery Planning and Design Workshop Registration will Close. The response to the Winery Planning and Design Workshop, scheduled for February 14, 2001 has been overwhelming, so much so that registration will close early.

Registration for this workshop will close Monday, January 22. There may be future programs on specific aspects of winery planning and design, check my web site for postings. Sometime after the workshop, I will post some of the handout materials from the program on the web.

The course fee is $75 per person. Checks should be made payable to "Bruce Zoecklein Foundation Account, Virginia Tech." You will be considered pre-registered once a check is received. There is no application to fill out. Please send the check to:

Terry Rakestraw
Food Science and Technology Dept.
Virginia Tech - 0418
Blacksburg, VA 24061