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Kaan Kurtural (left) and Tom Cottrell are working together
to field test Traminette grapes at Talon Vineyard and Winery in Fayette
County.
Talon winemaker John Pitcock checks on his Cabernet
Sauvignon.
“The long-term outlook is great
for Kentucky because we do have the climate and the sites."
Kaan Kurtural
UK College of Agriculture Extension Viticulturalist
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By Aimee Nielson
LEXINGTON, Ky., (Sept. 1, 2005) – Back in the 1800s, Kentucky was the third
largest grape and wine producer in the United States. When prohibition hit, the
fruit’s popularity dwindled. In recent years, however, grapes have been making a
comeback to the rolling hills of the commonwealth with more than 250 acres
devoted to the alternative crop so far.
To help in this effort, the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture hired
two specialists specifically to tackle the unique challenges of grapes.
Viticulturist Kaan Kurtural and Enologist Tom Cottrell have been busy visiting
the many small Kentucky vineyards and wineries to determine their needs and
share their knowledge and experience.
“When I came down here to interview, we came down through southern Illinois and
we drove up on the Bluegrass Parkway,” Kurtural recalled. “As I was driving,
there were all these gently rolling hills, which are what we look for in grape
grounds. There’s a tremendous opportunity in Kentucky because we do have the
suitable climate and the sites where we can plant these varieties to grow, but
what we need to do is get the growers on board with the prospect to make it an
economical enterprise.”
In addition to traveling to the state’s vineyards and wineries, Kurtural has
been working directly with Talon Vineyard and Winery in Fayette County where he
is about to harvest “Traminette” grapes in a study investigating how much
cropload, or quantity, can be increased without reducing quality under the
Kentucky climate. The grapes will be taken to UK’s South Farm where Cottrell
will turn them into wine.
“I look at my job as an opportunity to share with the Kentucky wineries the easy
and best ways to make consistently good wine,” said Cottrell, who has spent many
years working with wineries around the United States, including several in Napa
Valley, Calif. “I have been meeting with as many of the wineries as I can and
giving them presentations on what small wineries need here, and their needs are
pretty much the same as small wineries around the country.
Talon winemaker John Pitcock appreciates the knowledge and recommendations of
Cottrell and Kurtural. Although still a young winery, Talon has won some
impressive awards for its wines. Pitcock said the future for Kentucky vineyards
and wineries looks promising.
“I think it has a great future in this state and I think as long as the wineries
prosper, it’s also very good for the farmers out there who have switched from
tobacco to grapes trying to keep the family farm,” he said. “That’s one reason
we don’t try to grow all our grapes here is because we do want to support that
effort.”
Pitcock said Talon buys grapes from five other Kentucky vineyards, and he hopes
to expand that in the future.
“Part of the value of Kentucky grapes is that we can grow good quality here, but
the other part is that it’s Kentucky product and that’s what we’re selling in
the agritourism business,” he said. “Plus to a large number of consumers,
Kentucky is a state in which people are very proud of what we do here; and
rightfully so, we do many things just as good as anybody else in the world and I
think a Kentucky-grown product is going to be what really drives the industry.”
The 2005 drought hasn’t played a significant role in the grape growing season.
Kurtural said grapes need about 36 inches of precipitation to thrive, and
Kentucky averages around 45 inches per year. Even though many areas are several
inches shy of normal rainfall this year, he said he doesn’t expect it to hurt
harvest yields.
“We had rain early in the year,” he said. “Going into harvest, we want it to be
a little dry as that helps the grape’s sugar-to-acid ratio reach its potential.”
Kurtural and Cottrell emphasized that anyone getting into the grape business
should start small. They say it’s not a quick money-maker and usually takes at
least three years to break even. Still, they agree that Kentucky has the right
ingredients to be successful and competitive in the industry.
“The long-term outlook is great for Kentucky because we do have the climate and
the sites,” Kurtural said. “We just need to plant at these sites with the
recommendations that we give out.”
Cottrell advised anyone starting out in the grape business to study the site and
take the fall, winter and spring weather conditions into consideration before
planting.
“Kentucky can be ‘blessed’ all three seasons,” he said.
Writer:
Aimee Nielson
859-257-4736, ext. 267
Contact: Kaan Kurtural
859-257-1332
Tom Cottrell 859-257-0037
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