Vineyard Tour

By: Merritt Melancon, UGA CAES

Georgia’s wine industry has surged in size and popularity over the past decade, but this success didn’t happen overnight.

This August, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension will host a first-of-its-kind northeast Georgia vineyard tour focusing on the cultivation practices and grape varieties that have made Georgia’s burgeoning wine industry possible.

The tour, running from 9 a.m. to about 5 p.m. on Aug. 8, will visit four northeast Georgia wineries in White, Habersham and Lumpkin counties. Participants are urged to register before Aug. 3. The cost is $30 and includes lunch. The tour is sponsored in part by the White County Farmers Exchange.

“We will showcase the UGA Extension Viticulture Team’s on-farm research trials and highlight unique commercial management strategies at each stop,” said Cain Hickey, viticulture specialist with UGA Extension. “We hope that registrants will leave with a greater depth of understanding about best management practices, as learned from both academic and industry personnel.”

The tour is meant for beginning wine grape growers, experienced growers and those who are simply interested in Georgia’s wine industry.

At each stop, vineyard owners, UGA Extension agents and viticulture experts from the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will discuss the science and art of growing wine grapes.

To register, contact Nathan Eason, White County Extension coordinator, at neason@uga.edu.

For more details, visit site.extension.uga.edu/viticulture/2018/07/vineyard-tour-scheduled-for-august-8th/.

(Merritt Melancon is a news editor with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.)