March 6, 2025 – New Jersey’s Winemakers Co-Op produces an annual educational event focused on a single topic, all sharing a similar goal: bringing in resources and sharing knowledge to elevate the grape growing and winemaking in the state.
Last year, it was a deep dive into making sparkling wine, and in 2023 was centered around luxury winemaking and viticulture with Making the $50 Bottle: Vineyard & Cellar Practices for Benchmark Wines.
This year, the focus will switch to the vineyard for a two-day program entitled Groundwork: a Vineyard Floor Management Summit.
It’s scheduled to take place Monday and Tuesday, March 10-11, with day one featuring seminars on the campus of Chauncey Hotel & Conference Center in Princeton, New Jersey, and day two moving into the field with hands-on demonstrations at Working Dog Winery in Highstown, Mercer County.
Per the workshop marketing materials:
Join us as we survey the tools, techniques and innovations around vineyard floor management. We’ll cover important areas ranging from soil health, cover crop management, weed control (including grazing), increasing biodiversity and the economics behind these practices. In a changing environment, vineyard floor management can help create a more balanced, sustainable, and healthy vineyard that is better able to thrive.
Each day will include a continental breakfast and a seated lunch, along with coffee breaks and lots of opportunities for networking with attendees and speakers, who will include:
- Dr. Jaclyn Fiola, Ph.D. , Assistant Professor, Soils & Environmental Science, Delaware Valley University
- W. Gill Giese Jr., PhD , Plant and Soil Science/Assistant Professor, Instructor, College of Agriculture, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro
- Craig Ledbetter, Vice President, Vino Farms
- Fred Merwarth, Co-Owner, Winemaker, Vineyard and Nursery Manager, Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard
- Justine Vanden Heuvel, Professor and Chair, Horticulture Section School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University
Tickets are $150 for both days and $100 for a single day, Attendees can choose to participate in the full two-day event or either single day.
The conference is subsidized by The Winemakers Co-Op, with support from the New Jersey Wine Industry Advisory Council and New Jersey Department of Agriculture.
You can read the full details and purchase tickets at this link.
The six wineries that make up the Co-Op include Auburn Road, Beneduce Vineyards, Hawk Haven, Unionville Vineyards, William Heritage Winery and Working Dog Winery. It was created in 2015.
The idea for this year’s event came out of a group brainstorm, according to Danna Shapiro, the executive director of the Co-Op. It will focus on a wide range of vineyard floor management practices.
“Our field day will have live demonstrations from our vendor partners, Allonardo Enterprises LLC, Pellenc America and Lakeview Vineyard Equipment, who are each showcasing two pieces of equipment or tools,” Shapiro said. “We are hoping to bridge the gap between learning and implementation of ideas with our companion cost savings program. Everything showcased at our field day on March 11 is included in the program, which will offer attendees exclusive discounts on these items; and for New Jersey vineyards and winery operations, The Winemakers Co-Op is offering a cost share match, subject to availability.”
It takes place at a winery that just went through an ownership change, where Carlee Ludwig and Kevin and Sharon Kyle have taken over.
One person who has transitioned to the new ownership is vineyard manager Madeleine Cozine.
She sent in these responses to a couple of PennLive questions:
On the winter: “Although this winter has been colder than the past few winters, the temperatures dropped gradually over the season, allowing the vines to fully acclimate before we hit the coldest part of the season. We have not seen any primary bud death in any of our less cold-hardy cultivars.”
On pruning: “Despite the cold weather, we are on schedule to finish pruning by mid-April. We have observed that pruning weights in some of our blocks are lower due to last year’s drought. In those blocks, we are leaving fewer buds to let the vines re-establish their reserves.”
On the future: “We are excited to be putting in 1,000 more Cabernet Franc vines to replace some of our underperforming varieties.”
