Fresno State’s Department of Viticulture and Enology will host area grape growers, managers, winemakers and winery personnel at its Grape Day event from 7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2.

The event is sponsored by American Vineyard Magazine and features research updates and seminars on grape and wine topics by Fresno State faculty Dr. Sanliang Gu, Dr. Susan Rodriguez and Dr. Roy Thornton; Fresno State winemaker Matt Brain and V. E. Petrucci librarian Britt Foster; and Dr. Rodrigo Krugner, USDA Agricultural Research Service entomologist.

Senior enology student Elizabeth Ramey, the recipient of the 2016 ACIC Cork and Closures Award of Excellence, will give a presentation on closures and cork production. She will share information from her recent travels to Portugal, sponsored by Napa-based ACIC Cork and Closures. In June, Ramey and several other California wine industry representatives visited cork processing factories in Portugal.

Grape Day will be held at the Department of Viticulture and Enology at 2360 E. Barstow Ave. (between Cedar and Maple avenues) and includes a tour of Fresno State’s vineyards. Guided tours of the new 30,000-foot Jordan Agricultural Research Center are planned.

Online registration is available at http://conta.cc/29Qf1OL for $20 through Thursday, July 28. Current Fresno State students can register for $15.

Walk-in registration on Aug. 2 is available for $25 per person.

Lecture topics include:

  • Role of glutathione in winemaking and reduced sulfur dioxide use (Matt Brain)
  • Accessing research information for grape growers and winemakers (Britt Foster)
  • Thanksgiving Cabernet Sauvignon harvest in Fresno and the Central Valley (Dr. Sanliang Gu)
  • Inaccuracy of growing degree days from daily minimum and maximum temperatures for approximation of growing heat summation (Dr. Sanliang Gu)
  • Disrupting the mating of glassy-winged sharpshooter (Dr. Rodrigo Krugner)
  • Closures and cork production in Portugal (Elizabeth Ramey)
  • Understanding astringency in the wine-tasting process (Dr. Susan Rodriguez)
  • Grape rot measurement with Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy at the test stand and its effect on wine (Dr. Roy Thornton)

Parking instructions will be made available to attendees in advance. For more information, contact Cynthia Wood at cynthiaw@csufresno.edu.