Buffalo, NY -- The wine is flowing as it was a good year locally for it and on the Chautauqua Wine Trail.
But out in the vineyards at Olde Chautauqua Farms and 21 BRIX Winery in Portland, co-owner Kris Kane says there's some worry that the very cold conditions last month may have damaged some of the vines.
"We saw some extreme cold temperatures, and that's why we are a little but more worried, and going out there and assessing the potential damage right now," Kane said.
Kane and an expert from the Lake Erie Regional Grape Program, Jackie Dresser, inspected the vines. "The most sensitive tissue on a grape vine to cold temperatures is the bud here, so that's the first thing you are going to look for, so that's what we are sampling for," Dresser explained.
"Collecting samples, we take them into the lab... we cut them and look at the buds to see if they are still green and be productive going into the growing season," Kane said.
And looking at many of the vines, results show some damage. "Seen about as high as 25 percent bud death in some of the vineyards. But I would say that's not that bad," Kane explained. "We'll trim them back and leave a certain amount of buds... the grapes yield more than we actually like to produce... when you do have damage you are just less selective and not able to manipulate as much."