In 2019, the Santa Rosa Junior College initiated a hemp cultivation project at Shone Farm to specifically identify the best agronomic practices for cultivating hemp and understand the potential terpene drift between hemp and wine grape vines.
“Since launching Wine and Weed Symposium,” WIN President and CEO George Christie says, “I’m often asked a question I couldn’t find anyone to answer until I met Dr. George Sellu. ‘Will hemp terpenes negatively influence grapes if grown too close to a vineyard?'”
“A lot of people are concerned about whether hemp will taint wine grapes,” agrees Sellu, Santa Rosa Junior College’s (SRJC) Agribusiness Program Coordinator/Instructor, “but I couldn’t find any research in the US to support that concern.” So, he implemented a study to measure drift from hemp acreage into vineyards at SRJC’s Shone Farm. The conclusion: no hemp terpenes were detected on wine grapes or in wine made from those grapes, either by instruments or a wine sensory panel. Drift from spraying vineyards has a higher chance of negatively impacting hemp since far fewer products are approved for hemp than for grapes. Christie points out that this could open grape growers to liability.
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