Cold-weather states look to overcome wine grape obstacles - New grape varieties can take more than 20 years to breed and evaluate, and even longer to reach commercial success. Areas such as Iowa, relatively new to making wine, have far less experience. A recently awarded $2.5 million grant will help colder-weather states from Nebraska to Iowa to New York overcome obstacles in the vineyard, winery and tasting room and also improve tourism. Research will be led by Tim Martinson, project director and senior Extension associate at Cornell University, New York. Western Farm Press

Resveratrol Is No Fountain of Youth, Researchers Say - The red-wine chemical resveratrol has the potential to fight diabetes, cancer, heart disease and dementia, according to a flurry of studies in the past decade. And a more tantalizing theory for some medical researchers suggests that the chemical, found in grape skins and other plants, could extend lifespan. But a new study casts serious doubt on the original research that suggested that theory. Wine Spectator

Grape Britain! Growers have created new types of grapevine that thrive in our climate - British-grown grapevines have a reputation for being leafy monsters with scant, seedy fruit that is nothing like the bacchanalian bunches that hang from Mediterranean pergolas. But modern breeding and longer summers are yielding superb pickings, especially with regard to a new range of seedless varieties better suited to our climate, both for greenhouse growing and outdoors. Daily Mail

Next generation grapes streamline breeding process - Two grants totaling $4.5 million will fund projects, one led by Cornell grape breeder Bruce Reisch, professor of horticulture, and the other by senior Extension associate Tim Martinson, take complementary approaches to a common problem: how to make grape breeding more efficient, since new grape varieties can take more than 20 years to breed and evaluate and much longer to reach commercial success. The projects are funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI). Western Farm Press