Every year, research priorities are discussed and finalized by the Research Committee of the Board of the NYWGF in collaboration with additional stakeholder input, to help the researchers focus their research proposals to meet the current needs of the wine and grape industry.

The priority research themes for the 2025-26 fiscal year are as follows:

VITICULTURE: 

• Disease & Pest management, including Invasive species: Develop effective, efficient, and sustainable disease and pest management materials and techniques that minimize development of resistance and provide resilience to climate change. Develop management approaches to combat impact of invasive species, including but not limited to spotted-wing drosophila and spotted lanternfly.
• Floor and weed management: Develop and evaluate vineyard floor and weed management strategies to reduce energy and herbicide use.
• Mechanization and precision agriculture: Identify opportunities for vineyard management mechanization and application of precision agriculture technology with a particular emphasis on development of labor-saving and affordable canopy management equipment.
• Sustainability: Develop and evaluate vineyard management strategies to efficiently utilize nutrient inputs and promote long-term soil health and water quality.
• Grape cultivars and clones: develop or evaluate the viticultural performance of grape cultivars or clones suitable for production of quality wine, juice, or bunch grapes in New York’s diverse viticultural regions. 

ENOLOGY: 

• Grape cultivars and clones: Evaluate the potential of new grape cultivars and/or clones for quality wine production in New York’s diverse wine-growing regions. 
• Wine quality: Develop and evaluate techniques and/or methods to improve quality of wine made from interspecific hybrid and native grape cultivars. 
• Sustainability: Develop and evaluate sustainable winemaking practices, including efficient wastewater management, energy reduction, and means of reaching carbon neutrality. 
• Wine microbiology: Identify opportunities for improved wine quality or processing methods related to wine microbiology, including regional microbiomes, microbiological bioprotection, and fermentation nutrition 
• Wine analysis: Develop or improve the efficiency of wine analytical methods designed for use in production.  

OTHER: 

• Non-fermented value-added grape products: Identify or develop new value-added grape products that promote sustainability and/or human health, such as valorized waste from grape processing.
• Newsletters: Veraison to Harvest etc. 

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: 

• Evolving Consumer Preferences: Identify and research generational preferences of millennial and gen z consumers (authenticity, sustainability, and experiential marketing) and most effective ways for New York Wines to establish themselves with this key demo and build a relationship with them. 
• Technology Advances: Evaluation of the best tools for wineries to streamline operations, enhance customer experience and gain a competitive edge in marketing, sales, compliance & operational efficiencies. 
• Customer acceptance: Identify and test education and communication strategies to promote customer acceptance of wines made from cold hardy hybrid and native grape varieties.
• Customer awareness: Identify and test education and communication strategies to increase customer awareness of the diversity and quality of New York wines.