Conducted by NMSU Viticulture Specialist, Gill Giese, Ph.D., the Ampelos Blog recounts events and collaboration between the NMSU Viticulture program and New Mexican grape growers or wineries. The Ampelos (Vine in Greek) Blog was established back in 2019 when Giese started serving as an assistant professor for NMSU Extension Plant Sciences.

Giese certainly knows the science behind wine thanks to his extensive educational and professional experience. Giese spent four years as a commercial winemaker at Shelton Vineyards in Dobson, North Carolina. Spanning over 100 acres, more than 400 tons of grapes are grown and processed from the vineyard each year, where Giese and his staff bottled between 25,000 and 30,000 bottles of wine annually. Additionally, he was the lead instructor for viticulture and enology at Surry Community College, also in Dobson for 12 years.

Viticulture Blog