{"id":12010,"date":"2011-09-15T13:49:54","date_gmt":"2011-09-15T18:49:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=12010"},"modified":"2015-09-25T13:33:19","modified_gmt":"2015-09-25T17:33:19","slug":"grape-king-hails-from-brock-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2011\/09\/grape-king-hails-from-brock-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Grape King hails from Brock \u2014 again"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_12011\" style=\"width: 490px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12011\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12011  \" title=\"Debbie Inglis and Ed Hughes\" src=\"http:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/grape-kings.jpg\" alt=\"Debbie Inglis hands over the Grape King title to alumnus Ed Hughes.\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-12011\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Debbie Inglis hands over the Grape King title to alumnus Ed Hughes. Photo: Grape Growers of Ontario<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Beamsville grape grower Ed Hughes is the 2011 Grape King, and when the Brock grad received the chain of office in a vineyard ceremony on Wednesday, it was from his former professor Debbie Inglis \u2014 last year\u2019s Grape King who is also a Brock scientist and area grape grower.<\/p>\n<p>This is the latest honour for Hughes, who recently won a Premier\u2019s Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence for his use of natural ecosystems and insect-attracting plants that help negate the need to spray pesticides.<\/p>\n<p>As Grape King, he becomes Ontario\u2019s grape and wine ambassador. He will promote the industry at such events as the Niagara Wine Festival and the Spring Okanagan Wine Festival in B.C.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m thrilled,\u201d said Hughes, who was conferred at Brock in 2007 with a certificate in Grape and Wine Technology. \u201cIt\u2019s a little overwhelming, but it is a big honour, and I\u2019m really happy to be able to represent grape growers in this way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hughes began growing grapes in 1995 on a three-acre farm. In 1999, he expanded his operation by purchasing an established 21-acre vineyard. He enrolled at Brock to study how to improve grape quality.<\/p>\n<p>Today he farms more than 20 acres of VQA premium quality vinifera grapes. He also sells high quality grapes to amateur wine makers and a number of wine clubs in Southern Ontario.<\/p>\n<p>In handing over the Grape King title, Inglis called Hughes an ideal representative for the industry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEd is a wonderful choice,\u201d said Inglis, director of Brock\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/brocku.ca\/ccovi\" target=\"_blank\">Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute<\/a>. \u201cHis training at Brock is now helping him set up research trials to achieve vine balance and pest control, reduce costs and improve fruit quality. It\u2019s a great example of innovation by a grape grower toward the sustainability of our industry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Each year, the Grape King is selected from a list of nominees and judged by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ed Hughes, a Beamsville grape grower and Brock alumnus, is the 2011 Grape King,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[119,3,1],"tags":[61],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12010"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12010"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35535,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12010\/revisions\/35535"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}