We recently learned that the USDA Viticulture Consortium has stopped reviewing grant proposals and will likely not be funded by Congress this year. This should be an unwelcome surprise to anyone in the wine industry who believes that research and education help to push wine quality. VC East, administered by Cornell University and supporting viticulture research in Eastern, South-Eastern and Midwestern states, and VC West, administered by UC Davis and funding research and extension education in t...