Anna Katharine Mansfield is an Associate professor of enology at Cornell’s NYSAES in Geneva, NY. She first worked in the wine industry in North Carolina’s Yadkin Valley, received graduate degrees at Virginia Tech and the University of Minnesota, and served as the first Enology Project leader at the University of Minnesota from 2001-2008. Mansfield returned to the east coast in 2009, and currently focuses her efforts in aiding small regional wineries through enology extension, wine sensory evaluation, and research on hybrid wine phenolics and fermentation nutrition.
Research Focus
In support of our outreach mission, the Enology Extension Laboratory focuses on research projects designed to help regional and small-scale wineries fine-tune wine quality and enhance production efficiency. Current areas of focus include fermentation nutrition, the sensory impact of wine phenolics, acid adjustment in cool- and cold-climate wine types, and defining the concepts of regional and cultivar typicity. Recent studies have addressed optimized measurement of yeast assimilable nitrogen (YAN) and its impact on wine aroma development, pigments (anthocyanins) and phenolic compounds in red hybrid and aromatic white wines, acid adjustment kinetics in high-malic musts, and expert and consumer perception of regional wines. The Lab also supports Cornell’s grape breeding program in the evaluation of the enological viability of new winegrape cultivars, and optimization of winemaking protocol for new regional varieties.
Outreach and Extension Focus
The Enology Extension program aims to educate, inform, and support the New York wine industry through targeted research, technology transfer, and communication. Key to this effort is identifying the processing issues most important to each segment of the industry, and providing rapid and appropriate response. Subsequently, program staff members emphasize open communication with industry, through meetings, survey instruments, and individual communication. Research efforts reflect questions that industry members and staff feel most affect wine production in the state, and include short-term studies of the effects of viticultural and enological methods on wine quality. Issues common to all state industry stakeholders- such as beginning winemaking topics and research notes of interest- are disseminated via e-mail, newsletters, and the internet. Issues specific to New York’s five distinct wine regions are addressed in regional meetings or other targeted communications. In addition, the enology project coordinates technology transfer from other Cornell faculty and staff performing research of interest to the industry. Wine analysis and support continue to be offered by the Wine Analytical Lab.
Areas Of Expertise
- Anthocyanin
- Cold Hardy Wine Grapes
- Phenolics
- Red Hybrid Wine
- Tannin
- Wine
- Wine Aroma
- Wine Typicity
- Yeast Assimilable Nitrogen (Yan)
Graduate Fields
- Food Science and Technology
Presentations and Activities
- Effect of Late Season Fungicides on Fermentation and Sensory Attributes. Winter Technical Meeting. February 2013. Virginia Vineyards Association. Charlottesville, VA.
- Defining Typicity in Cool Climate Rieslings. Wine Active Compounds. March 2010. UNESCO Chair of Wine and Culture. Beaune, Burgundy, France.
