Helen Fisher
Dr. Helen Fisher joined the grape program in the late 1970s when it began to consolidate the breeding, vineyard production, and physiology programs. She released two new grape varieties (Vanessa and Vivant), and was involved in the transition of the Ontario grape and wine industry from labrusca to vinifera grapes. As demand for vinifera grapes in the province increased, HRIO planted three hectares of these European varieties. With the help of the Ontario Grape and Wine Adjustment Program, trials were conducted to identify trellising systems, spacing dimensions, and rootstocks for the winter-tender vinifera grapes.
Helen (known to some as "the Grape Doctor") wrote many articles about her research and the grape and wine industry in Ontario. An article from 1981 describes the challenge facing the Ontario grape industry: "Ontario has a climate which makes it difficult for pure vinifera to survive the winter. The high quality standards of the grape and wine industry, however, demand those characteristics found in this species. The HRIO breeding program will continue to concentrate on utilizing the hardiness of available indigenous species and their hybrids in combination with vinifera flavour qualities to produce cultivars suitable on both counts to our particular situation. The process is slow because of the very complex genetic makeup and slow-growing nature of the grape vine, but the great diversity of the genus Vitis reassures breeders of potential success.
The examples of Vincent, Ventura, and Veeblanc, which represented marked improvements over previous standards, illustrate this potential. A glance at pedigrees will reveal the fact that the scale of hardiness is still somewhat related to the genetic distance from a vinifera ancestor. Those cultivars with the best winter survival have had the most dilute vinifera influence, and those with only one full vinifera parent usually have survived better than the parent itself."
Fisher's transformative contributions to the Ontario wine industry resulted in her posthumous induction to the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame in June 2026. Many of her predecessors at Vineland Station also received this honour, including Dr. E.F. Palmer, Dr. E.A. Kerr, and O.A. Bradt.
In 1997, HRIO was amalgamated with the University of Guelph and became part of the Department of Plant Agriculture. At this time, the wine program was minimized and the grape program dealt with issues such as soil management and environmental stewardship of vineyards. The Institute is currently known as the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre and operates as an independent, not-for-profit organization, funded in part by the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative.