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Ranch Reform - This old dog is learning new tricks
First,
A Quick Vineyard Report
At mid month we have passed bud break. The new canes are two to
four inches long and growing rapidly. Disking and weed mowing are
going on everywhere, and suckering has started to make sure that
only the canes we want to bear fruit are left. Work is going on
to make sure the drip lines and emitters are ready when irrigation
is required. A continuing problem is that during the winter months
either the coyotes or the raccoons chew giant holes in the black
plastic drip lines so that when we turn the water on there are giant
water spouts. All seems in order and the agricultural year in the
vineyard is well underway.
To
Reform a Rancher
Readers of the column know that we are moving toward sustainable
ranching practices, with the goal to be fully organic in a few years.
The driving force for this movement is our desire to preserve and
improve our ranch. But equally important is that more and more market
data shows that winery customers (and ultimately our wine drinkers)
are showing a preference for these changes. The demand for organically
produced wines, though still relatively small, is increasing at
some 10 to 20 percent per year. In fact, winemakers like Benziger
Family Winery in their Farming For Flavors program have shown that
each vineyard has the possibility of producing wine that expresses
the unique character of the terroir where the grapes were grown.
Inorganic fertilizers, insectides and other chemicals all have the
possibility of introducing off flavors that can mask the vineyards
true aromas, flavors and minerality.
Change
May Be Good - But It Isn't Easy
Many of these changes go against conventional ranch culture. Not
too many years ago I thought that the perfect grapes came from a
perfectly spotless ranch. I disked three or four times in the spring
until the soil showed no signs that a single weed had ever lived
there. Then I used a big roller/compactor to smooth out everything
even more. (I did not even want anyone to walk on this perfectly
tilled soil and leave footprints!) Through the use of pre emergent
herbicides each vine row was perfect without even the hint of a
weed. And if even a single leafhopper or mite showed up it would
find the vineyard drenched with pesticide. Winery customers would
come to visit and say "George, what a beautiful vineyard! You are
a great rancher!" Ego ruled supreme.
And
what happened in paradise?
All sorts of changes and not many of them good. In winters with
early rains we had a lot of soil erosion. We found that our spraying
was killing all the bugs, both the bad ones and their enemies the
good ones. We discovered that the use of synthetic fertilizers and
pre-emergent herbicides was changing the make up of our vineyard
soils, introducing the possibility of producing off flavors in our
grapes. We were forced to learn the sustainability concept that,
horror of horrors, we could live with a few bugs and weeds and the
crop would still be okay. In fact, more than OK - better! Instead
of discing, we began mowing the vineyard grasses and weeds. Neat
rows gone - pure heresy. Without pre-emergents we are learning to
live with a few weeds - more heresy! We're even rolling out a "bug
welcome mat" in the middle of our vineyard in the form of an insectaria
that will feature plants that encourage more good bugs to come and
out-compete the bad bugs. Old practices and thinking die hard, but
the path to the future is clear.
Finding
a Home for Our Grapes
For our first 25 years here at the ranch we had basically just one
customer who took "all tons produced" with a single, multi-year
contract. This arrangement was not unusual here in the Sonoma valley.
But one result of globalization is that there are more giant worldwide
wineries who tend to make short term purchases to fill specific
winegrape needs. And as a result there are fewer and fewer local
customers. The issue is who will be our customers for this year`s
crop? As of now we have sold our Sauvignon Blanc, our Merlot and
half of our Zinfandel. We are very pleased to have a wonderful mix
of top quality wineries for our grapes this year - Benziger, Cline,
Duckhorn and Wellington. In addition to selling our grapes to these
great, local, family-owned wineries, we will again bottle our own
MacLeod Family Vineyard sauvignon blanc. Before the dust settles
this could mean as many as seven or eight separate harvest days!
And
a special event
Last year's 2005 MacLeod Family Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc sold out.
Earlier this month we bottled our 2006 vintage Sauvignon Blanc -
all 336 cases of it! Gallo and Constellation are panicking! This
new wine has excellent Sauvignon Blanc character with clean zesty
aromas and flavors of pineapple, apricot, and melon. Right now the
wine is resting and recovering from bottling shock in a cool, dark
warehouse. The very act of bottling, filtering, pumping, and bottle
filling I feel sort of hurts the wine`s feelings and it needs several
months to recover.
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