A Panel of Grape Growers
I attended a conference in 2009, called “Growing Even Greener: Ecowinegrowing in California’s North Coast,” in Hopland, CA. The whole experience was an awe-filled mouthful. I’m excited to see the word sustainability taking on a big picture meaning that has lots of soul.
Here’s a little punch line storytelling from the “Being Green in Winemaking” panel made up of Bob Blue (Bonterra), Rodrigo Soto (Benziger), Steve Canter (Quivira), and Mark Beaman (Mendocino Wine Company). The moderator was Alex MacGregor from Saracina. Specific names of where comments came from will be avoided, so blame me on my interpretations, but this is some of what I heard and liked… a lot!
Wine wisdom from the panel:
-How does a winery get their growers to farm organically, biodynamically, or to move in those directions? Incentives are used. For a particular grower, it might include getting one’s vineyard name on a bottling, future support with certification, education for the growers and dollars.
-You don’t make wine, you make Coca Cola. With wine…
-Native ferments (non-inoculated fermentations) take longer, and support true expression of place, yet in larger operations sometimes this is not possible since there’s a need to get fermentation tanks turned over quickly.
-In terms of stuck fermentations being a problem with native (non-inoculated) ferments… we’ve been doing lots for the last two years, and have not had a problem with a single stuck ferment. Our job is being good interpreters of what’s coming from the vineyards; supporting the wines in revealing their sense of place
-We have a goal of creating wines expressing the land, the varietals and the particular vintage the grapes have come from. Is the consumer ready for that?
-We prefer with our wines, to not fill a niche that fits a concept that helps get a certain taste to the market, or be focused on score. That’s not authenticity.
-When you taste great Chablis (a region in France that is all Chardonnay), it’s not about Chardonnay, it’s about how the site comes screaming through in the taste.
-Whose making wines that make you dream?
-The terroir is always there. It’s just a matter of whether you’re listening
-Trust takes time, and part of life is that it’s a learning process. Where we were, isn’t where we are, and learning to trust opens a whole new set of possibilities
-In reference to costs of going green and specifically native yeasts: your new yeast cost becomes zero, and yes it does mean more hand work.
The 2nd Principle of ConsciousWine is about sustainability… the practices on the land today support the vitality of that land for our kids’ kids and beyond… and the value of that principle being followed is priceless! Thanks to a very passionate, committed group of winemakers and to the folks that put this conference on, Ann Thrupp of Fetzer/Bonterra Vineyards, and the education committee from the Mendocino Wine Grape and Wine Commission. Cheers to a sustainable world for all!
