Sustainable Farming — Our Way

Six years ago I wrote of the promise of organic growing. In part it was the expression of a wishful grape grower seeking solutions to a host of problems and issues facing our aging farm; in part it was a promise to you—our friends, employees and customers—that we would do the very best job we could to make a healthful and flavorful wine.

I am happy to report to you that our organic program is working. The vines are reinvigorated and the soils are full of life. The winery vegetable gardens are already certified by California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF). In 2005, certification was expanded to include all crops: grapes, olives, fruit trees.

Living soil is the epicenter of sustainable farming. Our program starts with the annual application of hundreds of tons of compost which we think of as yoga for the vines. We buy compost and we make compost from our farm and winery waste combined with manure from a local organic dairy. We grow winter leguminous covercrops that contribute nitrogen naturally as well as carbonaceous matter to feed the soil microorganisms. All that growth is then tilled into the soil with heavy cultivation equipment that used to be the norm in vineyards, but hasn’t been used for years because of the trend to chemical culture.
Integral with healthy soil is its microbiology. The things we add to the soil aren’t directly feeding the vines, but sustaining the dynamic and symbiotic communities of worms, insects, fungi, bacteria; these are the real factories of nutrients for the plant world. These communities in addition create an environment inhospitable to pathogens, increasing plant resistance to disease. Healthy plants plus natural prophylaxis to harmful organisms equals chemical free disease control. It works.

Above ground we find a similar natural competition to be at work. Beneficial predator insects prey on pest bugs to keep them in balance. The trick is to make sure there are enough beneficials around to do the job when needed. For that we plant insectaries of nectar and pollen producing plants to provide them with a supportive habitat. A lot of stuff you already know but don’t often find in a vineyard: yarrow, alyssum, cilantro, radish, carrot, artichoke; the list is endless, enticing to lacewings and ladybeetles, and tasty for you too.
I could recite a growing litany of plans and projects that fit our commitment to sustainability: Compost tea for mildew control, pheromones to interrupt olive fruit fly mating, fruit trees interplanted with vineyard rows and blocks, hedgerows of native species as habitat and as buffers with non-organic neighbors, tractors converted to run on vegetable oil to reduce pollution and dependence on fossil fuels, the staff Pepsi machine refilled with Zinfandel.
I could tell you more, but I’d rather you come and see. And feel. And smell. And taste. Artichokes to Zinfandel.