On the road to sustainability and organic viticulture

First of all, what is the definition of sustainability? The ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level or the avoidance of the depletion of natural recourses in order to maintain an ecological balance. As a long-time winemaker and viticulturalist, I was always taught that a healthy and happy vineyard could be achieved through the use of judicious tilling with instruments such as discs and rotavators because in old-school Italian dry farmed vineyards, weeds were the grape grower’s enemy as they competed with the vines for water and nutrients. I never had any issues spreading commercial fertilizers such as Triple 15-15-15 (nitrogen-phosphorous-potassium) or calcium nitrate to help make my vineyards heathy and productive. It was the way we were taught by our fathers (not our grandfathers) and at the UC Davis University I attended.

But times have changed even in this backwater we call Mendocino County. In fact, Mendocino County is one of the largest growers of certified organic grapes in the world. Some 10,000 acres of vineyards out of a total of 20,000 are certified organic. Mendocino County also has some of the largest certified organic wineries in the world like Bonterra and Frey Vineyards. We ourselves are one of the oldest certified organic wineries in California, being certified since 1999. So why do we not make any certified organically grown wines or certified organic wines? The reason we have been organic for so long is because we have produced the Yorkville Cellars organically grown wines here since that time. I was never a fan of some of the organic wines because of the style they were made in and the production protocol it takes to make them. Organic wines differ from organically grown grape wines in that you cannot add sulfur dioxide to the crushed grapes or wines. Both must be made from organically grown grapes and you cannot use any inorganic products in either. My primary job as a winemaker is to make the best and tastiest wines possible, which excluded making organic wines for myself. I didn’t go to college and learn how to hone my skill as a winemaker for over 45 years not use the things I learned. But enough about the wines, we’ll get into that in another article (my 2 Cents).

Getting back to organically grown grapes, like the wines, the grower is often hindered from growing the best grapes he can because of the lack of and the effectiveness of organic materials such as nutrient fertilizers. Like everything else, this is changing because of technology and more knowledge on farming. One thing for sure, to grow grapes organically is more expensive and time consuming unless you do what many organically grown vineyards do, which is “nothing”. Today, mankind has developed many new tools to help us be sustainable and organic and many new products have been developed to help the grower achieve this goal.

We own approximately 30 acres of grapes and are the managers of another 40 acres, so we are trying to reduce our impact on the land by using less chemicals in our vineyards and less diesel from our tractors. In the last year or so we have purchased several pieces of equipment to help us achieve these goals. We purchased a new, smaller mower to use in our old-vine Carignane vineyard so we could stop using a disc and rotavator. This will help promote good soil structure by not tilling. We bought a new compost spreader because the one we borrowed last year to spread compost was inefficient. This winter we will be purchasing chicken manure pellets to use with this new spreader so we can try to discontinue and or cut back on our use of commercial fertilizers, which have become more expensive and harmful to fish and the soil structure. We also purchased an in-the-vine-row mower to reduce and or discontinue the use of spraying herbicides. Last year we tried a new technique of cultivating only every other row and mowing the native grasses. We were happy with the results so decided to keep the mowed native grasses in all rows of our vineyards. So, what does this accomplish? From much that we have read, water actually permeates the soil better with mowed grasses than with tilled soils. We are also driving on the soils less, causing less soil compaction. Because we are driving less, and faster in speed while mowing than cultivating, we have fewer emissions from diesel. Also, we will be encouraging more beneficial insects to protect our vines by creating a healthy environment for them with the native grasses. We have also been looking into purchasing an electric tractor for the future. This is somewhat a new technology, which I am sure will only get better and more affordable with time. We also believe that by not tilling we are sequestering more CO2 in the soil which is better for the atmosphere. We believe many of these factors may in fact help with climate change.

So why do all these things? This year we have started the paperwork to become viticulturally sustainable. We hope to be certified early next year. What exactly does this mean? To be certified sustainable in your vineyard means a lot and we are still leaning. Like many certified endeavors it involves a lot of paperwork, record keeping, and money. I believe the main point behind it is not using practices or substances you really don’t need and using as little as possible of the things you do need. Another new tool we just purchased is a vine row trimmer and hedger. This will help us became more sustainable and organic by using less labor to open up the vines so we need to use fewer chemical sprays and it help make the lesser amount we use more effective. There are also certain chemical pesticide and herbicide sprays you are not allowed to use in sustainable viticulture. With sustainable viticulture you must also monitor your water usage. Again, not just using as much water as you want but using just enough for the vine’s ultimate needs. The same thing goes with vine nutrition. Using compost as a way to feed the soil and to give the vines nutrients is a must in sustainable viticulture, although some chemical fertilizers are allowed. Another important consideration to the soil is planting cover crops to build up the health and water retention of the soil. Being sustainable is also creating a heathy habitat for natures creatures, whether you bring them in such as sheep to eat the grasses and fertilize with their excrement or native creatures such rabbits, foxes, geese and ducks which enrich the beauty and diversity of our planet.

As far as the winery is concerned, for many years, we have been trying to be as sustainable as possible by recycling all the cardboard, paper, plastic, aluminum and glass bottles we use.  As far as water, we have been using ozonated water to clean and sterilize our barrels so we can use less chemicals. This year we purchased a barrel steamer to also sanitize and to soak-up dry barrels, which is saving thousands of gallons of water, especially important during these drought years. Another sustainable practice we use is glue applied labels instead of the norm these days, which are pressure sensitive labels (labels applied to plastic rolls then removed from those rolls like stamps you purchase at the post office). This decreases tons of plastic that is deposited in the landfill. Last year we also purchased a dump trailer to haul our pomace (grape skins, seeds and stems) to our vineyards to produce compost. When spread in our vineyards this compost will help the health and water retention of our vineyard soils.

More than ever, we feel the pressure because of climate change. We want to be good stewards of the land and to have minimal impact on the earth so future generations can thrive and prosper. That is our most important mission.

Ciao,

Greg