San Benito Magazine Sept. 4-10, 2020

THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF SAN BENITO COUNTY

A supplement to the Hollister Free Lance

SEPTEMBER 4, 2020

Harvest Impact Heat wave, smoke present challenges for winemakers P2

WILDFIRE PREPARATION P4 | HOME OF THE WEEK P6 | REAL ESTATE P7

BY LAURA NESS

HAZY HARVEST N BEGINS SEPTEMBER 4, 2020 | SANBENITO.COM | SOUTHVALLEY.COM

Winemakers concerned about wildfire smoke’s impact on 2020 season

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obody likes to kick off the harvest season with wildfires ablaze, but such is the continuing series of delights that has marked the year 2020 from the outset. Some local wineries were already cleaning their presses, doing last minute bottling to clear tanks and dragging out their hoses for the long season ahead, when the heat wave struck. And then, that fateful lightning storm of Aug. 16 wreaked havoc across the state, igniting nearly 700 fires.

PICKING TIME The harvest season has just begun

for most local wineries.

become the new normal,” Zorn said. “We even started 30/31 of August in a few more recent years.”

Asked how the heat wave might affect the grapes, Zorn said, “It will certainly speed up our harvest plans. During 2017, we had a massive heat wave the first week of August (highs of 114 or so) and we picked the whole property in a week. Hopefully we will have more time this year. Also, the smoke can have an affect on the grapes’ flavor profile and I hope we do not get any issues this year.”

Avoiding smoke taint is going to be a real challenge this year. Winemaker Geoff Mace of Calerrain gets grapes from the Santa Lucia Highlands as well as Paicines.

The former has been seriously smoked over due to the River Fire.

He struck a cautionary note, saying, “I think Paicines will be OK. Generally it takes a pretty direct impact from fresh plumes of smoke to make a difference. I’ll be testing, though. But I wish the testing was more reliable. It is possible to have a negative test but still have smoke taint show up once the fruit is made into wine. Which for a startup like me would be a disaster. So it’s hard to know what to do, frankly.”

Testing labs are already backlogged.

Tim Slater of Sarah’s Vineyard, who also runs Stomping Ground Custom Crush, said, “The heat was punishing for us people and the vines, and we did see some vines struggling and some slight raisining. We had been about two to three weeks behind a ‘typical’ schedule, but now we might be more like a week behind. Not really sure. We are taking samples of Pinot today to get an idea of where we are. When it gets really hot, the vines shut down and the grapes don’t ripen, but the sugar level can shoot up due to raisins forming. When we had that really bad heat wave back in 2017, over 110 degrees, the vines got ‘shocked’ by the heat and didn’t ripen properly for the rest of the season—it was real strange.”

Slater, too, is more worried by the multiple fires impacting several growing regions from which he sources fruit.

“Next week, we plan to send off samples of grapes from the smokiest areas (Santa Cruz Mountains and Santa Lucia Highlands) to verify that there aren’t smoke taint problems, before we start harvesting from our partner vineyards,” he said. “The smoke in our area outside of Gilroy never got very bad so we aren’t worried about the home estate.”

SANBENITO.COM | SOUTHVALLEY.COM | SEPTEMBER 4, 2020

Dorcich Family Vineyard began picking Sauvignon Blanc on Aug. 19, followed by another pick of Sauvignon Blanc the following week. They expected the next fruit picked to be Pinot Noir and Syrah.

Asked if this was earlier than last year, Marisa Dorcic replied that indeed it was, by a week. As for the impact of the heat wave on the development of the grapes, she said, “These heat waves are becoming the new normal and they are not good for grape vines, especially for white grapes and early red varietals as Pinot Noir.

“Aromas and flavors are getting altered and oxidized. This is something that surely growers need to consider to adjust their growing techniques.”

In light of the dramatic weather events that are shaping everyone’s lives in California, one has to consider adding smoke abatement protocols to the winemaking regimen.

Gina Guglielmo reported that Guglielmo Winery had not yet begun to pick.

They planned to start the first week of September, maybe earlier if it stays hot. They expected Zinfandel to be first in. Assistant winemaker Niklas Zorn commented that this was about the same time as last year.

“The first week of September has

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PREPARING FOR WILDFIRE

Move that wood pile Stacked firewood works as kindling during wildfire

SEPTEMBER 4, 2020 | SANBENITO.COM | SOUTHVALLEY.COM

H

4

ow much wood could a woodchuck chuck? If he lived in one of California’s high fire hazard areas, he should chuck all of it at least 30 feet from his home.

One of the most common ember hazards homeowners create is the placement of firewood stacks next to their home. During a wildfire, hundreds of burning embers could become lodged within the stack.

The dry, high winds that often accompany wildfire can fan the embers and cause ignition. Once burning, the firewood stack can jeopardize just about any home, regardless of construction material, because of its ability to ignite combustible siding, provide a flaming exposure to windows and break the glass, or climb to the eave and possibly enter into the attic.

Firewood should be stored at least 30 feet from the house, deck and other structures during fire season. If the firewood stack is located uphill, make sure burning logs won’t roll downhill and ignite the home. Don’t place the stack under tree branches or adjacent to wood fences that are connected to the house.

Don’t let your firewood stack be the kindling for your house fire.

Will your home survive when the embers arrive? Wind-driven embers ignite many of the homes destroyed by wildfire. Your home could be at risk. Make changes now to reduce the ember threat to your home. Clean out debris from under your deck, and move wood piles away from your house.

Most people believe that wildfires ignite homes through direct contact with flames, but it is rare to have a home ignite this way. Flaming brands and embers can travel a mile or more ahead of the active

By DWIGHT GOOD

WOOD PILE Firewood should never be placed up against a home. front of a wildfire and up to 60 percent of wildland/urban interface home ignitions result from embers.

The Ember Aware campaign is intended to educate people on the risks of ember cast and the actions they can take to reduce those risks, to encourage residents to harden

their homes against embers and/or to maintain those ember-resistant features, and to practice embersafe housekeeping and landscaping. You can learn more at www. emberaware.com.

Fire Marshal Dwight Good, MS,

EFO, serves the Morgan Hill Fire Department, South Santa Clara County Fire Protection District and Cal Fire Santa Clara Unit. He has 25 years of fire service experience. For questions or comments, email Dwight.good@fire.ca.gov or call 408.310.4654.

SPOKING MY MIND

DEFLATED If 2020 was a bike tire, this is what it would look like.

Virtual velocipedal reality is the norm Biking favorites go online

By CURT HENTSCHKE But, wait! Sea Otter Play Digital Bike Festival will take place this month, all the way until the 20th.

Go to seaotterplay.com to check out the exciting challenges, including virtual events from around the world! Moreover, enjoy the digital expo, Sept. 17-20. Throughout it all, SOC is determined to support its well-deserving, partnered charities. It’s a win, win, win!

Virtual

Open House

October 17, 11:00am – 12:00pm

RSVP to admissions@mountmadonnaschool.org to receive the Zoom link

SAVE THE DATES • VIVA CALLESJ, San Jose, vivacallesj.org—POSTPONED • BEST BUDDIES CHALLENGE, Carmel, bestbuddies.org—VIRTUAL • SEPT. 1-20, Sea Otter Festival, seaotterplay.com—VIRTUAL • SEPT. 4-13, Tour de Menlo, Atherton, tourdemenlo.com— VIRTUAL • SEPT. 19 –Talk Like a Pirate Day Curt “Cycle Guy” Hentschke has pedaled more than 60,000 miles of South Valley and San Benito County trails. Send your cycle celebrations to heycycleguy@gmail. com. Check for last minute changes before attending.

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SANBENITO.COM | SOUTHVALLEY.COM | SEPTEMBER 4, 2020

T

he date was Oct. 21, 2000. To mix things up on my 10th and final charity ride of the season, I decided to make it a family affair, registering the Hentschke 4 for the easy option in Hollister’s Earthquake Country Ride. Somewhere near mile three, son #2 made one critical error, opting to explore the dirt trail that paralleled the street. The results: 10,000 goat heads in each tire and an early end to our ride.

If 2020 was a plant, it would surely be puncture vine, pernicious provider of those gosh-awful goat heads. Covid continues its cruel curtailment, deflating a plethora of pedaling plans. Many of your September and October favorites will take place, albeit virtually. Check them out! And happily, Talk Like a Pirate Day falls on a Saturday, Sept. 19, this year; be sure to take the scurvy family out for a rollicking ride!

The Sea Otter Classic! The Woodstock of Two-Wheelers! The Must-Attend Mecca for Masses (of Cyclists)!

Originally scheduled for April, then Covid-postponed until October. Now bicycle fanatics (just like you and me) will have to wait until April 15-18, 2021, to flock to Laguna Seca.

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HOME OF THE WEEK

Submitted photo

ASHFORD CIRCLE This custom estate is located in SEPTEMBER 4, 2020 | SANBENITO.COM | SOUTHVALLEY.COM

an exclusive gated community.

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Private views on a knoll Ashford Highlands home includes spacious yard for entertaining

V

iews and tranquility are the words used to describe this home located in the gated Ashford Highlands community.

Located at 4025 Ashford Circle in Hollister, the 3,000-square-foot home includes four bedrooms and three bathrooms.

The kitchen is equipped with a large gas cooktop, double ovens, wine

refrigerator and more. The home features a solar system, as well as an electric vehicle charging station.

The home sits on top of a knoll of more than one acre. Outside, a large covered patio has two infrared heaters.

Built in 2014, the home is listed at $1,297,777 by Intero Real Estate Services. For information, visit tinyurl.com/y585ewvh.

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