A special section of The Healdsburg Tribune, Cloverdale Reveille, The Windsor Times and Sonoma West Times & News
October 30, 2014
Vintage 2014: Early, quick and dry with one this year,” said Cam Mauritson, vineyard manager for his family’s 310 acres Winegrape growers are in Dry Creek Valley and putting the final wraps on Rockpile regions. “Our their 2014 harvest as the biggest concern is next year. month of October ends. If we have a hot summer next What’s not ending is the year (without adequate worst drought in Sonoma rains), there will be a lot of County’s history, which hardship.” remains a threat to all local Although commercial farmers and next year’s grapevines look very lush water supplies. If it had not and green during their long been for some very well- growing season, the plants timed rains are actually last February low water and April, users, comvineyard pared to owners might almost all be sharing other crops. some of the The 6-9 same crop inches of rain losses that that fell over dairy, livevineyards in stock and early spring other farmers this year was have suffered just enough this year. to water the With winemid-soil prograpes ($605 file where million) grapevines equaling 75 grow roots. — Cam Mauritson, Dry percent of the Almost no county’s total Creek Valley and Rockpile rain fell crop output again until a ($813 milfew showers lion), Sonoma in September. County’s ag industry is less According to official surimpacted by the drought than veys conducted by the counother regions of California ty’s Agricultural where 42 of the 58 counties Commissioner’s office, pasremain under an official fed- ture cover for livestock and eral natural disaster declara- oat and hay crops saw losses tion. of 30 to 66 percent of normal Agriculture is still the yields this year. Apple and most dominant part of other crop reports are not Sonoma County’s overall complete and impacts from economy and job base. That extra water imports and means crop losses due to the forced sales of livestock are drought have impacts well not factored either. beyond local farms and fields. Meanwhile, the county’s The biggest concern on winegrowers continue to feel everyone’s minds is whether normal rainfall will return next year or any time soon. Rainfall totals for the past three years remain below 50 percent of normal and reservoirs at Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma are under very strict monitoring. Without appreciable rains early next year, voluntary water conservation measures could become mandatory — for farmers, all city residences and industries. “We definitely got away by Rollie Atkinson Staff Writer
“We definitely got away with one this year. If we have a hot summer next year (without adequate rains), there will be a lot of hardship.”
Photos by Sara Gobets
HARVEST IN ACTION — Balletto Vineyards and Winery workers harvest zinfandel grapes early in the morning on Friday, Oct. 10, 2014.
“blessed” by comparison. After two historic yields in 2012 and 2013, this year’s grape tonnage was down as predicted, but still very favorable. “It looks like the crop will be down 15-25 percent from our two previous big years,” said Karissa Kruse, president of the Sonoma County Winegrowers. “But that may still be above average and it is just about what everybody was prepared for.” As for fruit quality and market prices, all the early vintage reports are very posi-
tive. “The only reason you almost all varietals — red couldn’t call it (2014 vintage) and white — getting ripe all ‘memorable’ is because we at the same time. “It was very compact this didn’t have any problems. Except for some spot labor year,” said Brad Petersen, shortages, everything hap- vineyard manager for Silver pened the way it’s supposed to,” said longtime grapegrower Richard Mounts, of Dry Creek Valley. “It was that mystical ‘average’ everybody talks about.” Across the county near the Laguna de Santa — Anthony Beckman, Rosa in west Russian River Valley county, Balletto Vineyards & Winery winemaker Anthony Beckman said Oaks in Alexander Valley. “there’s not a bad wine in the “We started picking 10 days whole building. The overall ahead of last year.” Vineyard owners and winquality is awesome.” The winegrape harvest ery workers took to Twitter started two weeks earlier and other social media to than average in most regions. track the fun and frenzy of Some early-ripening grapes this year’s harvest. A Harvest for sparkling wine were actu- Tracker “feed” of selfie phoally harvested in late July. tos, hashtagged (#) tweets August was a rush with VINTAGE continues on page 4
“It’s hard to say what is usual or average anymore, except to say this harvest is another great one, as usual.”
INSIDE Pedroncelli Family
[3]
Nothing flashy, just family
How’s the weather?
[5]
Growers using high-tech to track and react to the weather
Excess harvest
[7]
Local networks find solutions to harvest’s waste
Grapes in the sky
[8]
High elevation defines Pine Mountain-Cloverdale AVA
Almost gone
[9]
Growing and preserving rare fruit
Direct to consumer
[10]
Photos from the county’s varied Farmers Markets
It’s a process
[13]
Lack of processing infrastructure leaves room to grow
Certified organic
[14]
Berniers gain signage to match longtime sustainable practices.
Urban chickens become backyard trend by Robin Gordon Staff Writer City dwellers may not have to plan a weekend at the farm to gather fresh eggs for breakfast. With the rise in popularity of backyard chicken coops in city centers, many farming enthusiast are raising their own birds. Coops ranging in cost from a few hundred dollars to several thousand are popping up in neighborhoods across the county. With the rise in micro farming — the practice of mixing livestock and plant crops on a small scale — comes the idea that even homes in city limits can grow edible landscape and raise chickens for eggs. “The trend of raising chickens continues to rise,” said John Pellham, a chicken expert who handles coops and care at Western Farm Center in Santa Rosa. “We have seen the trend going strong since 2002.” Western Farm Center has been the leader in Sonoma County for years when it comes to purchasing a wide variety of chicken breeds, small backyard coops and feed and equipment. On average, the company sells over 900 chicks per week
Photo by Robin Hug
CLUCK, CLUCK — Western Farms in Santa Rosa orders approximately 40 chicken breeds every March. Check out their website, www.westernfarmcenter.com, for the Arrival Calendar. Visit their blog to find information on the best layers, raising your own flock and chicken care guidelines.
when they first arrive in the spring and carries over 40 breeds, which come sexed and vaccinated for Merek’s disease each April.
“We get all different breeds, everything from the exotics to the green and blue egg layers and the chocolate eggs, those are becoming
more popular now,” said Pellham, whose regular customers know him as JP. Pellham manages the chicken
room, where in the spring hundreds of day-old chicks get their start in the brooder-a heated metal device for rearing young chicks. The brooder is kept at 90-95 degrees, a temperature that needs to be mimicked in the enclosure that the chicks will be brought home to and grow in for the first three weeks. When the first April shipment arrives, droves of people flock to the chicken room to purchase their spring chicks. Chicks cost about $3.50 each, and Pellham said he can get almost any variety that people request. He has watched the fowl trends in the county for decades, getting his start at turkey farms including a stint with the well-known Willie Bird Turkey Farms. Now he is an expert in chicken breeds and can list the top five best sellers along with some of the more exotic types, like the Silkie, a fluffy feather bird that resembles a cotton ball. “It really matters to a lot of families what breed they take home,” he said. “Buff Orpingtons are probably our number one or two sellers. Those girls are good layers and COOP continues on page 4
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they are very sweet.” Other popular breeds include, the Plymouth Barred, Ameraucana, the Gold Sex Link and the Black Sex Link. Once a family or farmer decides on their chick breed, there is a section in the store dedicated to chick supplies. Here you can buy brooder lamps and bulbs, feeders, water tanks, medicine and feed. Day-old baby chicks need special care. Provide a warm brooder with pine shaving covering about 2 inches of the bottom. Allow a half-square foot per bird for the first couple of weeks and increase to 1-square foot per bird after that. Do not crowd your chicks, they could be at risk for dehydration and mortality. Add a heating lamp. Pellham suggests the red heating lamp that needs to be kept at 95 degrees for the first three weeks. Make sure that they have food and water at all times. Baby chicks eat “chick starter” food and after 12 weeks can move to “meat builder” food. At about 16 weeks of life, your chicks can begin eating egg maker crumbles or pellets. Photo by Robin Gordon Your chicks are ready to COOPED UP — Backyard chicken coops are gaining popularity in move into their coop at about urban areas throughout Sonoma County. four weeks as long as there is enough heat. Chicks need to Sebastopol. Unlike a simple 2002 by random chance when be protected from moisture, recycled coop from Western Stamp and his family got rid draft and extreme weather. Farm, Stamp and his family of their pet guinea pigs and Like your chickens, coops create high-end coops ranging transformed their cage into a come in many varieties. The from $1,500-$6,000. The com- coop. two most common structures pany offers four different “My family and I had are on-the-ground coops and sizes to fit anywhere from guinea pigs in a simple, onground clearance coops. three chickens to 25 or more the-ground-cage, and the Western Farm guinea pigs loved breedCenter carries both ing so after awhile we although the handdecided to go to chickmade-in-Sonoma ens. We converted the County coops are all coop to a walk-in with ground clearance dirt floor and a steel coops featuring roof. It was disastrous attachable access especially when it ramps and built from rained. Off the ground recycled wood. with wire mesh is much “It is important to easier to clean and not keep them out of the attract pests,” Stamp heat,” Pellham said. said. “Summer heat is When friends of the worse than the cold Stamp family came and can be very over, they loved the stressful. If it gets coop and wanted one for too warm, move their own. them under a shade “Back then there tree or install miswere a lot less chickens ters.” around and so I built Chickens love to my friend’s coops, one eat garden vegetain St. Helena that was — James Stamp, Wine Country Coops bles so make sure to much more sophisticathave a pinning area ed. After that we put that chickens can the website together roam freely without disturb- birds and clients can chose and then “Sunset” magazine ing other parts of the garden their own color schemes. found us and we built one for or backyard. For a flock of Their “A frame” coop, a them in their Menlo Park five or more chickens, consid- gable roofed style, is one of gardens and as a result they er a larger coop. their most popular coops and wrote us up,” Stamp said. James Stamp of Wine all coops are built with By this time, the family Country Coops creates made- American-made materials. was receiving roughly 900 to-order coops out of The company started in phone calls and ramped up their business building coops for people from Washington to Texas. “My son was at UC Davis studying geology at the time and when he came home from Established Since 1946 college we built coops together and it helped put him through college, and it was great experience for dad and son working on coops together,” he said. When he is not building coops, Stamp works primarily in the winegrape industry and sells some of his biggest coops to wineries on wheels that can move around vineyards. Some of his largest projects can be found at French Laundry and Napa Valley Cooking School. “I think there has been a massive increase in interest over the years,” said Stamp of the growing popularity of raising chickens. To find out more information about Western Farm Center and raising chickens, visit www.westernfarmcenter.com. To inquire about ordering a coop from Wine Country Coops, visit 30 Mill St., Healdsburg License #660190 www.winecountycoops.com.
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Harvest edition
October 30, 2014
| H3 |
Nothing f lashy, just family The Pedroncelli family’s authenticity a constant in Dry Creek Valley by Rollie Atkinson Staff Writer Maybe how the Pedroncelli family first started out in the winemaking business way back before Prohibition in 1927 is still how you would explain their nearly 90 years of solid success and well-earned respect. As his son Jim, now 82, says about his Italian-immigrant father Giovanni, “he never set out to make wine; he was just trying to make a living.” The elder Pedroncelli worked at it for 42 years, starting with 25 acres just west of Geyserville and selling his grapes to home winemakers during Prohibition. He bought the property for $11,000 with a loan from his service in World War I. “I think there was an appeal of the region’s hillside vineyards that reminded him and the other Italian families of some areas back in their home country,” Jim said. Father Giovanni (John) also sold barrels and jugs of Italian-style red and white wines to area grocery stores and restaurants during the Depression, World War II and California’s post-war boom days. Then, joined by his sons John and Jim, Giovanni put the Pedroncelli name on bottles of barrel-finished zinfandels, burgandies, clarets and pinot noir. Well before modern times of wine country tourists, corporate winery ownership and super-premium bottle prices, the Pedroncellis, along with other Italian-American winemakers, found themselves part of a booming California wine industry. Besides the Pedroncelli name there was also Foppiano, Teldeschi, Seghesio, Gallo, Petri brothers, Biagini, Pastori, Simi, Buchignani, Silvestri and Italian Swiss Colony — all within a 20-30 mile radius in northern Sonoma County. By the 1950s, the Pedroncellis were producing over 100,000 cases of wine a year, selling most of it to working class families at modest prices. A 1955 Gold Medal-winning Pedroncelli Claret sold for $1.50 a gallon jug. There are few, if any, greater constants in the Sonoma County wine industry than the Pedroncelli family and its winery. After the end of Prohibition, they opened a bonded winery in 1933 and still harvest grapes and make wine from some of the original century-old zinfandel vines. Vineyard acreage was gradually added to over the years and total 105 acres in Dry Creek Valley today. A fourth generation of the family is set to join the business. Plans for the future among Giovanni’s children and grandchildren are held around a large dinner table. “We don’t see any giant leaps,” said Jim. “We’re not (about) blazing any trails. We don’t do the flashy stuff. If I had to put a word on it, I’d say ‘authentic.’ When you say family tradition, or family business, it’s true here. It’s always been our life.” How authentic is the Pedroncelli way of making a living and making excellent wines? Well, not every winemaking family has its copper polenta-making kettle in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. (Along with old labels, barrel stencils, and hand-written business ledgers, the Pedroncelli collection is part of a display about America’s food traditions.) In the earliest years, Giovanni had to experiment with new plantings. The old zinfandel vines always produced well, but newer plantings of pinot noir and chardonnay proved unsuitable for the warmer Dry Creek Valley climate and the vines were later replaced with more zinfandel, cabernet sauvignon and san-
Photo provided
FAMILY FIRST — Front row: Joanna Pedroncelli; middle row: Lisa Pedroncelli Blakeley, John Pedroncelli, Maureen Davison, Christine Pedroncelli, Jim Pedroncelli, Phyllis Pedroncelli, Cathy Pedroncelli, Julie Pedroncelli St. John, Ed St. John; Back row: Lance Blakeley and Richard Morehouse.
giovese. Today, the family also grows merlot, petite sirah and four special grapes for port. “Our father always stressed growing the right grapes in the right locations,” said Jim. “All our vineyards are somewhat hilly. Over the years we’ve kept re-planting many of the vines.” Jim credits his brother John with bringing some “newer styles” of winemaking into the family. The Pedroncelli style always has been about presenting the fruit flavors that are unique to each vineyard location. John introduced finer barrel aging and more finished wines, replacing the more “rustic” styles of the jug and keg days. Today, Pedroncelli Winery produces 60,000 cases of wine each year — and sells it all. John, 89, is still the hands-on winemaker, assisted by Montse Reece, a native of Spain, who joined the winery in 2007. Son-in-law Lance Blakeley manages the 105 acres of estate vineyards and longtime employee Polo Cano is the cellar master. Jim’s daughter, Julie (Pedroncelli) St. John is in charge of communications and public relations as vice president of marketing. Jim’s other daughters Cathy, Lisa and Joanna, sonin-law Blakeley and John’s son Richard Morehouse, all work in the business in vineyard management, finance, marketing, and sales. Other family members include Julie’s husband Ed. St John in sales and marketing and third-generation Pedroncelli, Maureen Davison who works on special events Almost all of the family, plus several very longtime employees, have been working through several decades of harvests. Manuel Diaz is the vineyard foreman, a job previously held by his father
where he is now joined by his own son. Warehouse foreman Archangel Lopez is now semi-retired after almost 40 years of service, and office manager Kathy Cross has been with the winery for 38 years. Julie and the third generation of Pedroncellis are keeping their eye on the changing wine drinking market of college-aged and young professional consumers who have discovered Sonoma County’s premium wines. “We know we have to keep reaching out to the public and that there are a lot of new consumers in the market,” said Julie. “But we still do a lot of word of mouth connections — it’s just that now we have social media and a blog.” When Jim graduated from St. Mary’s College with a business administration degree in the 1950s, he became the winery’s first traveling salesman. “It was all a local business back then. I would visit local grocery stores and restaurants to sell our wines. People were very supportive of the local wineries.” Back then there were only a dozen members of the Sonoma Wineries Association and the grocery store shelves and restaurant wine lists weren’t too crowded. “I’m amazed at how many labels there are today,” said Jim. “My dad used to worry about who would keep buying our wines after the old Italian families would go away. We knew they (old families) would always find us but who knew (that) we can’t even begin to make enough wine for all our potential outlets.” Since the earliest jug wine days, all Pedroncelli wines have been moderately priced. Today, none of the winery’s wines are more than $25 a bottle, with most priced below $20. All of the wines
are consistent award winners and are frequently listed as “best buys” by Wine Spectator and others. With daughter Julie listening, Jim admitted the wines could be priced higher. “Maybe we should,” he said about raising prices, “but we’ve always had the approach that we wanted to sell all the wine and not have too much left over to store. We’re a little more traditional than the rest of today’s marketplace. We still concentrate on our vineyards and growing good fruit.” Speaking about
Pedroncelli’s winemaking style that is definitely “old world,” Jim said “we still try to make wines for ‘every day’ but also special enough for holidays and special occasions.” Put another way, he says, “it’s the wine we grew up with.” That’s a rich heritage that can’t be shared by very many other winemakers around here. Authentic only begins to describe not only the wine but an older, more original wine country lifestyle. For his first “official” harvest as winemaker in 1948, son John, his father and just one other worker handcrushed and pumped 800 tons of grapes. It was the last year the vineyards were to be plowed by horse. Giovanni continued to work in the vineyards and cellar right up to his death in 1969. A small tasting room was added in 1955 when the first major winery expansion with a bottling line was built. Soon, all the old redwood tanks were replaced by modern stainless steel tanks and oak barrels. All around the Pedroncellis and Dry Creek Valley, more and more prune orchards were being planted over to winegrapes. By the early 1970s, new neighbors like Dave Stare, Lou Preston, Bill Wheeler, Rodney Strong and others opened new wineries. Sonoma County’s wine industry exploded. Corporations moved in and built Geyser Peak, Chateau Souverain and others.
Pedroncelli Winery grew too, but it didn’t change. “I’d look around at all the money they were spending and wonder how they’d be successful. But they were good for us. It brought a lot of new money into our industry and prices went up,” said Jim. Through all the changes, from jug clarets to premium pinot noirs, Pedroncelli wines have always maintained a steady following. The Mother Clone zinfandels are made from 100-yearold vines and a blend of other heritage vines from the family estate. Pedroncelli pinot noir is made from grapes grown in the northern end of Russian River Valley. The 2012 costs just $20 a bottle and recently won a blind tasting over a selection of wines costing twice as much. Pedroncelli Winery also makes other zinfandels and pinot noirs each year along with a sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and a rosé. And then, there is the Pedroncelli Port, an authentic fortified wine made from four Portuguese varietals planted in a small 5-acre vineyard near the winery. The wine has been a perennial gold medal winner at the California State Fair and in other competitions, including this year’s Sonoma County Harvest Fair. The winery is located at 1220 Canyon Road, a few miles west of Highway 101 and Geyserville. Visitors will always find at least one or two Pedroncelli family members on the premises.
Pedroncelli through the decades 1927 — Giovanni Pedroncelli purchases 90 acres of hillside land west of Geyerserville of which 25 acres are planted mostly to zinfandel. During Prohibition, a former winery building is in use as a barn. 1927 - 1933 — Pedroncelli harvests and sells grapes to local home winemakers. One small, historic block of 100-year-old zinfandel still remains, the Mother Clone, providing budwood for replanted estate zinfandel into the 21st century. 1933 — Prohibition is repealed at the end of the year. Giovanni Pedroncelli applies for licensing in 1934 to begin wine production for the upcoming harvest. The federal government allows him to use the original Bonded Winery #113. 1934-1947 — The Pedroncelli family makes wine, selling and delivering in barrels to grocery stores, local families and ranchers. A gallon of the red and white field blend sells for 45 cents to consumers who drive to the winery to fill up their own bottles. 1948 — John Pedroncelli Jr. becomes winemaker in 1948. Beginning in 1949, he makes a zinfandel for release bottled under the Pedroncelli label. 1954 — On Jim Pedroncelli's recommendation, the winery is among the first to use the Sonoma County appellation on its label. 1955— Pedroncelli's first major winery expansion is built. An automatic bottling line is installed and more storage tanks for the growing production. (Before this, bottling was done by hand.) John Sr operates a tiny tasting room in a corner of the cellar, welcoming friends and family to taste his wines. 1956-1960 — Jim Pedroncelli assumes marketing and sales responsibilities in 1957. Along with
zinfandel, wines produced now include pinot noir, zinfandel rose and riesling as well as blends like burgundy, claret and chablis. 1963 — Sons John and Jim Pedroncelli purchase the winery and vineyards from their father and begin their own legacy. 1968 — Pedroncelli purchases its first French oak barrels and begins converting the wood tanks to stainless steel. The winery focuses more on varietal wines, such as cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, chenin blanc, gewurztraminer and Johannisberg riesling. 1971-1980 — A renaissance begins in Dry Creek Valley with many wineries being established and prune orchards now planted to grapes. During this period, Pedroncelli establishes relationships with growers Nivan Buchignani, Frank Johnson and Morris Fay that will last into the 21st century. 1983— Dry Creek Valley becomes an American Viticultural Appellation (AVA). Pedroncelli adds Dry Creek Valley to its label. 1990s — Single and Special Vineyard Selection wines are introduced. These wines represent Pedroncelli's finest achievement in eight decades of winegrowing. A third generation of Pedroncellis is firmly established in all aspects of winery and vineyard operations, carrying forward the family tradition into the 21st century. 2007 — The Pedroncelli family celebrates 80 years of winegrowing. 2008-09 — Members of the fourth generation work in the vineyard as well as the tasting room including grandsons Mitch Blakeley and Steve Trentadue. — Source Pedroncelli Winery
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Harvest edition
| H4 | VINTAGE from page 1
and scrapbook moments chronicled the action at the Sonoma Winegrowers website. (www.wearesonomacounty.com/harvest.) “We picked 70 percent of all our grapes within the first 11 days of September,” said Balletto’s Beckman. “It’s hard to say what is usual or average anymore, except to say this harvest is another great one, as usual.” Vineyard reports from all of the county’s separate appellations, from the cooler Russian River Valley to the warmer areas of Alexander Valley and more southern Sonoma Valley contribute to a story of a long, too dry growing season with a little extra heat in places, followed by an early and condensed picking fury. From bud break in early spring to veraison, and all the way to harvest, Pine Mountain’s (Cloverdale) Barry Hoffner said “this will be the earliest harvest we’ve ever known on Pine Mountain.” Hoffner, owner of Silverwood Ranch, said the quality is “exceptional,” thanks to generous hangtimes and very consistent warm weather. Photo by Rollie Atkinson Hidden in the eyewitness CRUSH-TIME — Cabernet sauvignon grapes heading for crush at Dry reports are a few positive Creek Valley Vineyards. impacts from the lack of rain. “Without the usual fog and you could want in this year’s ty’s ag commissioner office. moisture we fought less crop,” Pedroncelli said, when “But it’s obvious that anybody bunch rot and mildew this asked to compare it with oth- relying on seasonal rainfall is year,” said Mounts, who also er years. “All our fruit had a suffering. And for everybody said this was his second-earli- chance to get well-ripened. else the main thing will be est harvest ever. water storage and dry wells.” All the flavors are there.” “It was a good farming The federal disaster ruling With this year’s winegrape year,” said Kruse. provides low interset “In farming, there’s loans and other oneno such thing as time support for local easy, but the limited farmers with a 30 perrains and lower cent or greater crop yields made everyloss. Sonoma County thing a little easier could also be eligible for to navigate.” extra federal funds to There were lots of construct more storage smaller berries and or water conservation more intense colors, programs. which can equal Led by the Sonoma great flavors with County Farm Bureau, ample sugar and the Sonoma County acids, all ingredients Winegrowers and othfor exceptional ers, a series of droughtwines, Kruse said. related workshops have “We had some been held since the extra challenges as beginning of this year, growers with the with more planned into heat and drought,” early 2015. — Richard Mounts, Dry Creek Valley said Mauritson. “But The Winegrowers that all means highhas 1,600 members, ly concentrated flaincluding many smaller vors. That’s great for wine- tonnage back to normal growers with single vinemakers. They can make all totals, added to the drought yards. “We’re all in this kinds of styles of wine.” impacts on other crops, the together,” said Kruse. “As an Jim Pedroncelli, of official Sonoma County Crop industry, we do a lot of collabGeyserville, has been har- Report due next February oration and sharing of inforvesting grapes with his fami- will definitely record an over- mation.” ly for over half a century. all decrease in farm producThe organization is also Pedroncelli Winery was tion compared to 2013. pledged to the preservation of established in 1933, the year “We’re still collecting data farm lands and open space that Prohibition ended. “I on the (drought) impacts,” and is a leader in sustainable think we’re seeing everything said Lisa Correia, of the coun- land management practices.
“The only reason you couldn’t call it (2014 vintage) ‘memorable’ is because we didn’t have any problems. Except for some spot labor shortages, everything happened the way it’s supposed to. It was that mystical ‘average’ everybody talks about.”
“We believe Sonoma County is special and stands for quality that puts us ahead of other wine growing regions,” Kruse said. “We want the public to feel proud to be a part of that.” Sonoma County’s valleys and hillsides are fertile farmlands for more than a dozen “million dollar crops.” Although missing the ample winter and early spring rains off the Pacific Ocean the last few years, the growing season here is very long, with limited early frost danger and lingering late-season warmth. Now dominated by vineyard plantings, other top crops in the county include dairy ($89 million), poultry ($47 million), nursery plants ($21 million), vegetables ($13 million), cattle and calves ($11.6 million), sheep and lambs ($6 million), apples ($5.8 million) and oat and filed crops ($4.6 million.) The 2013 winegrape crop totalled 270,609 tons. Red grapes averaged $3,558 per ton and white grapes were $1,845 per ton. Growing the crops and bringing them to harvest are the toughest challenges every year. But there is also the challenge of finding a market for all the county’s ag products. Sonoma County Winegrowers last year teamed with the Sonoma Wineries Association and county tourism agency to create a “We Are Sonoma County” marketing campaign. “We still have to compete,” Kruse said about the national and international campaign. “Our grower-members are very supportive of our marketing efforts to reach new consumers. We think we have a compelling message even for the so-called Millennials.” Kruse said support for continued growth of local ag industry is important as well. “We live in an attractive place. People still want to come here and invest. We need to be open to that, I think.” With all the modern vineyard management techniques, machinery and wine technology, Kruse still defends the “romanticism” of wine, which is both the county’s largest crop and its biggest tourism attraction. “There’s nothing like walking the rows of a vineyard and learning the life cycle of the vines and grapes. It’s still mostly about Mother Nature,” said Kruse. “And the reason why drinking wine is so much fun isn’t just about the wine. It’s more about the food and the people you share it with.”
hArvESt 2014 is a special supplement to the October 30, 2014 edition of:
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Publication Staff Editorial Kerrie Lindecker Robin Gordon David Abbott Jenna Polito Kat Gore Rollie Atkinson
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October 30, 2014
2014 harvest through the lens of social media TWEET THIS — Sonoma Winegrowers produced a Harvest Tracker, compiling tweets and posts from local grapegrowers and wineries as this year’s harvest progressed. Find the tracker at www.wearesonomacounty.com/harvest. Images courtesy Sonoma Winegrowers Harvest Tracker
Harvest edition
October 30, 2014
| H5 |
The weather is in hand Grape growers using sophisticated technology to track and react to weather By Ray Holley
Contributor
Grape growers are farmers, and farmers embody a remarkable balance between pessimism and optimism. Ask any farmer about their crop and the conversation ranges from excitement to fatalism — the latter emotion usually associated with the weather. That air of resignation, that feeling that you’re at the mercy of Mother Nature, can be managed by luck, by good planning, some even say by prayer, but increasingly, technology plays an important role. Every day, Sonoma County grape growers – and anyone who’s interested – can access a sophisticated and detailed weather forecast, which covers temperature, humidity, dew points, wind, rain, and the likelihood of frost. The forecast put together by Western Weather even predicts how likely grapevines are to be susceptible to powdery mildew. “What used to be an annual decision can now be made weekly,� said Tom Gore, Director of Vineyards for Constellation Brands, which owns Clos du Bois and Simi, among other brands. Gore oversees 1,450 acres in 14 different locations. With 13 vineyards in Sonoma County and another in Mendocino County, weather patterns vary dramatically from place to place, and a decision to water that might make sense in Alexander Valley might not apply in Carneros. The Sonoma County Winegrape Commission con-
to a powdery mildew threat Temperature modeling frost season. We want to be ... we can make good man- and tracking is also avail- careful about water use duragement and picking deci- able, which can help make ing a drought,� said Gore. sions.� growing and harvesting deci- “Localized forecasting is a The weather stations sions. “I can forecast crew great tool.� themselves are solar-pow- needs, predict bloom and Gore is also experimentered, and each ing with has its own aerial phowireless router tography. A that communifirm called cates with a TerrAvion network set up offers a by Western weekly flyWeather. The over serstations meavice, and sure wind delivers speed and visual, direction, preinfrared, cipitation, and therhumidity, and m a l — Tom Gore, Director of Vineyards for temperature. imagery via Gore can even email or Constellation Brands drive through direct to a his River Oaks s m a r t Vineyard to a phone. “We weather station and unroll a veraison, and use this data may try to apply this inforcable with a temperature to help me decide when to mation to management tools sensor attached. “I can know harvest,� Gore said. “This is that give us more data more the exact temperature at any especially important during readily,� Gore said. given location in the canopy,� he explained. Matt Wanink installed Forecast facts and services the River Oaks weather station. As a meteoTemperature – A numerical measurement of heat energy. For rologist with Western the wine industry, temperature affects vines, grapes, and people. Weather, Wanink is enthusiPrecipitation – Water droplets in the atmosphere condense, astic about the level of detail become too heavy to remain suspended, and fall to the ground. that’s possible with this techIn wine country, that’s primarily in the form of rain and fog (a very nology. “Growers can set low cloud) and affects growing, irrigating, and work schedules. alerts to any station in the Wind – Differences in air pressure create air movement, which network,� he said. “If the can in turn bring weather changes. Wind can dry out thirsty temperature gets below 35 vines, increase or decrease the chance of frost, and impact degrees at a certain weather when and how to spray. station, that grower can get Dew Points – The temperature at which water vapor in the air a text or email.� Other alerts condenses to liquid water. This can have a significant impact can be set for wind and temduring frost season, but also affects the growth of fungus. perature, both of which Powdery Mildew Stress – With a splotchy gray and white dusty affect decisions to irrigate, to appearance, powdery mildew can weaken a grapevine and spoil use frost protection, or to the wine. spray. “We’re trying to get To sign up for the free daily Western Weather forecast and the data out in as many know what the farmers know, visit www.sonomawinegrape.org, ways as possible,� Wanink scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Weather.� said.
“I can forecast crew needs, predict bloom and veraison, and use this data to help me decide when to harvest. This is especially important during frost season. We want to be careful about water use during a drought.�
Photo by Ray Holley
HOW’S THE WEATHER? — Tom Gore uses state-of-the-art technology to help predict needs for the vineyards he directs. Gore is pictured above with the weather station at River Oaks Vineyard.
tracts with Western Weather, and the Sonoma County Weather Station Network Daily Meteorological Summary is a fact-packed document. It starts with weather forecasts and summaries, and immediately transitions into weather nerd territory, with detailed information from 12
weather stations scattered throughout the county. Constellation has two weather stations on its properties, and Gore can log into the two stations individually, to compare data and make management decisions. “This impacts where you send your people, when you bring in outside crews, how you react
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THANK YOU, SONOMA COUNTY, FOR ANOTHER OUTSTANDING HARVEST.
It’s a busy and exciting time here in Sonoma County. The late nights. The early mornings. The extra trucks and tractors on the road. But we also recognize that harvest season can be a little hectic for everyone here. Which is why, as the season winds down, the Sonoma County Winegrowers would like to extend our sincere appreciation to the entire community for your patience and support. Thank you for making Sonoma County such a welcoming, beautiful and bountiful place to live. And, as we enter the holiday season, we hope you toast family and friends with a local Sonoma County wine. Cheers!
SEE HOW WE’RE MAKING BETTER WINE MORE SUSTAINABLY
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| H7 |
October 30, 2014
Harvest’s excess gets new life Local networks f ind solutions to waste By Jenna Polito
Staff Writer Though students had long since deserted the campus for the weekend, Healdsburg High School’s kitchen was ablaze with activity on a recent Saturday morning in October, as volunteers rinsed, chopped and stewed their way through more than 850 pounds of tomatoes. Under the auspices of gleaning organization Farm to Pantry, volunteers at the annual “Let’s Preserve” event rendered the bright red fruit, which were either donated or gleaned from local farms, into jars of tomato sauce to be donated to the Healdsburg Food Pantry. In an age where up to 40 percent of food in the United States goes uneaten, local networks are relying upon both new technology and ancient practices to reroute surplus produce to those who need it. From volunteer-driven groups like Farm to Pantry and Slow Harvest, to Cropmobster, a local startup with big ambitions, excess food in Sonoma County is finding new life. In 2012, a report from the National Resources Defense Council estimated that up to 40 percent of food in the United States goes uneaten, which amounts to more than 20 pounds per person every month. In the report, author Dana Gunders examined where waste occurs at every level of the food chain, starting with the farm. Gunders indentified multiple reasons why farmers may refrain from harvesting the
Photo by Jenna Polito
GLEANED — Dani Wilcox pours chopped tomatoes onto a baking sheet at Farm to Pantry’s “Let’s Preserve” community canning event.
entirety of their crops, from economic concerns, to labor shortages and damages from weather, pests and disease. Even when the majority of a field is harvested, some crops may be left behind for failing appearance-based quality standards. That’s where gleaning groups such as Slow Harvest and Farm to Pantry, who maintain the age-old practice of clearing excess produce from farms, come in. “Gleaning is not a new concept; it’s actually a very old concept,” explained Farm to Pantry founder Melita Love. “It’s a very old tradition of farmers reserving their surplus for those in need.” Since its nascence in 2008,
Love said Farm to Pantry has gleaned close to 80 tons of produce, which is donated to organizations such as the Healdsburg Food Pantry, the Cloverdale Food Pantry and Santa Rosa’s Redwood Gospel Mission. “The first gleaning was something like 50 pounds, and now we’ve gleaned over 79 tons,” she said. “And that is just one garden, one backyard, one farm at a time.” Similarly, West Countybased Slow Harvest has rerouted around 40,000 pounds of excess food since forming five years ago. “We have a relationship with small farms around where this group of gleaners live,” said founder Aletha Soulé.
“So every week we are able to go to one of the farms and glean something that they aren’t going to be able to harvest because it’s not marketable.” At times, the groups even move from the field into the kitchen, such as Farm to Pantry’s “Let’s Preserve” event, or occasions when Slow Harvest uses Relish Culinary Adventures’ commercial kitchen to create salsas and spicy gazpachos for organizations including the Healdsburg Food Pantry and the Graton Day Labor Center. While Farm to Pantry’s mission centers around the benefit of providing fresh, healthy and affordable food to Sonoma County residents, Love said that aim goes handin-hand with waste reduction. “That’s the flipside of looking at what we do,” she said. “It’s reducing the amount of food that’s wasted.” Soulé and Love said that gleaning also aids participating farmers. “It actually benefits the farmers when we come in,” Love said, “so they don’t have to apply the labor to pick it. Or they would just till it under.” In contrast to ancient practices such as gleaning, local innovators have found that the lightening-fast connectivity that social media affords can also have a powerful impact on food waste. Such is the case with Cropmobster, a Sonoma County-based startup that “Time” magazine has described as a quasi “Match.com for produce.” Faced himself with farmers’ conundrum of bringing back unsold produce from the
farmers market, Cropmobster co-founder Nick Papadopoulos found a way to recoup losses through alerting Facebook users to the bounty he had on hand. “Week after week, he brought back a lot of what was unsold,” said Cropmobster co-founder and CEO/CTO Gary Cedar. “So he did a lot of tests and within hours his produce was taken.” Cedar, who has a background in tech, was then brought on board to help craft Papadopoulos’ vision into a viable network. Cropmobster harnesses social media to allow users to connect over their respective agriculture-related excess and needs. On a day in midOctober, alerts posted on their website ranged from a 16 percent discount on drought-tolerant meat sheep, to a request for cucumbers from a burgeoning pickling business and an alert that 275 pounds of white cheddar, suitable for animal feed, was available for free. While developing Cropmobster, Cedar said he found that barriers to effective food redistribution included the lack of a platform for farmers to alert the public to their excess before it went to waste. “Some people think it’s garbage, or something that’s going to the dump, and really I think of it as being a premium food surplus,” Cedar said. “If we can get rid of it locally, it brings a variety of economic benefits, social benefits and environmental benefits.” Cedar added that users’ ability to recover some
expenses through Cropmobster deals proves important as farms struggle to remain afloat in a tough market. “Our research showed that in California, 53 percent of farmers were going under, they weren’t making a profit,” he said. “Nationally, 20,000 small farms a year are going out of business.” Through word of mouth, Cedar said that Cropmobster took off quickly after launching in 2013, and its community has expanded into the thousands. Though Papadopoulos has since departed, Gary and his wife Joanna, who is Cropmobster’s CCO, are eager to see their startup continue to grow. Cedar said he hopes to help the network build sustainable revenue streams, develop marketing strategies and creating a streamlined app to help users’ posts go viral. According to Cedar, Cropmobsters’ impacts to date align with its rapid growth. “Over 90 percent of everything that has gone through our system has found a home,” he said. Cropmobster estimates that their network has saved over 1 million pounds of local food in Sonoma and Marin counties from going to waste. Cedar also attributed their success to appropriate timing, as in recent years, high-speed internet has found its way into increasingly rural areas. “We touched a nerve within the community, but we also created a local food network that has never been tried before,” he said. “This couldn’t have happened two years ago.”
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Harvest edition
| H8 |
October 30, 2014
Growing grapes in the sky High elevation defines Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Peak AVA By Kerrie Lindecker
Staff Writer It’s the highest grapegrowing region in the area, yet its name — and its brand — is just starting to peak. Pine MountainCloverdale Peak Appellation is like that three-year-old bottle of wine in the cellar, the possibilities are endless and the anticipation is high for the young American Viticultural Area (AVA) established in 2011. While the mountain has a long history in grapegrowing with the first vines planted in 1855, the identity of the peak as its own, unique growing region, with
a taste distinguishable from nearby Alexander Valley Appellation, is still fairly new. Located at the top of Pine Mountain, east of Cloverdale at the end of the Mayacamas mountain range, the peak separates the Napa and Sonoma growing regions. Following a lengthy process to gain its own AVA, anticipation and excitement are growing as word spreads about the high quality of the fruit, and, of course, the wine produced from it. “Up at that elevation, it costs more to farm, you can’t machine harvest, it’s just not possible, the cost to irrigate is more and there’s typ-
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ically a lower yield. So, if you’re not growing premium grapes up there, there’s no reason to farm,� said Barry Hoffner of Silverwood Ranch, who grows 43 acres of grapes on the mountain. Hoffner’s Upper Ridge Vineyard, leased to Benziger Family Winery, includes 30 acres of 11 different grape varieties harvested for Benziger’s Imagery brand. The vineyard, with planted elevations reaching 2,600feet, claims the distinction of the highest-elevation vineyard in Sonoma County. The 2012 Imagery Lagrein from Upper Ridge Vineyard, sold at $45 a bottle, won a Double Gold Medal at the Sonoma County Harvest Fair. It’s the premium, high elevation fruit that really sets this growing region apart, and is the reason local growers sought the new AVA designation. At such high elevations — only grapes grown at 1,600 to 3,000 feet are included in the AVA — vines are far above the water table and the berry size is considerably smaller than those grown on the valley floor, giving the grape an intense fruit flavor. The weather pattern is quite different that high in the sky as well. The fog
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doesn’t roll in, and the vines don’t experience the temperature spikes other growing regions see. It rains more, and the early mornings and evenings are warmer, so during growing season, the vines are working all the time. The growing season is longer, typically seeing bud break three weeks earlier than the nearby valleys, and often growers don’t wrap up harvest until late October or even early November. “The longer days above the fog layer, the longer hangtime — the growing conditions are extreme,� said John Composi, Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Peak AVA’s Director of Marketing and Brand Management. What you get, he said, is “ultra-premium, mountain fruit with great balance and structure. The fruit notes are very intense and tannins are soft.� Leaving the grapes on the vine longer means the tannins are softer and the colors are darker. The area is known for its cabernet grapes and other bordeaux blends. But it’s not all a walk in the park. The longer hang-time leaves grapes on the vine long after most nearby appellations have completed harvest. It’s a “nail-biting� time for growers, whose
fruit could become more susceptible to late rainfall and early cold weather as autumn rolls in. “There’s a risk every year — will we ripen in time when the weather turns,� Hoffner said. This year, Hoffner reported, was a unique growing season. “We have consistently tracked two to three weeks earlier than normal from bud-break, through veraison, all the way to harvest. In fact, this will be the earliest harvest that we know of on Pine Mountain, with likely 100 percent of all winegrapes harvested by early October. Normally, Pine Mountain Cloverdale Peak picks well into October. By mid-September roughly 50 percent of the winegrapes were harvested, with the 5 percent of white winegrapes on the mountain all picked in August. Though hangtimes will be a bit less than in previous years, the quality of crop has been reported to be exceptional. This is due to the very consistent warm weather we had throughout the growing season, from bloom straight through to harvest,� Hoffner said. While the quality of the fruit is key, Compisi said he sees something special hap-
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pening on Pine Mountain, something that can’t be measured or even pinpointed, perhaps. “There’s something about the history there, something about the feel and the very experience to farm up there,â€? he explained. “But the fruit is pretty amazing.â€? There’s something you can almost taste in the hand-picked and tended grapes, grown with a purpose in small, specially selected plots of land. Hoffner said while it’s always about the grapes, the people on the mountain — both grapegrowers and not — that have come together over the last decade are creating a community committed to nature. “Many of us came up here for the nature ‌ it’s a great area for the grapes, but we are just as passionate about the nature side as we are about the ag side,â€? Hoffner said. “People want to be here. They want to be out on the land.â€? It’s that passion that the Pine Mountain community is proud of, and is starting to share with others. But, it always comes back to the quality of the berries, doesn’t it? The limited quantity likely also adds to the mystery or allure of the region. With just 300 acres of planted vines, the area isn’t saturated with wines from Pine Mountain, and in fact, it can even be difficult to get a taste of exclusive Pine Mountain wine. Those on Pine Mountain expect that will change, though, as word gets out and Pine Mountain’s AVA continues to grow, in size and in recognition.
Harvest edition
October 30, 2014
| H9 |
On the verge of being lost Growing and preserving rare fruit By Patricia M. Roth
Staff Writer Phil Pieri lives in southern Sebastopol, where the fog rolls in and out like clockwork, the sunshine is abundant, and the cool ocean influence determines the varieties of fruit trees that will prosper in the orchards that fill every available growing space on his property. Pieri began growing fruit trees in 1970, after moving from his native San Francisco where he had long dreamed of being a farmer, to Sebastopol. “The first year I moved in, I bought about a dozen fruit trees and put them out front,” he said. Today, 300 varieties of fruit thrive on Pieri’s property, and most of them are rare or unusual. “I grow whatever I can get my hands on and whatever I have room for. If I come across a variety I don’t have, I’ll grab it up and get a scion and graft it to something,” he said. Pieri is a 13-year member of the Redwood Empire Chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers (CFRG), the largest amateur fruit growing organization in the world whose mission is “to encourage and foster public and scientific interest, research, education and the preservation of rare fruit plants that have edible seeds, fruits, leaves, stems or roots and are not grown commercially.” “I consider anything that is not sold in the supermarket to be a rare fruit,” Pieri said. “A lot of fruit varieties are on the verge of being lost. Our local Redwood Empire chapter attempts to find those varieties and grow them for a matter of preservation.” Visitors to Pieri’s orchards are surprised to discover so many different kinds of trees heavy with mouth-watering fruit in various stages of ripeness. In his lower orchard, there are 24 varieties of apple trees, 23 varieties of pomegranates, 17 varieties of table grapes, 16 varieties of plums, pluots and plumcots, 12 varieties of pears, 10 varieties of peaches, four varieties of loquat, three varieties of kiwi and Jujubee—and that’s not all. A partial listing of fruit trees in the upper orchard includes 16 varieties of citrus, 10 varieties of apples, eight varieties of figs plus filberts, quince, mulberries and avocados. Lemons and walnuts grow behind his house. The greenhouse contains a range of fruit, including 12 varieties of dragon fruit, seven varieties of Surinam cherry, two varieties of white sapote as well as babaco, capers, tamarillo and more. Pieri documents where everything’s growing in a
Photos by Jeff Roth
BLIND TASTING — Members of the Redwood Empire Chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers recently tested and rated 53 apple and 17 pear varieties during a blind tasting held at the Ace-in-the-Hole pub in Sebastopol.
three-ring binder, a treasure The chapter’s website grafters are on hand to cuschest of handwritten notes. summarizes its goals this tom-graft fruit trees. In sumThe notebook also includes way: “We like to grow inter- mer, they sell trees that are diagrams of what Pieri calls esting varieties of fruit. We not commercially available, his “mother trees.” One is a meet up to share fruit vari- including rare and heirloom myrobalan varieties, such plum, or wild as the Fort plum, with 12 R o s s varieties of fruit Gravenstein grafted on it— Apple. They peaches, plums also particiand apricots. pate in various A big part of events, such the joy in this as the work lies in National preserving rare Heirloom varieties of fruit Exposition. for the future. Recently, “Because I don’t about 50 have the room R e d w o o d right now for Empire memfull size trees, I bers gathered graft obscure for an apple varieties on this and pear tasttree just to preing at Ace-inserve for the the-Hole pub future, when in Sebastopol, possibly I may where Ace have room for Cider has been Photo by Jeff Roth ano ther tree,” making premiFARMER — Phil Pieri of Sebastopol has been actively involved Pieri explained. um hard in the Redwood Empire Chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers for 13 years. His orchards contain more than 300 variP i e r i ’ s ciders since eties of fruit. daughter, 1999. Four Maile Pieri, long wooden serves as chair tasting tables of the Redwood Empire eties and information. We ran lengthwise down the Chapter of CRFG, which has reach out to the public. We middle of the room while about 300 members. “We do support worthy, local, fruit- Frank Sinatra tunes played this out of love,” she related causes.” in the background and a barexplained. “We enjoy it. We Their annual events tender poured tastes from love to share information include a winter scion the cidery’s newest release, with people. It’s eye opening exchange and a summer Blackjack 21. Made from 100 to people who have no idea plant sale. Held in January, percent Gravenstein apples, there are more than two vari- the scion sale is their most Blackjack 21 was fermented eties of apples out there. I popular event; they share to 9 percent alcohol and aged had no idea Hawaii was out free scion wood from more in Oak Chardonnay barrels there, and it’s my favorite than 500 varieties of fruit before being bottled with carapple.” trees and vines and expert bonation to give it some bub-
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bles. Apples and pears, brought by growers for the event, were each cut into slices and placed on paper plates that were numbered. Members walked down the line with pad and paper in hand, tasting and rating the fruit. “These are blind tastings,” explained Maile Pieri. “There are different ways to rate the fruit: high acid, sweet, sour, crunchy, thin-skinned, thickskinned. You rate them on your own scale, then we take a raise of hands at the end of the event as to who likes the sweetest or who likes the sourest, then we’ll take a total and post it on our website, so you can see what has changed over the years.” When asked what he was looking for when tasting pears, David Ulmer, one of the chapter’s biomanagers, smiled and said, “Pleasure. In pears there is a special flavor that a few varieties have. I’m looking for those varieties that are more complex than just sweet.” Results posted on the chapter’s website a few days later showed how members ranked the 53 apple and 17 pear varieties that were tested. The apple varieties that tied for best of show were: Gold Rush, Golden Russet and Pink Lady, followed by Crimson Gold, Golden Delicious, Pinata (Pinova), Roxbury Russet, Spigold, Ambrosia and Grimes Golden. Of the 16 pear varieties
tasted, Dana Hovey was reported to be the clear winner followed by White Doyenne, Bosc and Red Bartlett. Phil Beck, visiting from Pittsburgh, Pennyslvania, attended the tasting with his daughter Jennifer Foley, her husband John, a CRFG member, and their 9- and 11-yearold sons Owen and Evan, who participated in the tasting. “My son in law grows everything—apples, pears, kiwis, grapes, watermelons. He just loves to grow and graft things. This is my second tasting put on by this group. I thought everything I tasted was great. It’s a matter of taste; it’s not like one is better than the other. It’s what you like, and there wasn’t an apple or pear that was awful,” Beck said. He praised the members of the Redwood Empire Chapter of California Rare Fruit Growers. “They put their whole hearts and souls into what they do. They really are connoisseurs. They grow. They work very hard at it. They take the time to do all this work, and they believe in what they are doing, and it’s something they want to share with newcomers,” he said. “I don’t drink alcohol, but I do like fruit. So this is sort of my wine tasting.” If you’d like to become a member of the Redwood Empire Chapter of CRFG or learn more, visit http://crfgredwood.org/.
| H10 |
Harvest edition
October 30, 2014
Direct to consumer Sonoma County’s varied farmers markets are the premier source for local food Photos by Sarah Bradbury
TRIP TO THE MARKET — More than 20 farmers markets are spread throughout Sonoma County, offering fresh produce, prepared foods and local goods to nearby residents. The diverse markets from Bodega Bay to Cloverdale provide consumers with wholesome food and a chance to meet the farmer and learn how their dinner was grown. For a complete list of local certified farmers markets in the county, go to sonomacounty.ca.gov/AgriculturalCommissioner.
October 30, 2014
Harvest edition
| H11 |
We are proud to support and promote the many fruits of labor provided by our local farmers, winemakers and workers.
Big John’s Market’s wine selection features locally produced wines including dozens of this year ’s Sonoma County Harvest Fair medal winners. We offer great prices and present many of the smaller and harder to find local wineries. xt shopping visit , be sure to On your neext browse our medal winner collection between stops at our meat , deli, cheese, bakery and produce sections where we feature the local bounty of our many harvests all year long.
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| H13 |
October 30, 2014
Processing Sonoma County’s bounty There’s room to grow in the local food processing industry By David Abbott
Staff Writer Sonoma County is synonymous with agriculture and year after year the grape harvest dominates the headlines as well as the yearly crop report released by the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office. But a look inside the numbers reveals trends that can open the door for even greater economic value in the local food processing industry. The reported total value for agricultural production in 2013 was $848,323,200, representing an increase of 4 percent from the 2012 value of $812,726,100. While grapes represented more than $605 million of that total, grape production took place on just 6 percent of the county’s landmass — about 60,000 acres. The wine industry generates nearly $14 billion annually, due in part to the value of the crops, but also because of the value added through winemaking and a commercially viable marketplace that can be seen driving on many Sonoma County roads with the ubiquitous tasting rooms that dot the valleys from Geyserville to Graton. Value added products in other growing sectors include baked goods created in smallscale artisan bakeries, olive oil, goat cheese and apple ciders. But there are other segments of the processed food industry, such as frozen or dehydrated fruits and vegetables, that are escaping Sonoma County and taking the attendant dollars with them. “What was freaky 10 to 15 years ago has become more mainstream,� Sonoma County Economic Development Board Executive Director Ben Stone said. “Things such as ‘gluten free’ and outlets like Whole Foods, Traders Joe’s and Oliver’s Market show the market has only grown. There has been a growth of natural food makers and consumers are demanding and buying it.� According to an EDB report released in 2009, food processing holds the potential for continued economic growth but the costs of startup, labor and licensing have put up barriers that have hampered that growth. The report, an update to a report completed in 2002, surveyed 43 local processors and found that while there is agreement on the expanding financial opportunities and job growth in the sector, finding adequate, affordable facilities and retaining skilled labor was difficult. “It’s a competitive business,� Stone said. “But one issue is that as companies get larger, they have a hard time finding corporate talent for things like marketing and advertising, so they are moving south to be closer to San Francisco.�
Photo by Sara Gobets
PRESERVE — Marthe Castillo and Hector Giron work as a team to fill jars of late harvest strawberry jam in the PRESERVE Sonoma kitchen on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014. Pictured below: jars of late harvest strawberry jam cool on racks, awaiting labels for Preston Farm and Winery.
Aside from the economic activity that could be generated by localizing production, advocates point to food security and environmental issues as other reasons to continue the trend. A Sonoma County Community Food Assessment by the Sonoma County Food Systems Alliance released in July 2011 states that consumers want locally sourced food “in order to reduce their environmental footprint (i.e. ‘food miles’), to know where their food comes from (food safety concerns) and to support the local economy. “Although the food distribution and processing system in the United States has become increasingly centralized, some researchers suggest that developing local distribution and processing can create efficiencies that lead to lower prices for consumers, more income for farmers and a stronger local economy,â€? the report states. There is a concerted effort under way to address the issues that includes county government, such as the departments of Agriculture, Health and the Permit Resources Management Department (PRMD) and independent organizations such as Go Local, the Sonoma County Food & Farming Project and the California Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF), which has a regional office in Sebastopol. “We spend $149 million a ‘labor year’ on food that is processed out of the area and brought in,â€? CAFF’s Heather Granahan said. “There’s a river of food coming across the Golden Gate Bridge. ‌ A lot of it was shipped from here and is coming right back.â€? CAFF research has found that only about 1 percent of dried and dehydrated foods, 1 percent of frozen specialty food — such as frozen
spinach and apple juice — and 2 percent of specialty canning foods are actually produced in Sonoma County. “If we captured 10 percent of the frozen food processing, it would be worth $50 million and 200 jobs,� Granahan said. The Community Food Assessment also tracks the decline of apple processing in Sonoma County and the need for local meat processing. In 1958, there were 40 apple processing plants countywide, but now there are only two: Manzana Products in Graton and Ratzlaff Ranch in Occidental. Manzana is no longer locally owned, although its merger with a large French co-op in 2012 has given it the resources and capital that are needed to survive in the modern marketplace. Local meat processing has received a recent boost with
the opening of Sonoma Meat Company in Santa Rosa, and Pete Seghesio is in the process of creating a facility in Healdsburg to produce locally sourced sausages and other specialty meats that he hopes to open next spring. But a prime example of the difficulties faced by small-scale producers, as well as the dedication to the cause that exists in the community, is PRESERVE Sonoma, founded in 2010 by Sebastopol resident Merrilee Olson. The idea began four years ago, when Olson was at the Sebastopol Farmers Market buying strawberries from Nancy Skall of Middleton Farms. “It was the end of the market weekend and she had two or three flats of strawberries left, so I asked her what she was going to do with them,� Olson said. “She told me she
was going to compost them so I said ‘Don’t do that. I’ll make them into jam that you can sell.’ I was appalled at the thought of those strawberries going into compost, but the truth is, I’d never made jam before.� Being a professional chef, she did have the skills to pull it off though and since then has learned a lot about how the food industry functions and how much waste is inherent in the system. “I did some research and found out how much produce is lost and then I started paying attention to labels,� she said. “Fresh stuff comes from here, but is not processed here, so I thought there might be opportunities to create small labels for value added products for small family farms.� After her initial foray into making preserves, she entered into a partnership with Community Action Marin (CAM), a social enterprise in Marin County that owns a kitchen where meals for the Head Start Program are made. “They were sitting there on a 2,500-square-foot kitchen that was being under-utilized,� Olson said. “In Sept. 2012, I separated from CAM and incorporated. They kept me going and in that first year and I’m eternally grateful.� Olson said that for the business to become viable long-term, it has to gross about $500,000 annually. PRESERVE Sonoma made about $260,000 in 2013, but she is working at capacity with the space and the resources she has at hand. “We can’t expand,� she said. “We’re at capacity and it would take a real team of people to get it done.� That team would include a major investor to help with start-up costs and infrastructure in a much larger facility. In order to be profitable, Olson said, a food processor has to produce 500 to 1,000 cases of product per run, but many of her clients are only doing 25 at a time. Her options are to expand production or raise prices, which would put her services out of range for most of her clients. “I can’t raise prices because that would make it unaffordable,� she said. But she knows that it can work, as she has seen sustainable models elsewhere in the U.S. In 2012, Olson went to New York to research business models and found a company — Farm to Table Copackers in Kingston New York — that set up on an old IBM campus and was funded by a local resident with a lot of disposable capital. She thinks that it will take that kind of philanthropy in order for the model to survive and thrive in Sonoma County. “We’re looking at an investment of $750,000 tops
to make this work,â€? Olson said. With community support, from landlords building infrastructure, to philanthropy and intelligent regulatory decisions, she sees hope for localized food processing. A successful model will also take a sufficient amount of volume, as even California Department of Public health investigations skew towards larger producers, costing $200 to $250 per hour for inspections no matter how much a facility produces. Should Olson get her dream facility, preferably back in Sonoma County, the next step would be to start her own lines of product. That would give local farmers three ways to market, giving farmers that want to put their own product on shelves access to the resources they need or adding an avenue for them to sell to PRESERVE Sonoma or small-scale farmers wanting to process more than they can grow. Hopefully for Olson, it will happen soon, as there is nobody waiting in the wings to take over as she approaches her 60th year. “I’ve bootstrapped this business from the ground up with the help of family and friends,â€? she said. “I’m hoping to find a landlord that would get it and pay for improvements for a larger facility.â€? But she really needs an investment to move back to Sonoma County. “It’s called PRESERVE Sonoma for a reason,â€? she said. “I’m convinced that one of these days soon we’ll find them or they’ll find us.â€? In addition to her attempts to create a model localized food processing plant that can translate into other communities, Olson has used her talents to feed excess food to people in need. She has led workshops and performed preserving duties for local food pantries, the most recent being a community canning event in Healdsburg on Oct. 11, where more than 850 pounds of tomatoes were transformed into 24 cases (291 quarts) of tomato sauce by 34 volunteers for families served by the Healdsburg Food Pantry. There will be a workshop for Sonoma County farmers and food artisans interested in creating value-added products featuring locally grown produce at the Showcase CafĂŠ on Sonoma County Fairgrounds, located at 1350 Bennett Valley Rd., Santa Rosa, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 3. The cost is $15 for advance registration online or $25 at the door. To register or for more information, go to ucanr.edu/taste. For more information about localized food processing, go to the University of California Cooperative Extension website at ucanr.edu.
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Harvest edition
| H14 |
October 30, 2014
Family farm certified organic Berniers have long used organic practices, now has signage to match By Kat Gore
Staff Writer Bernier Farms is a local staple, with three locations nestled in Alexander and Dry Creek valleys. The farms offer a variety of garlic types, as well as fruit and vegetables that are gobbled up year round by locals and tourists alike at local farmers’ markets and restaurants. Grapes are also grown at the farms. Bernier Farms is tended by the Bernier family: Yael, her husband Paul and their son Zureal, and a small group of farmers known as the “farm family.� The farm locations consist of eight acres in Alexander Valley, five in Dry Creek Valley on Canyon Road and about a third of an acre of vegetables on Yokum Bridge Road. Recently, Bernier Farms reached a huge milestone by getting certified as organic by the California Certified Organic Farmers and the California Department of Food and Agriculture, although they’ve been organic since inception and have never sprayed with pesticides, Yael said. Yael said the process of getting certified organic was fairly quick because the
‘Are you organic?’ and I would say ‘Yes, but not certified,’ but some people want to see the signage,� Zureal said. “For those customers looking for the signs, it was worth it.� Yael is quick to give Zureal credit as Bernier Farm’s “main overseer.� “Growing up on the farm, I’ve admired what my parents do, and at a certain point I realized it was a valid career choice and I decided it was the direction I wanted to go,� Zureal said. “It’s gratifying and I get to work with myself mostly; I just enjoy it and we eat well because of it.� Recently, the Berniers have been consumed by the flurry of harvesting “everything,� as Yael said. Grapes, tomatoes, zucchinis, leeks, dry beans, cherry tomatoes, strawberries, beets, carrots, radishes, herbs and melons are just a selection of the produce that has been plucked from Bernier Farms. The Berniers harvest and farm year-round, but “This is the high season,� Yael said. Zureal said the harvest season is going well. “It’s been a good season, with high quality produce and high quality grapes,� Zureal said. “The quality is up and the winemakers are happy, and produce has been phenomenal.� Zureal said he wasn’t sure if Bernier Farms is feeling the effects of the
drought. “We irrigate off a well and the well has been running full capacity,� Zureal said.
quality, although they don’t get the same quantity as those who water their grapes. However, she said they are sticking to dry farming the grapes because of the many benefits: the Berniers aren’t paying electricity to pump water, are conserving water and saving labor and Paul gets to cultivate the way he likes. Zureal said his family dry farms their grapes because they like simplicity in their farming systems. “We’re more into letting Mother Nature do what she pleases with the plants we put in the ground. A vine is a perennial plant and it lays down its roots, especially in the fertile grounds where we are growing plants, without us having to put out water. It makes sense to us,� Zureal said. Bernier Farms produce can be found at the Tuesday and Saturday Healdsburg Farmers’ Markets, as well as the Saturday Santa Rosa Farmers’ Market and the Tuesday Cloverdale Community Market & Exchange. The Berniers sell to the following local eateries: Diavola, Scopa, Catelli’s, Bishop’s Ranch, Downtown Bakery, Mateo’s Cocina Latina, Dry Creek General Store, DL Catering and Campofina.They also sell to Metes & Bounds. To find out more about the family or Bernier Farms, go to Bernierfarms.com or visit their Facebook page.
“You always get the question at the farmers market, ‘Are you organic?’ and I would say ‘Yes, but not certified,’ but some people want to see the signage.�
Photo by Kat Gore
A FAMILY AFFAIR — Yael Bernier and her son Zureal, holding his son Rufus, have dedicated their life’s work to farming in Alexander and Dry Creek valleys.
Berniers had already been organic for so long. The family decided they wanted to be organically certified last year, got their records together to show they farmed organically and were certified on May 29, 2014. “We just felt like it was time, and it could possibly open other markets for us,� Yael said. She said that not much has changed since the certification, because people
knew and trusted Bernier Farms to be organic long before they were certified. After all, the Berniers have been farming locally since 1976. Zureal said that although the Berniers have been farming their row crops organically for “years and years and years,� making it official has been a rewarding experience. “You always get the question at the farmers market,
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Amidst the chaos of harvest, one worry absent from the Berniers mind is how the drought is affecting their grapes. This is because the Berniers’ have historically dry farmed their grape crops. Simply put, the grapes do not receive irrigation. “The grapes really don’t reflect drought problems,� Yael said. “The roots are so deep because they’ve never had water on them so instead of having surface roots, they just go really deep.� Yael explained the reason why the Berniers dry farm their zinfandel and petite sirah with certainty. “We always have — it’s the old way. Paul really likes to cultivate the old way, which is cultivating in both directions,� Yael said. Paul and Zureal cross cultivate both ways down the vineyard rows. With irrigated grapes the irrigation is generally on wires that cannot be crossed. Yael said that dry farming has served them very well in the past in terms of
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Harvest edition
October 30, 2014
| H15 |
One hundred percent sustainable Sonoma County’s wine region aims to be f irst in the nation By Kimberly Kaido-Alvarez
Staff Writer
Attracting nature lovers from around the globe, Sonoma County is a magnet for those who favor fresh food, farms, wide-open spaces and outdoor activity. We call it wine country, but a long line of crops preceded the vine; hops, prunes, preaches, and apples are a few others that have graced the landscape and maybe had a heyday, dominating the farmlands of days gone by. Going to great lengths to protect and foster agriculture and open space is embedded in Sonoma County culture and simply goes with the territory. It’s not surprising, then, that Sonoma County will likely become the nation’s first 100 percent sustainable wine region. The Sonoma County Winegrape Commission, also known as Sonoma County Winegrowers (SCW), announced the initiative in January 2014. A three-phase program completed within the next five years aims to get the job done by 2019. “Our county’s grape growers and winemakers have long been at the forefront of creating and utilizing sustainable practices in the vineyard, in the winery and in running their businesses, so this is the next natural step in their continued evolution,” said Karissa Kruse, president of the SCW, an organization representing 1,800 wine growers throughout Sonoma County.
Photo by Kimberly Kaido-Alvarez
WEARING MORE THAN ONE HAT — Michael Brunson is both vineyard manager and winemaker at Christopher Creek Winery in Healdsburg. Double duty with plenty of outdoor activity keeps him in touch with a wide range of sustainability practices.
The first phase of the effort is underway, with winegrowers assessing their sustainable vineyard practices through trainings and educational sessions focused on over 200 best management practices, such as land use, canopy management, energy efficiency, water quality assessments, carbon emissions, healthcare, training for employees and being a good neighbor and community member. The goal is to collect assessment data from more than 15,000 vineyard acres per year for the next four
years until every acre of planted vines is under assessment for sustainability. “The process is going really well and we were able to hire a sustainability manager, (Robert LaVine) who is available to work one on one with growers and wineries,” said Kruse. Phase two will involve SCW working with vineyard owners to achieve certification through a third-party verification and certification program, the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (CSWA). “By the end of this year, we hope to have
a baseline of our progress for the assessments,” explained Kruse. The third phase, is sort of a continuing care program that will help wineries and growers to move forward with developing stronger sustainability plans. “There is always room for improvement,” said Kruse who recognizes that a lot of sustainability is already happening in Sonoma County’s American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) and has been for years and even generations. Michael Brunson, winemaker and vineyard manager at Christopher Creek Winery in Healdsburg has employed organic, biodynamic and fishfriendly farming practices during his 25- year history in the wine industry. “It’s a great step,” said Brunson of Sonoma County’s sustainability effort. Christopher Creek Winery is on a smaller scale in terms of production and acreage and Brunson feels that being a small business can have “built in” sustainable qualities. “Eighty-five percent of our wine is sold direct to the consumer,” explained Brunson who also noted that permanent personnel could also be a key factor in helping businesses become more sustainable. “This is often overlooked,” said Brunson who pointed out that those who stick around not only become experts in their jobs but also often develop a strong sense of loyalty and a commitment to the longevity of the land or
business. “I think its good to evaluate how we are doing things,” said Brunson, who seemed to be finding the assessment process useful. Jerome Chery, winemaker at Fog Crest Vineyard in Sebastopol also feels that the sustainability focus is “positive and something very important.” With this year’s mega-drought, water is what was on his mind. “This is an industry that requires the use of a lot of water, and we want to be as sustainable as possible about that,” said Chery. Fog Crests’ vineyards are drip irrigated to minimize the use of water, but that is not the only area where water is in high demand. Wine production also requires a significant amount of water as well. “I would like to see a better protocol for sanitation (industry wide),” said Chery. Growers and wineries completing the assessments are being asked to score their businesses and farming on various elements of sustainability, including everything from paper usage and lighting options to water conservation. Using a one to four rating scale, (four being the most sustainable), the assessment paints an overall picture of sustainability, highlighting areas that might need attention. “We’re looking for balance. Sustainability doesn’t do any good if it becomes too expensive. What might work for one site, may not work for another,” said Kruse. “We have a lot to learn still and data is king,” said Kruse,
We’re celebrating our 87th harvest and a host of new releases.
who is eager to look at scores of the various areas of sustainability. “Drought and water are certainly top concerns,” said Kruse, who felt that the timing and intersection of the sustainability program and the drought could be beneficial, helping the wine region prepare for possible solutions to potential water issues. “Being sustainable is going to make us all stronger in the long haul,” said Brunson, and plenty would likely agree with keeping a good thing going. Sonoma County has gained worldwide recognition as a wine region and is home to 450 wineries. Acres of land with a rich geological history, fog patterns driven by close proximity to the Pacific Ocean, and changes in topography, have given rise to 16 unique AVAs featuring distinct climate, soil and temperature variations. Multigenerational wine growers and winemakers are a backbone of an industry that dates back to the 1820’s in Sonoma County. Sonoma County’s wine industry is the centerpiece of the local economy and the 2013 Sonoma County Crop Report called attention to this fact. The report reads, “As an example of the economic benefits gained from agricultural lands, our wine industry farms just 6 percent of the county’s land mass, or about 60,000 acres, but generates nearly $14 billion dollars annually in economic value for the county.”
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Where Quality, Innovation and Craftmanship Come Together Westec’s New Tank Jackets: ✔ One piece seamless sidewall ✔ More effective heating & cooling Portable Tanks: ✔ Stackable and “forkliftable” ✔ Easy drainage and cleaning with sloped tank bottom
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Harvest edition
| H16 |
October 30, 2014
Elevating the apple At Tilted Shed Ciderworks
Photos by Sarah Bradbury
LOCALLY GROWN, LOCALLY CRAFTED — Sebastopol-based Tilted Shed Ciderworks recently open its first tasting room on Bell Road in Windsor where husband and wife team Scott Heath and Ellen Cavalli transform apples sourced from their own orchards and other locations in Sonoma and Mendocino counties into ciders with complexity and depth. Pictured clockwise from top left is the apple-to-cider process: Cavalli sorting apples, the apples are washed and then moved to the pressing machine that Heath is running. The juice is fermented and the end result is a crisp cider.
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