Great wines start in the vineyard. Great vineyards start at the North Bay’s grapevine nurseries.
In 2002, Sonoma Grapevines of Santa Rosa was acquired lock, (root)stock and (wine) barrel by Vintage Nurseries of Bakersfield, California. It folded the company’s Dennis Lane facility (including 9.6 acres of greenhouses and shadehouses) into its own operations and also took possession of some of the company’s 700 growing acres in Fresno County. Owned until the sale by Richard and Saralee Kunde (who kept the remaining properties as their own), Sonoma Grapevines was possibly the largest grapevine nursery in the United States, serving a lengthy national and international client list that included some of the California wine industry’s heritage names. With the closing of Sonoma Grapevines, other, smaller producers were left to fill the void.
“This is a business where you build long-term clients based on trust. So when the Kundes sold Sonoma Grapevines, it definitely made an impact here,” says Jay Jensen, CEO of Novavine in Santa Rosa. “All of the Sonoma Grapevine clients had to decide whether to stay with Vintage [which bought SG] or to find a local supplier. We benefited on that level.”
Taking root
“When we started, there was a huge demand for grapevines because the [Napa] valley—most of the state—was being replanted because of phylloxera [a tiny, sap-sucking insect, related to aphids, which decimated California vineyards in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s],” says Bob Herrick of Herrick Grapevines in St. Helena, which was established more than a decade ago. Herrick and his wife Sandy also own Cottage Gardens Nursery, a century-old purveyor of poinsettias, spring flowers, ornamentals and, more recently, organic herbs and vegetables (the two businesses share 9.5 acres—including 100,000 square feet of greenhouses—in St. Helena; another 20 acres of field-grown grapevines are located near Woodland). “We brought grapevines into the Cottage business about 15 years ago because of customer demand. Robert Mondavi was a customer for five years or so before we officially opened Herrick Grapevines 10 years ago.
“I’d say we’ve more than doubled our business since then. But it’s gone through peaks and valleys during that time, because there are always peaks and valleys dependent upon wine sales. When wine sales are down, no one’s interested in planting or replanting—either because they don’t want more grapes or because they don’t have the money. When sales are up, everyone wants to do something.”
Founded in 1996 by vineyard owners Ellen and Milton Heath, Novavine is located on 27 acres off Highway 12 in Santa Rosa and on two 100-acre fields in Yolo County. Though it also cultivates olive trees and a very small amount of table grapes, Jensen says today, “it’s pretty much all winegrapes. Mostly because we’re in Wine Country, but also because our whole focus is quality. We’re really trying to focus on people who want high-end vineyards, and table grapes are more about volume and tonnage. It’s a different philosophy.”
What is grafting?
Grapevine nurseries cultivate and sell field-ready rootstock to vineyard owners large and small. As Jensen explains, since most winegrape varietals aren’t native to California, they aren’t resistant to many diseases and pests found in the ground here.
Through a process called “grafting,” a piece of resistant rootstock is topped with a piece of non-native bud wood. “The rootstock gives you resistance to soil-born pests,” he says. “The vinifera [bud] is often from Europe or somewhere else in the world, and it doesn’t have the resistance to pests that are here in our soil. So everything that’s planted here—from the guy putting in half an acre in his backyard to the Gallos and Mondavis and everybody in-between—has to be grafted.”
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when grafting started in the North Bay (in Europe, the practice became common in the 1800s following a phylloxera infestation that nearly wiped out the French wine industry), but it’s fair to say everything planted here since the 1960s is a grafted vine.
Once grafted, vines undergo “callous,” which is a healing process that bonds the two pieces together. Grafted vines are boxed and stored in a hot and humid greenhouse environment for two to three weeks, until calluses begin to form over all cut or damaged sites. At this stage, some nurseries dip the grafted vine in wax to strengthen it; others leave it alone. From there, one of two things happen. Nurseries can plant these vines in their own fields, where they’ll grow for about a year before being dug up and sold to clients bare-root style, which is called “field finished,” or vines can be planted in small, individual pots and nurtured in a greenhouse for a few weeks before being sent out into the world.
So many choices
Since there’s not much difference from how one nursery or another does its grafting, how do potential customers choose between them? Customer loyalty has always counted for a lot. (These are, after all, farmers, when you get right down to it. And old-fashioned handshake values like trust and integrity have always been highly prized in agricultural circles.) But more and more often, it seems selection is the key.
A winegrape varietal, like Chardonnay or Merlot, isn’t an individual plant but rather a family of related plants whose members are similar but have distinct differences. These minute differences manifest as unique characteristics—early or late ripening, small or large fruit clusters, or particular flavors, for example.
“You remember the word ‘mutation’ from high school biology?” asks Rich Thomas, professor emeritus, director of viticuture at Santa Rosa Junior College and NorthBay biz “VineWise” columnist. “A clone is really just a mutation that kicks out a certain gene to make one grape more grassy flavored, floral or sweat socks-scented.
“You can taste the differences between the clones of a certain variety,” he continues. “One varietal with giant clonal differences is Pinot Noir. Winemakers go crazy over certain clones of Pinot Noir. Problem is, every winemaker has his or her own favorites, so a planter has to decide which to choose.”
Someone once said we’re defined by the choices we make. That may be true of an individual, but businesses are defined by the choices they offer.
“Everybody pretty much has the standard California selections, of which there are hundreds,” says Jensen, “but then everybody also has some specialized selections. One of mine is the Italian clones I have through a partnership with Vivai Cooperativi Rauscedo [in northern Italy]. I also have really nice selections of Rhone varietals because of a relationship with Tablas Creek [in Paso Robles], which brought them over from France; those are things like Mouvèdre and Tannat.”
“Our nursery is probably a little different than the others, simply because Kendall-Jackson is such a big part of what we do,” says Ernie Bowman, the Santa Rosa-based general manager of Kendall-Jackson Nursery (which cultivates vines on 300 acres near Madera in the San Joaquin Valley). “Fifty percent of our crop is grown specifically for Kendall-Jackson. And since those vineyards are primarily coastal, we cater to those climates by offering what grows best there.” Namely, Bowman says, that means a lot of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir—but even so, the choices can be overwhelming.
“I remember getting calls 10 years ago, and the biggest choice was red or white. There wasn’t much emphasis on clonal or rootstock choices,” he continues. “Today, the majority of buyers are much more sophisticated. They’re making specific choices based on a combination of varietal, clonal and rootstock information. They want very specific combinations of those three components.”
Indeed, grapevine nurseries don’t simply offer varietal and clonal choices; there are nearly as many options when it comes to rootstock. And deciding what rootstock to use can be crucial to the overall survival of a newly planted vineyard. By considering the soil type, climate, water availability and drainage at the vineyard site, and combining that information with what’s known about a particular rootstock’s resistance to specific pests and how well it mates with a chosen varietal, nurseries can help ensure a marriage made in greenhouse heaven.
But let’s face it: as important as proper rootstock selection is, it’s not very sexy. You want to read about the part that tastes good, don’t you? Let’s continue…
“We’re licensed by the French government to produce the ENTAV clones,” says Bob Herrick. For almost half a century, the French government has funded research into the identification of grapevine clones (this includes winegrape, table grape and rootstock). A governmental agency called the Establishment National Technique pour l’Amelioration de la Viticulture (or ENTAV, which translates to National Technical Establishment for the Improvement of Viticulture) rigorously tests and categorizes individual clones for certification by the French Department of Agriculture. ENTAV maintains the French national repository of certified clones; internationally, only nurseries that have signed exclusive licensing agreements with ENTAV are allowed to cultivate and sell these certified French clones.
California Grapevine Nursery in St. Helena is a licensed ENTAV producer as well (there are four in the United States, all based in California).
Herrick continues: “A lot of our clones are from UC Davis, too. And we also do what’s called ‘field-selected,’ which is when someone brings us clippings from their own vineyard for us to cultivate. People will become attached and want to take directly from their own plants rather than use our clone of the same thing; they seem to think there’s a difference. Of course, even if it was certified before it was originally planted, at that point, it’s no longer certified.”
Reacting to change
As wine consumers’ tastes shift, the wine industry must react. So how do grapevine nurseries—the absolute start of the growing chain—keep pace with the ever-changing trends?
“That’s part of the game,” says Jensen. “When we do the lists for the dormant grafting that goes on, we’ll do about half on a speculative basis. It’s about guessing what people are going to want. So if someone comes to me and says, ‘I have three acres I want to plant. What do you have available?’ I have to hope we’ve made the right choices to cover that.
“I’d say we have a pretty good feeling [for trends]. We work closely with a lot of wineries and individuals who have research and marketing departments that are keeping a finger on the pulse. They know what’s in demand and what’s not; they know what’s changing and when.
“In today’s world, most people call knowing what they want. Winemakers are having a larger influence on what’s being planted. Each clone offers different characteristics, and winemakers know enough to be aware of what those differences are and what will fit the profile of the wine they’re making. They [winemakers] may say, ‘I want my Cabernet blend to have more body, or acidity, or tannins, so I need X clone.’”
Ernie Bowman agrees the growing knowledge base among winemakers is driving the industry. “Some larger clients have an in-house viticulturist who knows exactly what he or she wants to plant at a given site,” he says. “Smaller growers who sell to wineries sometimes don’t know quite as much. Large versus small seems to dictate the choices made and the level of knowledge. It’s really only the small, backyard growers who don’t know as much and need hand-holding. But they’re most likely to just plant what they like to drink regardless of whether it’s the best choice for their location.”
“We have people come who know exactly what they want, or we have people who know what rootstock they want and what variety they want but they want to talk to us about clones, so we give them our input and help them with the clonal information,” says Herrick. “Sometimes people don’t know anything—they’re usually someone whose business is pretty small—who wants suggestions as far as rootstock, variety and clone choices.
“We work with some of the larger companies who know exactly what they want and place their order—although we sometimes even help those people with clonal information.”
What’s next?
“What are people going to be drinking five years from now?” laughs Rich Thomas. “It’s a total dartboard!”
Even though all the nursery representatives included in this story agree with Thomas’ assessment, that doesn’t stop them from rooting for their favorites.
“This is the first year I have nothing on the books for Kendall-Jackson,” says Bowman. “I have no order from them for 2008 yet. I’m sure they’ll want to plant something next year, I just don’t know what it’s going to be.
“So this is the first time I’ve had to throw the dart, and it landed squarely in Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. As far as Pinots, I like a lot of the standard Dijon clones—115, 667 and 777—and also some of the more traditional field selections, like Mt. Eden, Calera and Swan. For Chardonnays, I again like the Dijon selection and also the old Wente selections—76, 78, 95 and 96.”
Jensen agrees with Bowman’s choices—but with some reservations. “There was a huge oversupply of Chardonnay about four or five years ago, and because of that, many vines were pulled out or budded over to a different varietal [using a process called “t-budding,” vineyard owners can remove the tops of already established vines and graft on a new varietal in the field, losing only a season or two of production rather than the four to five years it takes to completely replant],” he says. “But now it’s starting to reestablish itself.
“And Pinot Noir is still in strong demand—it has been ever since ‘Sideways’—but I think there’s some reason to be concerned. A lot of the acres that have been planted to Pinot haven’t come into full production yet. This industry reacts harvest-to-harvest. So if we have a big Pinot harvest this year, I think the planting will start to level off. But if we have a normal size harvest, it’ll probably continue at about the same pace. If that happens, we may have Pinot we can’t get rid of in three or four years.”
Jensen continues: “We’ll always have our flagships—Cabernet, Syrah, Chardonnay—but I also think winemakers are always looking for an interesting new varietal. A lot of the Italian varietals we’re carrying, and some of the Rhone varietals, are generating interest. Right now, they’re being planted in small, three- to five-acre lots to try them out. But I think some of those could really catch on.”
Bob Herrick takes a more heedful approach. Instead of looking for the next varietal rock star and trying to beat everyone to the punch, he finds it more interesting to watch the evolution of each growing region. “Here in the Napa Valley, of course, Cabernet Sauvignon is still king,” he says. “But we’re seeing a lot of areas beginning to develop their identities as far as varietals are concerned,” he says. “For example, in Carneros, you used to see everything; but now it’s pretty much limited to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
“On the Sonoma Coast, they’re also developing a reputation for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. And in the Russian River, they’ll have those varietals but add Zinfandel. Around here, of course, there’s Cabernet Sauvignon, and every now and then you’ll see a good Merlot come down off the mountains. The one you see in all these places is Syrah.
“Syrah is here, it’s in the valleys and it’s on the coast—and it all seems to be good,” he continues. “It’s all creating good wines, so I don’t think it’s really found its spot yet. I think it will come into more places. It’s a good variety, it’s increasing in popularity and it’s very flexible in terms of winemaking. There are a lot of different looks and tastes it can have. A lot of people like it, it’s easy on the palate.”
The fact is, no one can know with certainty what the future holds (case in point: who among us could have predicted the influence of “Sideways”?). But by relying on instinct based on experience, our growers will continue to navigate the murky waters known as consumer taste. So the next time you enjoy a glass (or two) of our locally grown goodness, remember: Every great wine can be traced back to its roots.
