Growing Barbera in the Sierra Foothills at Shake Ridge Vineyards

After bidding Greg and Linda Pearl goodbye on Saturday, we headed for the Sierra Foothills by way of Napa. We drove north to Geyserville and then south on 29 through Napa. We went to the Sierra Foothills because it is quickly becoming recognized as a region that can grow great Barbera and we are exploring the possibility of growing Barbera in Connecticut.

We met with Ann Kraemer the vineyard manager at Shake Ridge Vineyards. Ann asked us about our interest in Barbera and told us about her experience with growing Barbera. Barbera is a very acidic grape. In the Sierra Foothills, the days are very warm and the nights are cool.

The acid is not respired so the Brix can get very high while still maintaining high levels of acidity. Ann picks her Barbera based on pH and acidity and not necessarily based on Brix. Ann next showed us around Shake Ridge Vineyard on her Kubota UTV and we covered 46 acres in record time, stopping to look at cordon trained as well as cane trained Barbera. Ann was concerned that the warm weather this winter and the lack of rains may cause the Barbera to come out of dormancy earlier than normal. We went back to her office, where she shared a bottle of her Yorba Barbera with us. We had a glass with her and then she gave us the opened bottle. Our visit with Ann came to an end and she mentioned that we could drive out of the gate near her home on the back roads back to Fiddletown. Later, at dinner, we shared the Barbera with our host, Alice Kaiser. It was a delicious accompaniment to cheese, sausage and soup.