Visiting Littorai Winery

We were trying to maximize what we did while we were out in California and one of the places that was high on our list was Littorai. Back in Connecticut on a rainy day in early January, my husband was Googling gravity flow wineries and came upon Littorai. I was arranging our books and magazines. I came across the Fall 2011 Practical Winery and Vineyard and saw that the cover story was about Littorai located in Sebastopol. That was when my husband decided to email Ted Lemon to see if we could visit his newly constructed winery based on gravity flow and construction done in phases.
Ted was not available, but we did meet the assistant winemaker John Wilson who spent his time with us discussing the winery construction. On the day that we arrived, it was raining. John mentioned that it hadn't rained since October so this was a welcomed rain. (We had already heard how welcomed the rain was from Greg and Linda Pearl). John gave us a thorough tour of the winery, explaining how the grapes were treated from crush to barrel. He showed us the upper level barrel storage area which doubled as a cold room where the newly harvested grapes were received before processing. He showed us the hay bale construction on the interior of the walls which provided R-50 insulation to keep the winery at a constant temperature. He also showed us how the stainless steel tanks were on quick connect glycol chillers for flexibility during crush. All of this was an invaluable education for us and we appreciated all the time that John took to give us the tour. At the end, we tasted the current release of Littorai wines. All of the care the winery took during the winemaking showed clearly in their excellent Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

The Clones are Coming

We finally made a decision for our initial planting! In September, 2011, we went out to California with the intention of meeting with grapevine nurseries that sell ENTAV clones. One of the nurseries that we went to was Mercier California located in Vacaville. At that time, Sebastian gave us a great tour of the Vacaville facility, including a trip to Woodland to see the ENTAV clones.
We worked with Sebastian and Franco via email. We had a lot of questions because we want to use talls grafts for our initial planting. These tall grafts are an experiment because we believe that it will help us to establish our young vines without subjecting them to unnecessary risk of crown gall. There are places in our area that already use tall grafts such as Rob Russell at Westport Rivers Winery so we will not be the pioneers, which is a good thing. After much deliberation, we went to Vacaville to sign the contract and put in our order for Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, and Auxerrois. We were there to see how Mercier selects their rootstock in the field and Sebastian and Franco showed us how our tall grafts compared with the normal grafts. Our plants will be arriving in the spring of 2013! So much to do to prepare.

Day 2 Visiting the Exhibits at the Sacramento Convention Center

On Day 2 of the Unified Grape and Wine Symposium, we went to see the exhibits in the Convention Center. We began from the second floor, did a quick scan, stopping at a few booths. We looked at bird netting material, concrete floor sealant/protection systems, barrel makers, label makers, winery architects, you name it, they were there in numbers. It was mind numbing, not to mention feet numbing, but all good. My husband connected with some people he knows in silico from Winepress for lunch and we had a good time talking with Brian, Steve, Doyle, Fred and Greg. Brian and Steve are located in Windsor and they are embarking on their first release---that must be exciting for them. We'll be seeing Fred again on the East Coast when he attends the conference in Pennsylvania and Virginia.
We'll be at the exhibits again today, making the most of our time here.

Day 1 of the Unified Wine and Grape Symposium

Tuesday, January 24 was day 1 of the Unified Grape and Wine Symposium at the Sacramento Convention Center. My husband and I registered and made our way to the Hyatt to wait for the start of the first session, "Quality Grapes and Wine in Challenging Climates". Hans Walter Peterson from Cornell was the moderator for a panel consisting of the following people:
     Dr. Richard Snyder from UC Davis
     Dr. Wayne Wilcox from Geneva, New York Cornell Ag Experiment Station
     Dick Boushey from Boushey Vineyards, Washington
     Derek Wilber from Swedish Hill Vineyard, Finger Lakes, New York
     Harry Peterson-Nedry from Chehalem in Oregon
     Francesca Schuler CMO of BevMo!
Dr. Richard Snyder began the session with a discussion on global warming. Dr. Snyder said that carbon dioxide gas is increasing and this has had a measurable affect on the weather. The models that take all the data predict that by 2100, there will be a 3-4 ^oC increase in the temperature. The ramification is that there will be a longer growing season, a chance in precipitation, more droughts, faster growing periods and flooding and salinization of the water.
Dr. Wayne Wilcox from the Cornell Agricultural Experiment station at Geneva, New York spoke at length about the challenges of wet, humid weather on the grape vine and the threat of botrytis infection. Dr. Wilcox mentioned that under those conditions, the vineyard manager can resort to leaf removal at bloom to reduce fruit set, kelp applications, and fungicide applications during bloom and pre-bunch closure.
Dick Boushey from Washington said that reacting early, being prepared for extremes, using technology and keeping up with current research helps in years when the weather conditions are challenging. He mentioned that communication with the buyers of the grapes is important. Dick also mentioned that having diversity in plant varieties, locations, farming techniques and buyers helps in years such as 2011.
Derek Wilber from Swedish Hill Vinyards (Finger Lakes) also spoke of botrytis infection. He mentioned that field tiling every other row, improving air flow, training with narrow trellises and leaf pulling are all cultural practices that can help to prevent devastating botrytis infection. If botrytis is still a problem, then hot pressing can be used to get rid of laccase. Think also of increasing SO₂ on the grapes and in the must, separating the hard press from the low press, using polyclear fining and bentonite fining before fermentation and flash pasteurize to alleviate the problems stemming from botrytis infection.
Derek said that above all, don't rely on Hope. Pick when the fruit is in sound condition and have a plan in place.
Harry Peterson-Nedry from Oregon also reiterated the importance of diversity. He makes 20,000 cases in the Willamette Valley. Harry said don't waste valuable energy by worrying and have contingencies in place.
The last speaker in this session was Francesca Schuler CMO of BevMo! Being in the wine distribution business, Francesca was coming from a different perspective on the vintage 2011. Francesca said to treat the vintage like a brand. Even in years like 2011 when it can be challenging, she recommended that we should:
     1) Celebrate the uncertainty
     2) Have a proactive communication plan
     3) Speak directly to key influencers