Avenue Vine

"We can do really fine detail work with no risk of damaging the vineyard," said Hall. Just 13.5 hands high and steady, his horses can be used on hillsides or in close quarters where you might make a tight turn. "They don't damage the ground in wet conditions, and you never get stuck in the mud," he said. "Using horses is consistent with soil health. There is clearly no use of fuels or lubricants. As my vineyard manager said, 'they're the original biodiesel.'"

Winemaker/proprietor Douglas Ian Stewart of Breggo Cellars said it would be "totally practical" to use draft horses at his farm north of Boonville. "We just planted a vineyard meter by meter on a steep hill in the Alexander Valley," he said. "In winter and spring, most mechanical implements are too heavy and can take out a vine. Horses are sure-footed, won't slip and don't use fossil fuels."

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The horses were featured as part of the Organic Winegrowing Conference's equipment demonstrations, which also included a tour of Frog's Leap solar system and a display of tractors and implements. The early morning field demos preceded five seminars covering organic certification, vine mealy bug, vineyard biodiversity, cost analyses for organic vineyards and the market for organic wine. They were held on the second day of the July 17-18 event.

The conference brought growers and winemakers together for two days of discussions, networking and education about important topics in organic winegrowing in the Napa Valley and North Coast. Jennifer Kopp, executive director of Napa Valley Grapegrowers, said its rising popularity was indicative of the growing interest in organic farming. The 2008 event was the second of three that have sold-out. "This year, interest in the event doubled with 110 people signing up and 100 more on the waiting list," said Kopp. She credited Farm's Leap for "living" what Organic Winegrowing conference-goers had come to learn.

Attendees spilled into the hall to listen to sessions held in Frog's Leap historic Red Barn. One talk covering the organic wine market featured panelists Paul Dolan from Mendocino Wine Company; Joseph Kaulbach from Whole Foods Market and Brian Lechner from The Nielsen Company.

Northern California regional wine buyer Kaulbach said Whole Foods is "looking for wineries that farm sustainably and organically and wineries that put that right on the label or at least on the back of the wine. Our consumers are looking for that also."

"The green movement is clearly here to stay, and we're seeing it in everything we purchase today," stated Dolan, whose perspective is well regarded in the wine industry. Dolan led Fetzer Vineyards to industry and market leadership while pioneering the path of sustainability; he is now a partner in the Mendocino Wine Company.

Dolan acknowledged growers and winemakers for being present at the beginning of a shift in which consumers related organic wines with quality and when farming shifted from feeding the plant to feeding the soil and creating healthy environments. "You are not Johnny-come-lately. It is us who will create it for our industry," he said.

Dolan pointed to two termstransparency and accountabilitywhich he said were "inside" of what he described as authenticity or "walking the walk before talking the talk. It is important to be authentic for ourselves and for our industry," said Dolan. He encouraged growers to "truly tell people" what they were doing, whether they were in transition or organic. If organic, he believes certification is important "because it supports the related agencies and clarifies and removes doubt in the buyers' minds."

Back outside, soil health was on grower Anna Darden's mind. A retired viticultural consultant who now owns Darden Vineyard in the Alexander Valley, Darden said she would like her vineyard to become certified organic. "Now that I have my own vineyard I can do what I want, and I'm interested in lowering chemical inputs. I'm sustainably farming right now."

Darden uses Native California grasses as cover crops. She has never had to use pesticide for bugs and applies organic fungicides to control mildew and Botrytis. However, she wants to stop using Roundup in between plants in the vineyard rows. "With organic growing, that's the hardest place to kill weeds," she explained. To accomplish that, she had her eye on an In-Row Power Harrow that was on display at the conference.

"When it comes to being organic, it's one of the more sought-out pieces of equipment," said Ken Lippman of Lampson Tractor & Equipment Co. "It removes weeds between the vines and that eliminates the need for herbicides for weed control."

Additional equipment displayed at the show included: John Deere 990 and 3520 tractors, Clemens Leaf Remover, Clemens Radius In-Row Weeder and Clemens In-Row Mower (contact Jerry Smith, Rainbow Ag Services, www.rainbowag.org, 707-479-0567). The Clemens in-row tools (mower and weeder) allow users to either mow or cultivate the ground in the vine row.

Also on display were the Kubota 8540 Power Crawler and M-8540 Wheel Tractor, Collard Leaf Remover and Gearmore Venturi recyclable air sprayer (new in 2008), represented by Lampson.

Source: “NVG Organic Winegrowing Conference & Tradeshow attracts sell-out crowd,” Patricia M. Roth, Wine Business, July 24, 2008