Sonoma’s ancient vineyards harbor rich diversity

By SUZIE RODRIGUEZ / Sonoma Valley Correspondent

Sonoma Valley is home to many historic vineyards. Some—such as Bedrock Vineyard, Pagani Ranch, and Old Hill Ranch—were first planted in the 1880s. Ancient vineyards such as these not only tend to produce grapes of great intensity, concentration and flavor, but also harbor rare and even near-extinct grape varieties.

However, the economics of wine today are contributing to the gradual disappearance of our heritage vineyards. Like other commodities, wines move in and out of fashion. When a hot new varietal comes along, these historic vineyards are sometimes replaced by the more profitable grape.

A non-profit organization founded in 2010, the Historic Vineyard Society, is hoping to change all of that for the state’s  vineyards. The Society’s founding members include winemakers David Gates (Ridge Vineyards), Mike Officer (Carlisle Vineyards), Tegan Passalacqua (Turley Wine Cellars), and Morgan Twain-Peterson (Bedrock Vineyards); wine critic and author Jancis Robinson; and wine collector Mike Dildine.

The Society aims to harness the economics of wine to help preserve California’s historic vineyards. Simply put, if growers could make a healthy profit from old vines, they would have less incentive to replace them.

Young vines not only produce about twice as many grapes per acre as ancient vines do, but if the young grape is highly sought after, as pinot noir currently is, it sells for much more per ton. That’s why growers sometimes replant old vineyards with more profitable vines.

The Historic Vineyard Society wants to help consumers understand that a century of old-vine growth can translate into the kind of incomparable complexity that young grapes cannot rival. If old-vine wines could command the higher prices they deserve, that would mean higher profits for growers.

“We also want to lobby the state to give owners of old vine vineyards some sort of tax break,” said Mike Officer of Carlisle Vineyards, one of the Society’s founding members. “They do that for the owners of historic buildings, so why not recognize historic vineyards as well?  Our viticultural heritage is worth preserving.”

It’s worth preserving not only for historic purposes, but because of the immense genetic diversity in the fields.

You’re doubtless conversant with Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot—but have you heard of Alicante, Cinsaut, Tannat, Palomino, or Trousseau? In the mid-19^th century, European immigrants who settled in Sonoma Valley and elsewhere planted these and many other varieties they knew back in Italy, Germany, Hungary, France, or elsewhere.

It was common then and into the 1950s for farmers to plant a mix of grape varieties that would later be harvested and fermented together. These “field mixes” were so common that it’s now extremely rare to find an historic vineyard planted to one variety.

Officer’s own Carlisle Vineyard in the Russian River Valley was planted in 1927, “and so far we have positively identified 36 different varieties in the vineyard. About 86% is Zinfandel, but the other 14% includes Carignane, Alicante Bouchet, Tempranillo—there’s a lot of crazy stuff out there.”

Or consider Bedrock Vineyard in Glen Ellen. The vineyards were originally planted in 1854 by General William “Tecumseh” Sherman and General “Fightin’” Joe Hooker, but then replanted in 1888 by a new owner, Senator George Hearst (father of William Randolph).

Most of those vines exist today, and among them are what may be the only two exemplars in the world of Castets. “It’s a variety from the town of Castets in the Medoc that no longer exists in Bordeaux,” said Twain-Peterson of Bedrock Wine Company. “There are only two in my vineyard and they are the only vines of Castets that I have ever seen.”

Not all old vineyards are “mixed black.” A few historic mixed-white fields exist, as well. Compagni-Portis in Sonoma Valley, planted in 1954, is a field blend of Gewurtzraminer, Trousseau Gris, Riesling, and more.

Many ancient vines have yet to be identified. Old Hill Ranch Vineyard in Glen Ellen, with producing vines dating back to 1885, lists more than a dozen varietals, including Grand Noir, Mourvedre, Cinsaut, Zinfandel, Chasseals—and “various unknowns.”

Twain-Peterson and Officer have been working on identifying the unknowns, vine by vine. “If we come across something we haven’t seen before,” Officer explains, “we mark its position within the vineyard on a spreadsheet where each box represents vine position. We take a tissue sample and send it to Foundation Plant Sciences at UC Davis to run an analysis to find the DNA. They have a database of many of the world’s cultivars and can tell us what it is. Once we know, that vine becomes a reference vine for us if we run across another.”

Says Twain-Peterson: “I think what makes the discovery of things like Castets, or Albillo Mayor, Folle Noir, Monbadon, Peloursin, Mondeuse, Feher Szagos, Persan, Mollard, and many other rare or nearly extinct varieties in our old vineyards so interesting is that it demonstrates how diverse the original vine stocks that came to California were.”

He adds that, due to our climate, vines can live for a long time. “We now might have the most diverse vineyards in the world,” he says. “That reinforces what a treasure our old-vine vineyards are.”

 

To see a list of all Sonoma Valley historic vineyards registered with the Society, visit http://historicvineyardsociety.org/category/sv/.

In November, in conjunction with The Rare Wine Company, the Historic Vineyard Society will be offering a limited sale of special bottlings from historic vineyards of its members. Profits will help support the Society’s work. Check their website  for more details.

 

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