I’ve seen “old vines” splashed on a lot of labels. It got me thinking; what’s the term really mean? There’s no legal definition, so it can be quite arbitrary and relative.
California has some Zinfandel vines older than a century. What else is out there? Are there really old Cab and other Bdx grape vines? Any vieilles vignes Pinot or Chardonnay? What’s the production lifespan of the different variety’s vines? What are some of the historic vineyards, and what wineries have access to some of the interesting ones? I know a bit about Bedrock and Ridge, but as this heretofore Europhile turns New World Newbie, I’m finding there’s a lot to learn.
As Brig, suggests, start w/ the HVS site. It’s mostly Zin and old Italian vnyd stuff.
MattRorick/ForlornHope has some old own-rooted Chard at his new SierraFoorhills vnyd.
Lots of old-vine stuff up in AmadorCnty, particularly Zin & Mission.
Up at the Bilbro’s GibsonRanch vnyd in McDowellVlly, there’s the oldest Syrah in Calif, planted back in the late 1800’s
(which…I would like to point out…is before my time…though some around here would suggest otherwise). Lots of old-vine
stuff, Carigan & Zin, up in MendoCnty/UkiahVlly. Lots of old-vine stuff, particularly Zin & Mourvedre/Mataro, in
ContraCostaCnty. And so old-vine stuff, Zin & PinotStGeorge & Grenache, in SanBenitoCnty, particularly the
CienegaVlly. And some old-vine stuff down in Cucamonga.
Tom
I’ve forgotten the name of the vineyard, but there were ungrafted mataro/mourvedre vines near Pittsburgh, in the Sacramento delta, that were quite old, as I recall. A lot of different producers made wine from that fruit.
Napa has so little true old vines. Without White Zin, all the old Zin vines would have been ripped out in Sonoma a quarter century ago.
Napa tends to go for “new” things. Many vineyards after last harvest were ripped out, some only 15 years old. It’s not because there was any problem, just because so much new knowledge around viticulture has come on the scene, owners feel the loss is worth the gain.
The oldest vines I know of in Napa are at Stags Leap Winery. A small block of Petite Sirah and mixed black that they think is 70 years old. Among Cab, the two oldest are Scarecrow’s “Old Men” and MacDonald’s 1/4 acre of 65+ year old Cab. Neither produce much anymore and I suspect they have short lives left. MacDonald gets way less than one ton per acre from that section. But they claim they will never let it go. Haha. We’ll see.
In Napa, a 25 year old vineyard makes you one of the oldest 5%. Maybe the oldest 1%.
Oh! Mayacamas had a 1/8 acre of 100+ year old Zin! Forgot about that! I was aiming to snatch it but then they got sold. They never did much with it and sometimes made 1/2 barrel worth for personal consumption. I would have been on that like block white on rice! But, alas, it will probably be replanted if it has not already been.
Also, there was a 30-year old mixed black vineyard sandwiched between Harlan and Martha’s vineyard that came on the market last year. I had no idea it was there at all. Talk about location! Just 3 acres worth. It sold for an obscene sum, not for the vines, but for the location. That will be ripped out immediately and replanted to something that can sell for $250 a bottle, I guess.
There might be other small parcels I do not know of in Napa.
Chris - as far as I know, there is no universal definition of “old” vines. Others can correct me. I think the oldest productive vines are in Australia. There are pockets of pre-phylloxera plantings in Spain that I know of, and in Argentina, but I don’t think there are many in California or France.
Warren - as far as I know, there is no correlation between the production lifespan of a vine and a variety of grape. In fact, there’s no reason a vine of any type can’t live forever. They don’t simply crap out after x number of years if left on their own. What happens is that people graft them, trellis them, trim off canes, pull leaves, etc., i.e. do things that are not in the best interest of the vine as a plant. Then you have gophers and disease. And finally you have different planting philosophies today. So people rip up vines to plant replacements differently, with different row orientations, densities, etc. And finally there’s the who question as to whether vine age really matters. Romantically yes, scientifically not really.
There are a few tiny examples here and there. I know Marc Plouzeau sells a Touraine (Loire cab franc) from an own rooted pre-phylloxera plot. Lisini in Montalcino has a tiny plot of pre-phylloxera Sangiovese.