This past July, our own Mike Dildine was kind enough to offer me an invitation to tag along and photograph the first HVS tour of historic vineyards, through the Russian River Valley, Alexander Valley, and ending at Ridge’s Lytton Springs winery in Dry Creek Valley. This event was mainly attended by growers, winemakers, and wine writers.
Larry’s fantastic camerawork really captured this event.
I should add that this was a very limited gathering, which was organized to introduce HVS to a few local wine writers and somms.
Many Berserkers have shown a passion for California’s historic vineyards and we hope to celebrate ancient vineyards with some larger gatherings next year.
In the meantime, we would appreciate your ideas and support.
I’m pushing on Mike & the HVS team to put together an event open to the public. They need funding, so they’d welcome ideas for events that can benefit the organization.
Mike and I have talked about putting together a dinner, maybe an offline kind of thing, maybe pay to enter and taste wines donated by participating wineries, maybe donate & auction off some bottles. etc. They’re open to suggestions, so this is a great place to get some ideas out there.
First off thanks for sharing this. It’s was a real treat. Thoroughly enjoyed the pictures and reading through it.
A few questions;
Carlisle Vineyard - Planted in 1927, 86% Zinfandel, 3% unknown - How can you identify a grape that you don’t know(DNA testing)? Do varietals mutate over time, especially in these older vineyards that are planted with multiple varietals?
Mixing Blacks - "Although the California wine industry has grown into marketing its wine with varietal labels, the immigrants who planted these vineyards brought the influence of their European heritage, which holds a long tradition of blending different grape varieties to create a wine perfectly balanced to the soil and climate in which it’s grown. Traditional winemaking of the era would harvest and ferment all these varieties together, effectively creating the blend for this wine in the field. - Where in Europe were the immigrants from and are the field blend vineyards still there? Would be fun to taste them as well.
“I asked Mike if he could see any particular logic to the differences in blends between his vineyard and other old vineyards close by. According to Mike, the reasoning behind these blends has been lost to history, but one taste of the juice tells me that those farmers loved wine, and they had a good idea what they were doing”. -Curious if there is any literature on the subject via books, newspaper articles, or journals from the people who planted. Is it possible they just planted what was available to them at the time with no rhyme or reason? Or is there some historical vineyards that mimic what they did here?
Gypsy Canyon Angelica using the same methods the Friars did centuries ago, and bottles it into antique, hand-blown glass. - Are Mission grapes grown anywhere else and if so who produces the wine? What grape is the closest relative to the Mission grape? Did the Friars just plant mission grapes or did they also plant multiple varietals?
Do you guys know who planted all of the vineyards, or are some of them a mystery?
1998 Kalin Semillon Livermore Valley - Never heard of this one. Will have to check it out. Thanks for the notes on it.
HVS (Historic Vineyard Society) is a non-profit, 501 C-3 organization dedicated to the preservation of California’s historic vineyards. HVS’s Mission is accomplished through educating the wine-drinking public on the very special nature of this precious and depleting state, national and global resource. Objective - Compile a comprehensive, fact-based and consistent directory of California’s Heritage Vineyards.
I think most every passionate wine lover would like to help out and be a part of this, especially if they could explore the vineyards and touch base with the growers and the winemakers. I think both smaller dinners and auctions could be beneficial to both the organization and to whoever won and auction or paid for a tour and dinner. Maybe smaller groups (i…e less than 10 guests and 2-3 growers/winemakers) could allow for better experience and possibly a higher return for the group and the guest.
I’m just reviewed the SC Mountin old vineyard list from your site and am excited to look into the one’s I was not aware of. I will be contacting the local wineries for this reason alone and hope to have the chance to explore what they are doing with them.
You’ve got lots of great questions. I’ll do my best to answer, and perhaps some of the more encyclopedic among us can help me out…
Carlisle Vineyard - Planted in 1927, 86% Zinfandel, 3% unknown - How can you identify a grape that you don’t know(DNA testing)? Do varietals mutate over time, especially in these older vineyards that are planted with multiple varietals?
This is really a fascinating question. If you haven’t read David Darlington’s book Angel’s Visits (now re-printed as The History And Mystery Of Zinfandel) I suggest picking it up. David delves into the personalities behind the founding of two great Zinfandel wineries, Ridge and Ravenswood, as well as an investigation into the origin of the grape (circa 1985, pre-DNA analysis) with an update to what we’ve now learned from DNA: http://www.amazon.com/Zin-History-Zinfandel-David-Darlington/dp/0306810298/ref=pd_sim_b_3
The short answer is, yes, through methods including DNA analysis, the origin of grape vines can now be determined. There is in fact a field of botany which concerns itself with precisely this, and our own Dr. Carole Meridith is considered an authority on the subject (help Carole!)
Regarding mutation, I believe the answer is, in the lab, yes, in the wild, sometimes (indeed the theory into the origin of wine grapes so well suited to each region in Europe is that these breeds came into being by wine grapes brought by travelers breeding with the locals), but most all vineyards are clones i.e. cuttings from the same plant, grafted onto rootstocks.
Mixing Blacks - "Although the California wine industry has grown into marketing its wine with varietal labels, the immigrants who planted these vineyards brought the influence of their European heritage, which holds a long tradition of blending different grape varieties to create a wine perfectly balanced to the soil and climate in which it’s grown. Traditional winemaking of the era would harvest and ferment all these varieties together, effectively creating the blend for this wine in the field. - Where in Europe were the immigrants from and are the field blend vineyards still there? Would be fun to taste them as well.
I think the Southern Rhône is the most well-known example of these kinds of blends in the old world, if you’re willing to accept that Zinfandel has a lot in common (flavor-wise) with Grenache, then the supporting characters are pretty much all the same. But, if we really want to talk about the origins of Zinfandel, we need to talk of Southern Italy and Croatia, and here my knowledge falls down:
“I asked Mike if he could see any particular logic to the differences in blends between his vineyard and other old vineyards close by. According to Mike, the reasoning behind these blends has been lost to history, but one taste of the juice tells me that those farmers loved wine, and they had a good idea what they were doing”. -Curious if there is any literature on the subject via books, newspaper articles, or journals from the people who planted. Is it possible they just planted what was available to them at the time with no rhyme or reason? Or is there some historical vineyards that mimic what they did here?
I think this could make for some fascinating research! When you consider the Two Acres vineyard is just a stone’s throw from Carlisle, but it’s a Mourvedre-based vineyard rather than Zin, it’s difficult to know why. Did the farmer have something against zin? Or that’s just what was available when he planted? I think many of the answers are lost to history, but who knows?
Gypsy Canyon Angelica using the same methods the Friars did centuries ago, and bottles it into antique, hand-blown glass. - Are Mission grapes grown anywhere else and if so who produces the wine? What grape is the closest relative to the Mission grape? Did the Friars just plant mission grapes or did they also plant multiple varietals?
This I don’t know, it was my first taste ever of Mission wine!
Do you guys know who planted all of the vineyards, or are some of them a mystery?
I believe this kind of stuff is pretty well known, as records are pretty well kept back to the late 19th century. A bigger challenge for the HVS will be to authenticate the information (do some research into the Grandpere vineyard to see what a headache this can be).
I think most every passionate wine lover would like to help out and be a part of this, especially if they could explore the vineyards and touch base with the growers and the winemakers. I think both smaller dinners and auctions could be beneficial to both the organization and to whoever won and auction or paid for a tour and dinner. Maybe smaller groups (i…e less than 10 guests and 2-3 growers/winemakers) could allow for better experience and possibly a higher return for the group and the guest.
Thanks very much for these suggestions!
I’m just reviewed the SC Mountin old vineyard list from your site and am excited to look into the one’s I was not aware of. I will be contacting the local wineries for this reason alone and hope to have the chance to explore what they are doing with them.
Best of luck with that, and I look forward to hearing back!
Thanks for the thoughtful reply as well as the wiki links and the link to the book. They look like interesting reads.
This raises a question which is, what does support of HVS do for both the people involved and the supporters (we traded PM’s on this, but wanted to ask here as well)? I know awareness of these historical vines needs to be raised and many of them need to be saved from replanting or being torn out completely. But if money is raised what does it go towards?
This leads to another idea, which might be difficult, but might also be rewarding for anyone who feels passionate about the old vineyards. Would it be possible to set up a business whose sole purpose is to “invest” in historical old vineyards. Then allow passionate wine lovers to buy shares in the company. Wonder how hard this would be to set up?
Best non-opinion blog posting I have read in ages. Loved the photos and what a line-up of expertise and experience. I would have bused that table just to gather the bottle scraps!
If anyone is looking for a good copy of Angel’s Visits I found several online @ Alibris - I got a very good hardcover for ~ $20. A local rare book store told me they thought they could find me a copy for “perhaps under $100” so I shopped online.
I admit I didn’t read the article, just looked at the pics. Great pics! Love the first B/W pic and the shallow DOF on the insect pic. Looks like you used fill flash for the outside pics. Nice exposures.
Ok, just checked out your website. You, sir, have some talent. I’ve photographed a lot of the same places and all look familiar. Very jealous of your racetrack photo in DV, it was just too far of a drive from Furnace Creek when I was there shooting. You have a fantastic eye for composition. Great portfolio. Pro or just an enthusiast?
Hi Jeff – thanks for your questions. For background, HVS is a newly formed, not-for-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and appreciation of California’s historic vineyards. We have a passionate Board of Directors, led by Mike Officer and including David Gates (Ridge), Morgan Twain-Peterson (Bedrock), Tegan Passalacqua (Turley) and wine writer Jancis Robinson.
HVS supports historic vineyards through education (the website and old vine registry) and direct participation (tastings, dinners, etc.).
At our early stage of development, our initial focus is the Registry of Historic Vineyards, where we are working to gather vineyard detail, history, photos, etc. on the more than 200 vineyards planted prior to 1960 that have been identified to date. When completed, this will be the first comprehensive and verifiable vineyard registry that we are aware of.
The event that Larry documented so well is the first of what we hope to be many events that will allow wine-lovers, writers, Sommeliers and other enthusiasts to experience this amazing piece of California history.
We have a lot of work in front of us and are still in the process of developing our agenda. We believe it will be an enjoyable and worthwhile journey.
NE CEDE MALIS (pronounced Ne KAY Day Mah LEES), comes from the Latin phrase “Don’t give in to misfortune,” the family motto of Stags’ Leap founder Horace Chase and a befitting moniker for this southern Rhône-style wine. The old field blend vineyard located on the Estate features vines that are more than 70 years old. This graceful vineyard has survived over the years and continues to produce a small lot of wine that offers extraordinary depth and complexity year after year.
This lovely blend of Rhône varietals pays tribute to this historic vineyard and offers a wine that is unique for the region. The five acre block features old, head trained vines, including Petite Syrah, Carignane, Mourvedre, Grenache, Peloursin, Syrah and Viognier. Each harvest the grapes from this special lot are hand picked, cofermented and aged in mostly neutral oak barrels for twelve to fourteen months until ready for release to produce a true Field Blend Petite Sirah.
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I would of loved to take that tour.![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}