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Posted
by Organic Wine Journal
on Nov 18, 2014
in Features
Al Bechthold
Bechthold Vineyards is the oldest continuously-farmed vineyard in Lodi, originally planted in 1886. It’s only 25 acres, but the grapes are highly prized by clients like Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon, Abe Schoener of Scholium Project and Turley Wine Cellars. Kevin Phillips of Michael-David Winery continues to farm this plot organically. Here’s his tribute to Al Bechthold, owner of the vineyard, who passed away earlier this year.
The year started off on a sad note with the passing of Al Bechthold, the longtime co-owner (along with his wife Wanda Bechthold) and caretaker of this special old vine vineyard. Al passed away from natural causes early last winter and will be missed by all. It was strange for me to go through a season without the watchful eyes and curious inquiries of Al, who passed the torch to me in 2007, but always maintained a steady presence in the continuation of my improvement efforts in regards to this special block.
I met Al in the summer of 2003, my first full year of employment with my family’s winery, Michael-David Winery. I was farming my family’s original piece of ground (Woodbridge Road Vineyard) that they had homesteaded in the 1860’s. This block was directly west of Al and Wanda’s Old Vine Cinsault Vineyard, so I started running into Al a lot in the course of my own family farming endeavors.
Our winery had just started gaining traction and volume that year and we were in the midst of a tremendous amount of change and growth. This propelled me into a new additional role at the winery — grower relations — and Al was one of the first growers I contracted to buy grapes from in 2004. His vineyard had just undergone DNA analysis at UC Davis and was reintroduced as Cinsault from what had previously been known as Black Malvaise. We had a small Rhone wine program (Incognito Red) and these grapes were purchased with that specific brand in mind. For the next 4 years I shared this vineyard with Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon and we tucked these grapes into Incognito Red, as well as blended them into a few other programs.
In the fall of 2007, Al asked me to take over the operations of the vineyard. He told me I had always been a good neighbor, a good buyer and, most importantly, a good friend. Humbled but appreciative, I accepted the mandate, took over the farming and gave Al and Wanda a long-term lease for their vineyard. I vowed to follow his general farming ideology for this block — organic and dry-farmed — but was not encumbered with any other direction or recipe on what or how to do it.
The years since have been a tremendous learning experience that continues to this day. I have learned to go from being a reactive farmer (as many of us still are, and are often forced to be) into a deliberate, calculated planner that thinks far in advance, tries to mitigate problems before they become problems and looks at the entire vineyard ecosystem when making farming decisions. Aggressive canopy management, composts, cover-crops, beneficial-insect releases, no dust farming, post-harvest irrigations, etc. are just a few of the many strategies employed to help protect the life and health of this special vineyard.
Today, the vineyard continues to flourish and thrive and over 18 wineries source grapes from this little 25 acre corner of Lodi. Bechthold Cinsault has become synonymous with the resurgence of old vine vineyards and forgotten varietals forging a new place for themselves. Yields have averaged a very consistent 3 ton/acre since 2008 — not bad for an 1886 planted vineyard — and the overall health of the vineyard is on the road of continuous improvement.
Out of the deepest respect and admiration for Al and Wanda Bechthold and in tribute to them, I am fighting to preserve and promote the legacy of their vineyard and the appreciation I have for a guy who gave the neighbor kid a chance way back in 2007.
— Kevin Phillips
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Posted
by Organic Wine Journal
on Nov 12, 2014
in Features
Isabelle Legeron is in NYC and will be signing copies go her new book, Natural Wine, at Chambers Street Wines. Afterwards, there will be a six-course dinner at Contra, paired with natural wines, for $180.
For more info, go to Chambers Street Wines.
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Posted
by Organic Wine Journal
on Oct 7, 2014
in Features
People like to think wine is made from just grapes — but that’s hardly the case. A small number of winemakers have put more information on their bottles, but our friend Fabio Bartolomei at Vinos Ambiz has raised disclosure to an art form. Most of it lists what he did not do, letting people know what is happening at most modern wineries. He recently answered some of the feedback he received on Facebook. Some of the comments:
“If you have to spend the money on a label like this maybe the wine ain’t so good. I only drink natural wine but this is kind of douche”
Sarah, I hardly spent any money at all on this label! I wrote it myself on a Word file and the printer is a friend who gave me a very good rate. In any case I don’t see any connection between the cost of a label (pretty or awful) with the wine inside. What’s one thing got to do with the other?
“It’s what I would call over-egging the cake”
Yes, you’re right, but until the legislation changes and makes ingredient listing obligatory, then there’s no harm in exaggerating, is there. It’s a bit like the “Critical Bike” people who demand more facilities for cycling in cities, by riding through town naked! There’s no actual need to go naked, but it helps draw attention to the problem they’re trying to solve! 
“no pesticides, no insecticides, etc. What I would also like to know is whether they treat their workers fairly.”
Suzanne, I don’t have any workers, except for myself, and I exploit myself brutally and mercilessly. I often force myself to work 12 or 14 hours/day and don’t pay myself any overtime. I regularly make myself work on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays and over vacations, again with no overtime. In fact I don’t even pay myself regular wages, though I do faithfully pay my social security contributions to the Spanish government. But, seriously, I do manage about 3 ha of vineyards all by myself, and in addition I buy in grapes from local organic growers.
See the full post here.
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Posted
by Organic Wine Journal
on Oct 6, 2014
in Features
From Dan Rinke:
2014 has been another interesting year. We had a colder than normal winter, but a drier than normal, warmer spring. This all led to a bud break that was a full month earlier than usual. The warm weather did not stop with spring and it continued into the summer and then fall. It seems like this is the never-ending summer. As typical with Oregon, we get hot days with cold night time temperatures. I actually noticed several days this summer that were in the low 90s during the day, and the night time temps were still in the upper 40s.
Harvest started out fast and a month early and has not slowed down at all. The fruit and resulting wines will have plenty of concentration with great acidity, thanks to our cool night time temperatures. We started harvest on September 15th and will go well into October. We have a real healthy yield with picture-perfect fruit. I am certain that 2014 will be considered to be one of the top vintages of the decade with the balance and concentration that make wines that will continue to age gracefully for years to come.
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Posted
by Organic Wine Journal
on Oct 3, 2014
in Features
Debby Zygielbaum reports from Robert Sinskey Vineyards:
Harvest started off for us with some shake, rattle and roll — we’d been picking for less than a week when the earthquake hit. The epicenter is a mile south of one of our vineyards and the fault runs north through two more of them. USGS has come out twice to do some mapping! Things were knocked about in our shops and we’ve lost some vines due to the cracking along the fault line, but we fared much better than some.
Fault line in the vineyard.
Overall, harvest has gone well – a dry, but decent, growing season allowed for good fruit set during bloom and flavor development during harvest. We had just enough water to get us through the season. Yields have been on the high side of average and wines have been pressing off quite tasty. Mildew pressure was incredibly high this year but we were up to the challenge, our vineyards sailing through relatively clean.
Canopies shredded by the hail storm.
For about a month, it felt a lot like last year: the weather was amenable, the fruit was beautiful, and we were picking regularly. By the time the freak hail storm hit, all our Pinots and whites where in the cellar. The Bordeaux varieties weathered the storm, but their canopies got pretty shredded. It definitely slowed down ripening and we’re currently waiting for the numbers to come back into balance. The heat wave forecast for this weekend should help with that.
Can’t stop the harvest – earthquake, rain, hail, heat waves, whatever — we just keep on picking.
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Posted
by Organic Wine Journal
on Oct 2, 2014
in Features
Check out five great organic spirits for fall, including a great pumpkin spiced vodka. OWJ’s editor does a roundup on Forbes.
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Posted
by Organic Wine Journal
on Sep 25, 2014
in Features
Phillip Coturri
From Phil:
I’m taking a deep breath as a front moved through last night, dropping a quarter inch of rain. We harvested our last zin yesterday not wanting them to get washed. The harvest has been early and steady. The last major heat spike during the Labor Day weekend really got things going. We have harvested about 50% of the 1200 tons we do annually. What’s left is Cabernet and Rhones.
The growing season started early with bud break around mid March. Bloom was early, starting late April. For the third year of drought, the rains we did have came a few weeks prior to bud break and through March, filling the soil profile and setting the stage for great full canopies.
The fruit harvested so far has great flavors, complete ripeness with out shrivel. The zins were some of the best I’ve seen in years. A moderate crop small clusters about 25-35% less than last year. Tannin structure in the Cabs is well balanced, softer than 2013 due to the full canopies. Flavors across the board are huge. The vines lignified in mid-August, sugars came up early September and are holding nicely as flavors are developing. My job is to get fruit ripe, and if I can hold it on the vine for a couple weeks we can get it sexy ripe. Next week is going to be full of Cabernet.
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Posted
by Organic Wine Journal
on Sep 24, 2014
in Features
From Perlage:
The organic agriculture wins also this rainy vintage: the grapes are healthy and have a generous gradation.
This year’s harvest of Perlage takes place in two steps because of high humidity and low temperatures. This innovative technique used for the first time in Perlage and for the first time also in the DOCG territory shows how experience and professionalism can survive the more difficult vintages.
The first step is the collection of bunches with very thin skin that have some compromised grapes, while we leave those still perfectly healthy on the rows, waiting for the sugar ripeness and therefore achieve the ideal stage to be collected in the second step.
“With the introduction of this harvest technique, for the first time adopted in the vineyards of the Perlage winery, we are confident of being able to ensure thehighest quality this year, helped no doubt by the high suitability of the hills. Moreover the organic treatments, instead of the conventional ones, act both low and high temperatures, so they have protected the vines from downy mildew.” (Ivo Nardi, owner of Perlage).
The hills of Conegliano Valdobbiadene are an ideal location for growing grapes, between the sea and the Alps and have a mild and temperate climate. The sunny exposure, favored because of their location from east to west, the ventilation of the slopes and the good rainfall, help to maintain healthy grapes and now allow us to wait time for the perfect ripening.
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