Upcoming Unified Session: Exploring the Regenerative Ag Toolbox for Viticulture

For the first time, the grapegrowing track at Unified Wine & Grape Symposium this year features two prominent organic wine growers: Greg Pennyroyal of Wilson Creek Winery in Temecula and Hillary Graves of Booker Vineyard in Paso Robles. 

The session takes place Jan. 28 from 2 to 3:30 pm. 

Pennyroyal's biography on the site reads: 

"He is following a family tradition of medicinal plant farming from his mother, a traditionally trained herbalist in Norway, to his current position as Vineyard Manager of Wilson Creek Winery and Professor of Viticulture at Mount San Jacinto College in Temecula. He is the founder of the Small Winegrowers Association and is developing a regenerative curriculum at Mt San Jacinto College.

Previous experience as manager of Trout Lake Farm, medicinal herb farm, Director of Botanical Research at Leiner Health, a researcher with the National Institutes of Health, 10 years on the United States Pharmacopeial Convention Board developing medicinal plant standards and work with the Global Institute for Tibetan Medicine has reinforced an evolving respect for the power of science coupled with the wisdom of nature in allowing a positive future that wants to emerge."

I, too, studied Tibetan medicine (in Dharamsala, in 1995, staying at Kashmir Cottage, a guest house owned by the Dalai Lama's family and run by his brother, who is also a rinpoche. Richard Gere and I shared a bathroom there. Good karma!) and look forward to meeting Greg and hearing how all these worlds intersect. 

Hillary's bio reads: 

"Hilary graduated from high school in Hawaii and studied business at CSU Fresno. While her father hailed from a Central Valley farming family, she never planned to pursue agriculture—but, in time, her true calling came clear. After earning a master’s degree in library and information science, she returned to CSU Fresno to serve as the academic librarian in the university’s Viticulture and Enology Research Center. It was here that Hilary’s interest in viticulture was awakened, prompting her to pursue master’s studies in Crop Science and ultimately a career in wine and viticulture.

 After studying Crop Science at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Hilary taught viticulture at Cal Poly for four years under Dr. Keith Patterson. She also started her own business in 2002, planting a vineyard and making wine under the Mighty Nimble brand. She later started a vineyard management company and grew fruit for, among others, Booker Vineyard’s Farmer- Winemaker Eric Jensen. Hilary and Eric formed a strong connection, and she ultimately joined Booker Vineyard as Vineyard & Grower Relations Manager in 2020."

Galloni's Top 100 Features Five Wines From U.S. Organic Vines

 #13: 2021 DuMOL Pinot Noir MacIntyre

#18: 2021 Tablas Creek Vineyard Esprit de Tablas

#20: 2021 Ridge Vineyards Lytton Springs

#33: 2021 Cornell Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

#60: 2021 Denner Vineyards The Dirt Worshipper

Central Coast Veteran Winemaker Alisa Jacobson Launches First Organically Grown "Alcohol Removed" Wine

 

Alisa Jacobson, a veteran winemaker working on the Central Coast, is releasing her first "alcohol removed" wine from certified organic grapes. Is this an industry first? I think so.

Jacobson worked for 18 years at Joel Gott before setting out on her own at Turning Tide. Bait + Switch is her latest venture.  

Her first varietal under the Bait + Switch label is this Sauvignon Blanc. I'm excited to try it at Unified in a few weeks. 

Wines like these will be featured at an upcoming panel at Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in Sacramento. The No and Low-Alcohol Winemaking: Market Insights, Chemical Dynamics, and Industry Perspectives (includes tasting) session will be held Jan. 28 at 2 pm. 

The panel features a list of all stars from Delicate and Gallo, among other labels.

(Stay tuned for further developments. I will be reporting about this session for Grape and Wine magazine.)

First Time Unified Has an Organic Keynoter! Unified to Feature Alecia Moore (AKA PINK), Winemaker and Two Wolves Wine Founder

In case you hadn't heard, I believe this is the first time Unified has featured an organic vintner for its keynote speaker!

SACRAMENTO, CA – January 8, 2025 – The Unified Wine and Grape Symposium is proud to welcome Alecia Moore, winemaker and founder of Two Wolves Wine, as the keynote luncheon speaker to kick off the 2025 show on Tuesday, January 28. Known globally for her multifaceted career, Moore will bring her passion for grape growing and winemaking to center stage in a live, talk-show-style interview with Ray Isle, author and Executive Wine Editor at Food & Wine. This engaging discussion will explore Moore’s journey that led her to wine, and the passion that fuels her unique approach to her brand.

“This keynote continues the Symposium’s tradition of bringing diverse and influential voices to the wine community, aiming to inspire attendees with new ways of thinking,” said Natalie Collins, president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers and Unified Symposium LLC Managing Committee member. “In a time marked by industry challenges, a fresh perspective and renewed inspiration can help us see new possibilities—and Moore’s story promises to do just that.”

After immersing herself in winemaking courses and visiting various wine regions, Moore took a bold step in 2013 by purchasing a vineyard in Santa Barbara County, California’s Central Coast. This pivotal moment marked the birth of Two Wolves Wine. For the past decade, she has overseen the entire winemaking process, from cultivating organic grapes to handcrafting small-batch wines. Each bottle produced embodies her dedication to quality, her profound respect for nature, and a bold expressive character, reminiscent of her own creative spirit.

Registration for the Unified Symposium is available at:

www.unifiedsymposium.org/register. The Keynote Luncheon is priced separately and includes a plated lunch and wine. To register for the luncheon, you must be a CAWG member, ASEV member, or an exhibitor. Early registration is encouraged as limited seating is available. The 2025 Unified Wine & Grape Symposium will be held January 28-30, with exhibits open on January 29 and 30, at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center in Sacramento, California.

Built with the joint input of growers, vintners, and allied industry members, Unified has served as a clearinghouse of information important to wine and grape industry professionals for more than 30 years. Unified also hosts the industry’s largest trade show of its kind, with more than 650 vendors displaying their products and services in over 875 booths. For more information, please visit www.unifiedsymposium.org.

SLO Coast's First Certified Biodynamic Vineyard! Gina and Mike Giugni's Vineyard (formerly Bassi) Is Now Officially Demeter Certified "Sunny Spot Vineyards"

At the end of August, Gina and Mikey Guigni’s 32 acre vineyard on the SLO Coast became Demeter certified, making it the first vineyard in the SLO Coast AVA to be officially biodynamic.

A second generation winegrower and winemaker, Gina is the daughter of Frank and Teena Hildebrand, who started their 14 acre Narrow Gate Vineyards in the El Dorado AVA (part of the broader Sierra Foothills AVA), certifying the vines biodynamic in 2010. They were friends of the family that started AmByth Estate, a natural wine winery (certified biodynamic) in Paso Robles. At AmByth, wine growing and winemaking is now in the hands of the second generation Gelert Hart, son of founder Philipp Hart.

Gina set out on her own, moving to the Central Coast and farming the Chene Vineyard (then certified biodynamic; it’s since changed hands) in Edna Valley and buying grapes for her own brand Lady of the Sunshine where she makes 1,500 cases of natural wine. She was featured as a SNAIL winery in Slow Wine Guide in 2024.

Mikey and Gina together are the driving forces behind Scar of the Sea, the label Mikey started in 2012.

Scar of the Sea’s SLO Coast Bassi Vineyard Pinot Gris & Pinot Noir Co-Ferment 2022 (168 cases; $36) won a top wine award from Slow Wine in 2024. Gina’s Edna Valley Chene Vineyard Chardonnay 2022, 150 cases; $46 won a Slow Wine award in the 2024 guide.

The Vineyard

Formerly it was called the Bassi Vineyard, and was owned by Mike Sinor, a Central Coast stalwart who sold the grapes to many local wineries. It’s located near Avila Beach. Mikey formerly bought grapes here.

The couple have big plans for the vineyard, which they purchased in June, planning to use almost all of the grapes for their own brands.

Currently the site grows Albarino, Chardonnay, Grenache, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, and Syrah.

Said Gina, “We are replanting 7 acres this spring to include Aligote, Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris, Pink Chardonnay, Nero d'Avola and Frappato. We'll keep all of this for our production.”

A big step forward!

Both brands have wine clubs and struck a chord with wine lovers, especially in LA.

Bravo for planting these varieties and for carrying the best farming practices forward - right on the coast.

NOTE: To keep up to date on biodynamic wine topics, subscribe to bdwine.substack.com.

Author Picks - Best of Wine Journalism in 2024

Most of the time, I don't write for this blog–I write articles for wine business industry publications. I thought you might be interested to know that links to all the articles I write for WineBusiness.com, Wine Business Monthly and Grape and Wine magazine are all available on my professional website at www.winecountrygeographic.com. 

When new articles post, they are also sent free to subscribers to my substack newsletter (one of many) at https://pamstrayer.substack.com (which I am honored to say I started after Andrea Robinson asked me how to subscribe to them).

Here's my take on the year that was.

2024 was tumultuous year. 

The wine industry is in the grip of a big learning curve this year. Often a victim of inertia, the industry got more wake up calls this year that markets really are conversations, and that they may be relying too much on what worked in the past. Smart folks in the industry are hard at work studying what works and trying to spring into action, despite uncertainty.

I was deeply impressed by how some wineries are responding–getting engaged with TikTok and, for a few, offering fine wine in bag in box formats which is proving to be very popular with consumers though less so with retailer gatekeepers.

In addition, some really impressive studies came out, including several on regenerative wine grape growing, a field now supercharged thanks to Agrology which collects and then analyzes data on soil respiration, enhancing our deeper view of biological systems within the soil. 

Read the Top 10 list – here.

California's Premier Organic Farming Event Coming Up: Ecofarm Is January 22-25, 2025

Every year at Asilomar in the lovely town of Pacific Grove on the Central Coast, Ecofarm, the greatest gathering of organic farmers in the U.S., takes place. 

Founded by organic pioneer Amigo Bob, the conference features speakers who are some of the truly great talents and embraces community. They're all trying to turn the Queen Mary of modern agriculture toward more sustainability, health and resilience by way of organic farming. 

California has nearly 3,000 certified organic farms, representing 21 percent of all U.S. certified organic land. A new report on the state's organic farming community is due out from U.C. Davis in the next month or two.

In the past, I've enjoyed lectures from Amigo himself (sadly he is no longer with us), Pam Marrone (the internally acclaimed expert on biopesticides and a great person to follow on LinkedIn as her feed is full of goodies), and Kelly Mullville of Paicines Ranch on the stage with the hilarious Nathan Stuart, formerly the shepherd at Tablas Creek Vineyards. (Nathan should have been a professional stand up comedian. You can get a taste of his irreverent, down to earth approach by watching some old Tablas videos on YouTube where he teams up with their winemaker Chelsea.)

2025 LINEUP : ALTIERI, NABHAN, CDFA on REGENERATIVE, and MORE

This year's lineup is made of equally famous stars and promises a lot of knowledge and good times.  This year features: 

• Agroecology founder and former U.C. professor Miguel Altieri
• ROA and CDFA staff on state policy issues on definitions of the word "regenerative" and the sustainable pest management roadmap
• MacArthur fellow Gary Nabhan and his new book on immigrants 
• The one and only organic wine tasting party (certified grapes only)
• Bee and pesticide expert Susan Kegley (former chief scientist for Pesticide Action Network and bee protector)
• And more

OPENING NIGHT KEYNOTE

Big name keynoters include the agroecology leader Miguel Altieri (officially Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley) the man who founded the field of agroecology. He has worked for the Pope and with Prince Charles on large scale ecological agriculture projects. He did several significant studies on vineyards when he was at Cal. (I audited his Berkeley class one year when Houston Wilson was his teaching assistant).

Altieri will also lead a workshop called "Diversifying Plants and Soil Microbes Fosters Pest Control" on Thursday. 

(Wilson now heads the UC Organic Agriculture Institute and sits on the CDFA's sustainable pest management group.)

THURSDAY AM WORKSHOPS: CDFA's Definition of Regenerative and a Session on Sustainable Pest Management (SPM) 

CDFA has been attempting to define the word "regenerative." An Ecofarm panel on this developnent includes Elizabeth Whitlow, well known to many for her role as founding director of the Regenerative Organic Alliance, a role that the late Paul Dolan recruited her for.

DPR's Julie Henderson, who headed the SPM committee, will be speaking at one of the workshops this year on the state's attempt to steer agriculture, long term, toward using less toxic chemicals and spurring development of alternatives. (See story here for background). 

THURSDAY AFTERNOON KEYNOTE: Gary Nabhan on the Creative Value of Immigrants 

A man of the desert known for his ethnobotanical expertise, agave appreciation and a professor at the University of Arizona, this original thinker (and author of 26 books) has turned his attention to immigration issues–timely as Trump assumes office that week. Nabhan is a MacArthur Fellow and James Beard award winning author. 

"The key themes of the new book, Against the American Grain, are that innovation usually emerges from the margins of our society, that bilingual and multicultural individuals generate problem-solving strategies that spill out from rural areas to enrich all of America, and that multi-cultural collaborations have enriched American landscapes and protected the poor and marginalized in innumerable ways.

With a farm workforce that now includes climate refugees from more than a dozen desert countries, we should anticipate another wave of resistance and innovation. Speaking as an orchard-keeper, agave and spice-grower, and rural community development organizer with a half century of experience, Nabhan will inspire more direct action from multicultural alliances that will leave no farmer, farmworker or food service worker behind."

Yes, it sounds political, but isn't that what the next year looks like? How will food survive without these immigrant workers? How will farms prosper? The coming clash seems like a crisis filled work in progress that could be illuminated with Nabhan's insights. (Although I would question who are the resisters?...Think of the Bear Flag Revolt. California was once Mexican.)

THURSDAY PM WORKSHOPS: ALTIERI ON BIODIVERSITY AND PEST CONTROL

Altieri is on a two person panel for the workshop "Diversifying Plants and Soil Microbes Fosters Pest Control," which address pest control through a natural balance of predators and beneficials. 

THURSDAY NIGHT: ORGANIC WINE TASTING PARTY

The one and only tasting each year of wines from certified organic vines is a crowd pleaser for this gang, year in and year out. 

FRIDAY PM WORKSHOPS: Microbes with U.C.'s Tim Bowles, Pollinators with Susan Kegley

Bees are on the agenda with rock star pesticide researchers and bee champion, Susan Kegley, formerly the senior scientist for Pesticide Action Network and an evangelist for bees. She's the director of Pesticide Research Institute and runs her own farm, Bees n Blooms Organic Flower Farm, in Santa Rosa.

There's much more to enjoy at the event. Learn more at the eco-farm.org website. 

Santa Cruz Mountains' Organic Icon Prudy Foxx Featured on Local TV!

One of my favorite organic vineyard managers, Prudy Foxx, is featured on local TV thanks to Monique Soltani and her Wine Oh! tv show. Prudy tends the vines at so many famous Santa Cruz Mountain wineries, many of which are featured in Slow Wine Guide, 

Take this quickie tour with Prudy and Monique in the mountains. 

58 Percent of Younger and Multicultural Consumers Prefer Organic, Major New Wine Market Council Study Reports

One of the most spectacular market research studies of the year, in my humble opinion, was How to Better Engage Young Adults and Multicultural Consumers with Wine, by the Wine Market Council in conjunction with Ethnifacts, a Texas-based firm specializing in demographic market research, including multi cultural consumers.

I wish I could share the full study here with you–but I can't since it's for members only–but I highly recommend joining the Wine Market Council to see the full study. (Minimum dues are between $400 and $1,000.)

I have written an article for Grape and Wine magazine's next issue (coming in February) that shares some of the highlights. 

Though the study did not focus on organics, one slide showed a clear preference among 20- and 30-somethings (the only group studied) for family owned, small producers who are sustainable and organic. That preference applies across all the ethnic groups studied. The study surveyed 1,800 wine consumers. 

Let's hope the industry is listening.

What You Read: Top Ten Posts in 2024

It's always interesting to see what posts readers read most in a given year. I just tallied up what posts got the most page views and here are the results. (Posts must have been written in 2024 to be on this list.)

THEMES

¨• Event tastings
That includes a Cal-Italian tasting in Healdsburg that included a (very) few U.S. producers with certified organic vines and a Rhone Rangers event in Sonoma (on one of the hottest days of the year) 

• Breakthroughs for the organic sector

A U.S. first–Tablas Creek's organically grown estate wine in a box (all their other previous boxed wines, i.e. Patelin, were not organically grown but will be in the future), U.S. organic wine trade group formed a wine council within the Organic Trade Association, and news from Slow Wine in Italy, that Chianti Classico now 50 percent organic. Another story was about organic acreage totals for the state, Napa and Sonoma–the first time I have ever gotten this info from CCOF (in 13 years of writing about organic vines). And Curtis Mann, the influential MW who heads up Safeway and Albertsons' wine sales, says organically grown wine needs to be more clearly labeled for consumers to know what they are buying.

• Studies showing organic farming is more resilient and produces better quality wine
Napa Green forum (with various North Coast producers), O'Neill's regenerative organic study at Robert Hall and reports from Sonoma and Napa growers that organic is cost-effective.

Rankings by Page View Order

• Festa Italia in Healdsburg Celebrates California Cool Kids' Growing Italian Side: It's All About Pleasure 

This is a community that has yet to embrace being certified organic, but two stars are – DaVero and Preston Farm and Winery – and their wines were standouts. 

• Exceptional Wines from the Rhone Rangers Tasting in Sonoma 

Organic and biodynamic producers are among the top tier when it comes to making Rhone varieties.

• Economics of Organic Definitely Pencil Out, Say Major Producers at Napa Green Event in Rutherford 

Quintessa, Gloria Ferrer and Grgich Hills report on lower farming costs, longer lasting vines, and higher quality from organic grape growing. 

• Organic Vintners Form New Organic Trade Association Wine Council, Seek to Harmonize with Global Organic Wine Standards 

Bonterra's Joseph Brinkley moves back to D.C. to head new lobbying presence for organic vintners. 

• Where Are California's Organic Vines? CCOF Stats Shows 4 Percent of State's Wine Grape Vines are Organic–A Quarter Are in Napa 

While organic wine grape acreage in the U.S. has doubled since 2016, to 23,187 acres, one region, Napa, has about a quarter of those vines. In contrast, Spain, Italy and France have about 18 percent organic–and it's growing. 

• News from Slow Wine Fair 2024: "Chianti Classico Now More Than 50 Percent Organic" 

FederBio's president, Maria Grazia Mammuccini reports that the majority are organic and therefore more resilient, since they have designs "an agronomic strategy to create a ‘vineyard system’ capable of responding to climatic shocks."

• Wine Spectator Top 100 Features 7 Wines from Slow Wine Guide | Including 4 U.S. Wines from Organic Vines

Bethel Heights, Calera, Burgess and Stag's Leap Wine Cellars took home top honors. 

• Can Regenerative Organic Farming Pencil Out? Study Provides State-of-the-Art Data and Demonstrates Dramatic Improvements in Wine Quality and Yields 

In what I think may be the most valuable study of the year,  Caine Thompson of O'Neill Vintners shared valuable data on resilient farming with peers and the public.

• Economics of Organic, Part 2: Deep Dive on Organic Vineyard Costs from High End Vineyard Management Company

Turns out crimping is cheaper than mowing, according to Sonoma's leading organic vineyard management company, Enterprise Vineyards. Plus, more tips in their full presentation (link in story). 

• Do Organically Grown Wines Need to be Labeled? Safeway's MW Says Consumers Want That | Yet 71 Percent of U.S. Wines from Organic Vines Do Not Label Organic on the Bottle (When They Legally Could)

My own data, compiled but not published for Vivino several years ago, showed that only 71 out of 1,654 qualifying wines labeled their bottles "ingredients: organic grapes," though they legally could. The label can appear on the back of the bottle.