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."
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