Lab Report - Term Project for Fall Practices Class

Rosa Pedone
Vit 51 Fall 2010
Fall Practices Lab Report



Background
Subject vineyard is Battaglini Winery, located at 2948 Piner Road, Santa Rosa, CA. This family-owned-and-operated vineyard and winery produces Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Chardonnay wines. Their old Zin vines are 125 years old. The vineyard was first planted in 1885 with Zinfandel and Petite Sirah grapes; the Battaglini family has owned it since 1988, and they added Chardonnay in 1996. Vigneron Giuseppe (“Joe”) Battaglini uses old world methods, including dry farming and no chemicals. He also allows all of his wines to go through natural fermentation with no added yeasts. They make 2,500 cases of wine each year.

Observations
The vineyard consists of 30.4 acres, of which 25 are planted to grapes. It includes seven blocks of Zinfandel and Petite Sirah and two blocks of Chardonnay grapes. For this report, observations were made in Block 1 – cultivar planted is Zinfandel, and the rootstock is Primitivo and/or St. George. Vines are planted in old world “bush” style with no trellising and 8 X 8 spacing. Yield is typically 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 tons/acre.

Fall Vineyard Practices
Fall practices are outlined on the timeline on page 3. In addition to regular monitoring for Brix and pH levels once veraison has begun, they are also observing stem color and tasting (seeds as well). Prior to veraison, from pre-bloom and through fruit set, canopy management (leaf removal) is done to minimize mildew problems – in addition, they spray with “Elevate” stylet oil to control botrytis.

The Zinfandel in Block 1 was harvested on November 1st. It had a Brix of 27 and a pH of 3.63.

Effectiveness of Performed Practices/Timing
In a better year and under more normal circumstances, the vineyard practices performed at Battaglini would have been effective for the style of wines they produce. As was the case, however, with a wet spring, cool summer, and unanticipated heat spikes in September that drove temperatures upwards of 100 degrees, Battaglini experienced some major problems – while their canopy management and spraying did minimize the mildew, overexposure of the fruit to unexpected high temperatures resulted in a considerable amount of sunburn and raisining. This scenario was further complicated by a lot of rain in late October which pushed their harvest to a later date than they would have liked. Mr. Battaglini reported that, as a result, their Zinfandel harvest was only about 60% of last year’s crop.

Recommendations for Practices/Timing Improvements
As Mr. Battaglini has been farming and making wine for over 50 years, I don’t feel I have enough expertise at this point to make any recommendations to him. I am sure that his vineyard management practices are based on his experience of what has or has not worked for him, and as I have tasted his wines, I cannot say that anything I can suggest to him would make them any better! Because he uses ‘old world’ methods with no chemicals or irrigation, his practices are simple and few. He does not have an insect problem of any consequence, due to the fact his vines don’t develop huge canopy systems, so there is no need for pest treatment.

There is only one suggestion I would make that would be an improvement, and that would be to plant some cover crops in the vineyard. At present, the only ground cover consists of weeds, and although they are mowed down to a certain level, they seem not to add anything. Cover crops would not only add some diversity to the soil, they would help with the dust (and resultant mud when it rains), reduce erosion, and be an aesthetic improvement. The drawback, of course, would be the expense of planting and the need to irrigate.