Environmentalists fight vineyards' spread

Associated Press ^ | Jan. 21, 2006 | TERENCE CHEA

[george76]

In the fog-shrouded forests of California's remote North Coast, winemakers believe they've found the perfect terrain to grow the notoriously fickle pinot noir grape prized by connoisseurs.

Vineyard developers are snapping up thousands of acres of redwoods and firs in Sonoma County, with plans to clear the trees and plant the once-obscure varietal made famous by the wine-fueled road trip film "Sideways."

Environmentalists and residents in Annapolis, a tiny town about 140 miles north of San Francisco, are trying to rein in the pinot lovers.

"If you've seen the movie, you've seen the glassy-eyed stare they have when they talk about their plans to produce pinot noir up here,"...

"We feel it's much more important for future generations to have forests on these hills than wine grapes."

As demand for California wine grows, vintners are looking for new terrain beyond traditional wine-growing regions such as the Napa and Sonoma valleys, where available land is scarce and expensive.

A group of Annapolis residents formed Friends of the Gualala River and teamed up with the Sierra Club and other environmental groups to protect the forests.

They say there isn't enough water to support more vineyards, which pollute the river and soil and threaten salmon and other wildlife with runoff.

"We're not saying you shouldn't drink wine.

We're saying there are more appropriate lands to grow wine grapes on," said Keith Kaulum, a local Sierra Club activist.

Currently, landowners who want to convert timberlands must apply for a permit from the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, a process that usually requires a rigorous series of environmental studies.

[hinckley buzzard]

Vineyard developers are snapping up thousands of acres of redwoods and firs in Sonoma County, with plans to clear the trees and plant the once-obscure varietal made famous by the wine-fueled road trip film "Sideways."

Such a degrading and meaningless movie. So many insipid winoes. Guess they go together at that. Who needs redwoods when you can guzzle half-assed wine like they do in the movies?

[Amerigomag]

Oenology relates to people like me who turn ornery when our favorite wine rises above $7.00

Sounds like you would have been more comfortable some years ago when an immigrant named Amerigo, an accomplished bootlegger, and his drinking buddy Baldasare would entertain their banker, Amedeo, drinking Dego Red in the cool surroundings of Baldasare's labors. Amerigo's contribution, inflated to $1 per bottle by Prohibition, would flow freely.

Their heavy consumption induced the bootlegger to brag about outfoxing the religious zealots in the east and outrunning the county sheriff in his new Franklin. The host proclaimed his dreams to the banker, bragging that his ideas would revolutionize housing in the hot central valley and cajoled the young banker to further underwrite his pursuits. The bay area banker suggested to his fellow Italians and drinking cronies that for a small investment they could all be rich since his banking practices would one day create a banking empire in California. Only the bootlegger succumbed to the charms of the banker.

The bootlegger went on to become a corporate farmer and respected vintner. The Italian mole died in relative obscurity. The banker ... we'll you know what happened to the bankers dreams.

$1 per bottle and a share in the Bank of Italy. You would have appreciated those earlier days. A connection to a bootlegger who supplied wine to his friends dirt cheap, a crazy loon who would give you the shirt off his back and a free room in his tunnels and a banking buddy who's gesture of friendship would have made the price of wine today an incidental expense, creating as little regard as the price of bread.

[machman]

Pinot, yes, because we're not drinking any FU#%@%^ Merlot!

[okie01]

"We're not saying you shouldn't drink wine. We're saying there are more appropriate lands to grow wine grapes on," said Keith Kaulum, a local Sierra Club activist.

I would imagine that the people buying the land know a lot more about what is "appropriate land to grow wine grapes on" than does the local Sierra Club activist.

It would, after all, be their business.

[tubebender]

LOL...I have cancelled checks of my mother and father from Nov 1929 I believe. Half of them are drawn on Bank of Italy and half on Bank of America. My folks lost their farm shortly after that.

BTW...It is Gallo's grand children who cleared the old Valley Oaks form the hillsides north of Santa Rosa at the same time loggers were banned from logging in Humboldt...

[Bender2]

Re: "We feel it's much more important for future generations to have forests on these hills than wine grapes."

I agree... Cut down them tree and build a proper brewery!

[Amerigomag]

I hesitate to enter into this discussion except acendotally because I have no idea of the terrain that is proposed for viticulture. I have no idea if lush, marine, subtropical forest or barren rolling hills. Until I see some photography of the actual vineyard plots, before cultivation, the jury is out for me.

[tubebender]

I'm not opposed to what Gallo did I am only chagrined at the hypocrisy of the wine snobs of that region who were among the first to spam the loggers of the North West...

[RedBeaconNY]

My bad... I venture not into the world of wine.

[george76]

LOL

"...Cut down them tree and build a proper brewery!"

[quantim]

DRC, the most expensive wine real estate on the planet, good catch.

[quantim]

Well, personally I would hate to see more of Sonoma County be eaten up by vineyards. But being a conservative, I don't feel the need to throw a temper tantrum to impose my views on others' private property.

I share your pain, that's why I stay off 'smoking rights' threads, nyuk.

[djreece]

I share your pain, that's why I stay off 'smoking rights' threads, nyuk.

Hehehe, you are a wise FReeper.

[caver]

I had to sit through movie too. It sucked. They were all a bunch of cheating, two timing sluts in the movie. And I couldn't even figure out the plot.

[Constitution Day]

LOL!

[steelie]

I can't believe I missed this thread. I sit on the Sonoma county planning commission that made this decision. I also have a somewhat large winery and vineyard operation in Alexander Valley, Sonoma County.(now my cover is blown!) The conversions are nothing like the scale talked about in the article. Timber production lands are already well protected in Sonoma Co. Generally only open lands within the timber areas were being converted. and at this point, less than 1% of the 300,000+ acres are converted or proposed, in total! Not much more is even acceptable for planting.

I initially had enough votes to recommend no changes to our General Plan, but eventually lost out to hysteria last week.

Areas outside of Timber Production zones are covered as well if they have any merchant timber on them. A farmer will now need a special "use permit" to farm in those areas.

The strangest part is there was little concern about the thousands of acres of timber is being "protected" under parks and preserves, never to be logged again. Those folks in support of the ordinance kept talking about maintaining economic viability of the timber industry. Water use is already addressed in an environmental document that is part of any conversion. It was a farce.

[Amerigomag]

Thanks.

I had some reservation about the implications of the story because of the extraordinary expense of clearing virgin conifer forests with their spiderweb of shallow roots. Preparation of a parcel suitable only for drip irrigation would be prohibitively expensive even for top dollar varietals.

Add to that the transportation costs to get either the raw product or the juice from the first crush of these remote vineyards to the plant facilities and either the production rates or the juice's charater would have to be spectacular to warrant those expenses in an era of the Franzia brother'sTwo Buck Chuck.

Most of the new acreage in unproven areas is driven by tax code, sheltering the income of professionals in other fields. Developments in California's central coastal valleys from the lower Santa Ynez, to the lower Santa Maria, to the Edna, and on to the upper Salinas Valleys is a product of government policy, not the potential for quick profit. These conversions from animal husbandry to viticulture were only possible given the availability of free government subsidies. These vineyards are being developed on rolling grass slopes and avoid concentrations of scrub oak. Had they been conifer forests their owners would still be wrangling for grazing permits instead of the promotion of the fortunes of unique appellation.

Again thanks for confirming my suspicions.

[SierraWasp]

Good to see you back posting replies again. I've missed seeing your great take on things!!!

BOOKMARKED!!!

[SierraWasp]

You really DO keep one eye on your former homeland, don't you???!!!

[steelie]

This is the project that has everyone in an uproar. Financing is coming from CALPERS the California Public Employees Retirement Fund. It has been scaled back even further and is already exempted as a pipeline project.

From the Wine Business Monthly 2/15/05
http://www.winebusiness.com/html/MonthlyArticle.cfm?dataid=36548

The Preservation Ranch, located in the Sonoma Coast appellation near Annapolis, is one of the exciting new projects that Piper and PPV are currently working on. Overall, this massive piece of isolated hillside property is 19,000 acres in total but limited in the amount of land on which grapes can be planted. The separate parcels that have been selected for vineyard developmental 2,000 acres in all (steelie notes... notice that is the total of the parcels, not the proposed planting acreage)--are primarily located on ridge tops between 1,400 to 1,800 feet, and feature coarse, gravelly, well-drained soils. Pinot Noir will be the primary grape planted on this property. Piper says these special vineyards will require ecological methods to control erosion, and innovative ways to develop the appropriate types of compost that can naturally build up the fertility of the soil and attract helpful predators to such an isolated area. Another important factor with the development of this land is simply the ecological rehabilitation of the timberland elsewhere on the property. Piper was forthright in saying that there is a lot of work to be done to reinvigorate the large amount of land that was previously damaged by loggers. "The land has a history of poor environmental stewardship," said Piper. "That's what makes it so exciting. We want to change that." In return for planting the vineyards, a deal has been worked out with the loggers that will feature easements of an equal amount of timberland on the ranch to be converted to old-growth status. Breeding programs for Coho and Steelhead salmon are also being developed on the property.