San Diego Boutique Winery Ordinance On Hold

In a complete and surprising reversal, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors was forced to bow to pressure from a small group of citizens opposed to seeing San Diego County becoming host to dozens of boutique wineries.

In a memo written by Carolyn Harris from Ramona, a major supporter of the measure:

"This morning the San Diego Board of Supervisors accepted the recommendation of the DPLU [Department of Land Use] to rescind their approval of the Boutique Winery Ordinance, which was scheduled to go into effect on 23 May 2008. What I understand is the following:

The County has received a "Notice of Intent to Sue for Violations of CEQA - Boutique Winery Ordinance" from lawyer Marco Gonzales, representing the anonymous "San Diego Citizenry Group". They declared intention to sue the Board of Supervisors and/or County of San Diego on the grounds that the proposed Boutique Winery Ordinance's provision for direct sales and tastings is likely to have a significant effect on the environment and must therefore first be supported by an environmental impact report, as opposed to a mitigated negative declaration.

* County Counsel has consulted with CEQA experts and have advised the Board of Supervisors that if the County loses the suit the County will be liable to the San Diego Citizenry Group for a cash payment for their legal fees, as well as the legal fees that the County would spend to defend the suit.

* Therefore, in order to avoid the expense of defending the suit and the probable payment to the plaintiffs, the Board of Supervisors rescinded their action of 23 April approving the Boutique Winery ordinance.

There was no discussion at today's hearing on the subject,which was added as an "urgency ordinance" just yesterday and approved5-0 with the other dozen or so items on the consent calendar.

* During an upcoming meeting of the Board of Supervisors in June they will consider recommending that pending the completion of the EIR [environmental impact report], the "boutique sized" wineries be allowed to make direct sales and provide tastings at the winery subject to an administrative use permit."

Harris notes that it is interesting what power the California Environmental Quality Act has in the hands of a few people who have a check book and know how to use it.

Knowing Harris, this is just the end of the beginning ... there is more to come, and I expect in my lifetime that San Diego will be home to a flourishing cottage industry of boutique wineries.

Winemaking Mistakes To Avoid: Lessons Learned

It's been a year since we celebrated the blessing of the vines, and we have many blessings to be thankful. Here are some of the lessons we've learned along the way. I'm sure there will be many more.

* When pruning first year wines in the winter after the first growing season, do not prune them too high above the cordon wire. Some people recommend two inches above the cordon. Others recommend just below the cordon. In any event, don't go above two inches. (Alternatively, if you want to take more time to develop a strong root system, you can prune down to the bottom of the vine, to establish a very strong trunk in year two -- then in year 3, prune at the cordon wire to establish the cordons. This approach takes longer, but will result in a strong root system.)

* As much as you would rather be tying vines and pruning in the winter/spring, get the gophers! (Get them early to avoid multiplication of the problem after they breed!)

* After the first year, don't hesitate to prune any weak cordons. I know, you worked hard all summer to grow those first cordons, but if they're weak, prune them off in the winter before spring. You'll be amazed at the strength of the new cordons which grow out -- and you'll have a much stronger cordon.

* You don't have to put vines on a trellis system, especially if you're making a micro vineyard.

* Study the theory of vine spacing. Some people like 6 feet spacing or more. Others will insist you cannot make great fruit if the cordons are too far apart.

* If you can cold soak must after picking and crush, do it! A few days of soaking allows color and "fruit" to enter into the must, without harsh tannins. You can use containers (used milk, orange juice cartons filled with water then turned to ice from the freezer) to keep the must cool. If you put in dry ice, watch out for a bubbling volcano!

* Be wary of storing wine in new, small oak barrels that have not been rinsed thoroughly and broken in (the wine may become over-oaked within two weeks!)

* Even though you over-oaked the wine, be patient. The harsh flavor will dissipate with time.--Patience is a winemaker's virtue.

* Don't attach a sulphur stick to a rubber bung when sulphuring a barrel. When the sulphur burns, it may melt the rubber (not a pleasant tasting addition for a barrel).

* If you don't get all the sulphur out of the barrel, your wine may have the nose of used matchsticks.

* When selecting a home-site for a vineyard, a mountain top offers fabulous views and excellent drainage, but flat land is easier to walk on, develop and maintain. (Retaining walls may be more expensive to construct than your vineyard!)

* Don't buy a house in the country just because your dog needs more room. If the coyotes and the snakes don't get him, the foxtails will.

* Inspect the dog's toes for foxtails twice a day, or withdraw $2,000 from the ATM to pay for the upcoming visit to the vet.

* In the long run it's cheaper to purchase $25/bottle wine from the local winery than to make your own. (But not nearly as fun.)

* Don't leave your cases of wine in the garage if the temperatures rest at 90 degrees for a month or so. The wine will oxidize, turn brownish and change taste. Said one taster: Hmm, reminds me of 'medicino'--A polite way to say the Syrah had turned to medicine!

* Just because a self-proclaimed wine judge doesn't ooh and aah over the best bottle of wine you ever made doesn't mean it's not an award-winning concoction!

* If you live in southern California where sharpshooters are present, inocculate your first year vines against Pierce's disease.

*Seen on a T-Shirt: "I spent most of my money on wine and women. The rest of it I wasted!

*Things that go bump in the dark: Watch out for scorpions when getting a glass of water in the middle of the night.

* Watch out for black widows when pulling the cover off of your wine containers.

* A glass of white wine isn't so bad if you've only been quaffing red for the last year.

* The rabbits will eat the buds and first leaves from your newly planted roots -- put the plastic covers on, fool!

(To be continued.)

Richard's Vine

A sea of people gathered to celebrate the planting of the vineyard parted to make way for the station wagon as it mounted the 45 degree driveway to the flat space in the garage, which had been converted to a wine tasting spot for the occasion. On level ground we pulled out your wheel chair, helped you into it and whisked you into the house, then backed the car out of the garage as the hundred other visitors converged on the barrel for another taste.

When Pope Jean-Paul II died of that same Parkinson's disease afflicting you, I prayed to his spirit that he show a miracle and send a healing cure to you.

After the priest blessed the vines I asked you a favor. "Richard, I need your help. Would you like to plant a vine?" I had saved you hole #1, the first spot in the first row which we gaze upon every day out the front windows of our house. Carefully, you were lowered inch by inch down that steep incline by your saintly spouse and the vine was planted (did you plant it yourself or did your family plant it for you?) -- hereafter affectionately known as "Richard's Vine."

We hosted a ceremony to bless the vineyard but it was all of us who were blessed by your presence, as you made the effort to visit us that day from far away, to negotiate those steep inclines and to plant that vine.

I don't know exactly what it is with that row # 1, but of all the thousand vines in the vineyard the 12 vines in that boutique row are our problem children. Only a few of them reached the cordon wire the first year. But yours, our most precious vine, didn't even make it out of the pink grow tube. Still, last Fall it showed life and was green. I pruned it back to give it a fresh start this Spring. It still lags behind the others. It's still in the tube (even though vines we planted just six weeks ago are already well out of their tubes!). We give special attention to your vine. Each time we irrigate, we make sure there is plenty of water (perhaps one reason it's a slow grower is that it was planted too deep?). On Saturday, I put in a new emitter above the vine to make sure it gets twice as much water as any other.

Thank you for your gift to us, and may you find wellness with your new life.

Wine Storage: Which Way Is Right Side Up?

We have been storing our wine "right side up" -- which is to say upright, with the corks pointing to the sky. We don't have a storage facility yet for laying them on their side.

Below is advice from the president of the San Diego Amateur Winemakers' Association, who just sent me this note:

"Standing up is only good if up means upside down. The corks need to be in contact with the moisture. Side is best but not really feasible unless you have a chateau and a cave. Wineries age full bottles upside down. After bottling (and corking). Keep them right side up for a week or so to let excess gas get out (and not have push out). Then flip them. Just like anything you might buy on a trip. Travel with it right side up. But after you get home, flip those babies. "

Poems For The Day: On Women, Wine & Owls

"Brother can you spare a dime,
I've spent all my money on women & wine.
The rest of it I wasted,
You couldn't even taste it."

This is how the mind thinks on Friday morning after much racking, barrel topping, bottling the topping wine and tasting late into Thursday evening.

Remember this:

"The silence of the vines
Distills the wife's song
Into sweet wine."

The Queen was also waxing in verse last evening, reminiscent of an old Japanese folk song, calling for an owl to descend from the heavens upon the gophers:

"Hoot, hoot,
Owl koie,
Chung chung a cha chung
Chung chung chung...."

San Diego County Winery Ordinance Approved

The San Diego County Winery Ordinance was passed this week, making it easier for "boutique wineries" located in the rural areas of the county to open tasting rooms on their property and to sell wine directly to the public. What's easier is the fact that an administrative use permit -- a process that could typically cost up to $40,000 -- will not be required. (Click here for more information about the ordinance and obstacles to getting it passed.) We'll have to see how difficult it is to get the other permits required, such as a bond from the Bureau of Alcohol (to operate a "bonded warehouse"), a license to sell wine and what health permits are required. It is a smart move by the County's leaders to encourage production of drought tolerant crops (i.e., grapes). I spoke with one grower in Fallbrook yesterday, who told me he has yet to irrigate his vines this year. (It's over 90 degrees outside this weekend, and my avocado trees are wilting -- they have needed water this year.) Commentators often referred to the Winery Ordinance as the "Ramona Winery Ordinance -- as that is where the supporters (led by the insurmountable Carolyn Harris) are based. But the ordinance effects all rural areas of the County, including "Blue-Merle Country", which is more popularly know as "Hidden-Meadows" -- a community north of Escondido. I expect that the members of the Hidden-Meadows Winemakers Association will come together in an effort to provide great tasting wines to the public -- and to help offset some of our growing expenses. (Who knows -- we might even eek out a small profit someday.) In this regard, the proprietor of Belle Marie Winery (a professional operation in Escondido) who also lives in the Hidden Meadows area, already has a tasting room under construction! Having Belle Marie Winery located so close provides a solid anchor to the boutique winery business in this part of the County. We can think of Belle Marie as the "mothership" whose education programs (often taught by Lum Eisenman, the icon of San Diego winemaking) in winemaking techniques have certainly benefited "The Blue-Merle Winery" and other fledgling winemakers in the area. It's exciting to think about the possibility of our infant wineries in the neighborhood growing, then coming together to offer walking & tasting tours from one winery to the next, while taking in scenic views of the vineyards, the mountains and views out to the Pacific ocean.

Speaking of education at Belle Marie, the winery hosted a dinner last night with Camillo (the icon of vineyard management from Guadeloupe Valley) as the guest speaker. Camillo spoke about his research project which involves almost 100 varietals on different rootstocks in an attempt to identify the vines best suited for growing in Guadeloupe Valley -- where grapes have been grown for hundreds of years. "A lot of people talk about research," said Mick, owner of Belle Marie. "Camillo is actually doing it," he said, commenting that such efforts are very rare.

Here is a message from Caroyln Harris about the ordinance:

"On a vote of 4-0 today (Ron Roberts was absent) the Supervisors voted to approve the boutique wineries as a right of zoning, without waiting foran EIR and without needing any permits. The county can still be sued onthis during the next 30 days, and we'll have to hold our breath. TheSupervisors agreed with the Planning Commission that an EIR was NOTtriggered, contrary to the advice of their DPLU and County Councilstaffs. The ordinance that was passed gives clear sailing to wineries on public roads. Wineries on private roads will still have some major challenges,and may need to get an administrative use permit. "

(Editor's Note: May 19th. The ordinance was rescinded last week! Hold your horses!)

More Trouble: Training 2nd Year Vines

The vines have been in the ground for one year. We pruned as instructed this winter; a couple of inches above the cordon wire, in the expectation of taking new shoots from below the wire and fashioning even, strong cordons. Friends, if I were doing this again, I would watch out for pruning "above the wire", especially for vigorous vines. What happened is that the new growth came in significantly above the wire, and it's difficult to bend those puppies down without breaking them off. We're wondering if we just need to top the vines and start all over? (Note: A quick call to the consultant Frank: his advice: do not top the vines; if necessary, clip the vines shooting straight up; that should force new growth below the shoot, in a more horizontal direction.) The queen is trying Japanese gardening techniques to slowly bend the fast growing, skyward bound shoots. The vineyard consultant suggested no need to "top off" the vines again, but to cut the shoots near the base, and the bud may send forth a new shoot. I was outside at 6a.m. this morning, attempting to bend some vines, but not having the Japanese touch, broke quite a few. Friends, this is not a happy day for us in crafting this vineyard. I remind myself: patience, patience, patience. Vineyard is art. Plenty of "hoot hoot hoot-hoot" sounds, but no sign of a visitor to our owl box yet. Jerry reports that the conditions are not yet ripe for mildew (something else to worry about). The gophers have been having a field day -- as I was out of town, and the weeds are on the counter attack. That damned plastic thread in the weed whacker is no fun at all to change. Send me the weekend, please!

(We found the Aglianico vines, which are on less vigorous root stock and much "thinner" than the Tempranillo vines which are on vigorous stock -- to be much easier to train. Thank goodness!)

(Note from May 15th -- The Tempranillo vines, on a vigorous, drought resistant rootstock, have been growing like crazy -- indeed, shoots that had been accidentally broken off have been replaced, and the gaps in cordons are filling in. Things are coming along well. Alas, the pruning advice we received was right on. And, an important lesson learned: The new shoots are coming in thick and healthy. In the winter, I hesitated to cut off the weaker 1st year cordons -- but now I see that in year 2, they can be replaced with a much stronger cordon, and so I'm cutting them off, in favor of the new growth.

Springtime In The Vineyard

First signs of bud break came a month ago on the thinner vines, which are sending forth shoots with baby grapes attached, framed below by purple lavender in full bloom. The California Lilac has come and gone. The baby bunnies have come and gone. Apricot blossoms have come and gone, but have left behind the beginnings of sweet fruit. The pin cushon proteas are sprouting yellow. Front yard roses are casting off full blooms. The first sharpshooter on a vine adjacent to our neighbor's citrus grove is spotted. With hoe in hand we fight a loosing battle against a hundred thousand foxtails taking shape. Birds make nest in the eves of the house as we wish for a majestic owl to make his home in the special box provided . Bluey rests under a fecund lemon tree. While we sleep under cotton sheets, gophers work through the night constructing a super highway of byzantine tunnels under ground. It's springtime in the vineyard.

San Diego Winery Ordinance Back On Track?

A couple of weeks ago, a small group of Ramona, CA residents opposed to San Diego County's back country becoming another Napa Valley succeeded in throwing up a roadblock by proposing that a full environmental impact statement be completed before the proposal be brought to the County Commissioners for a final yes vote. The vote had been scheduled for the end of March, but with an EIS looming, the vote appeared to be delayed for weeks, if not months and years at significant public expense. This request for the full EIS came very late in the game, and was quite a surprise to supporters who have painstakingly been working with the county government for years to assist in the drafting of a sound measure.

Carolyn Harris of the Ramona Vineyard Association reports the following breaking news:

"Today the San Diego County Planning Commission considered the DPLU's [Department of Land Use] newest recommendation to (1) require an administrative use permit for all boutique wineries to make direct sales, while (2) an environmental impact report is prepared. After an extended discussion and some excellent presentations by RVVA [Ramona Valley Vineyard Association] members, Eric Larson of the San Diego County Farm Bureau, and Carol Fowler of the Ramona Chamber of Commerce, the Planning Commission voted4-3 in favor of rejecting the new recommendations and instead agreeing to forward to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors the same draft of the ordinance that they approved on 7 March 2008.The consensus of the Planning Commission (including Ramona's Bryan Woods, appointed by Supervisor Dianne Jacob) was that none of the opposition's arguments against the 17 Jan 08 revised mitigated negative declaration rose to the level that should trigger an EIR (that the proposed project will have a significant effect on the environment). The Planning Commission appeared unanimous in wanting to do what they could to move the ordinance forward as quickly and safely as possible.The action that was taken today does not insure that we are back on track, or that the major reversal of 20 March has been entirely reversed again. What it does mean is that we have a lot of support for our measure and that the Planning Commission is not afraid to stand up for us. We appreciate their support." -- Carolyn Harris, Ramona Valley Winery Association & Ramona Valley Vineyard Association Secretary and General Counsel.

The proposal makes sense for San Diego for several reasons, including:

1) Promotes the rural character of the county, encouraging agricultural use of the land with a low water usage, drought resistant crop (grapes). This will become particularly important in the future if current weather patterns continue and politics reduce water deliveries to Southern California.

2) It's difficult to make much money as a low volume grape grower in San Diego county. The money is to made (or at least most of the costs covered) by the value-added activity of producing and selling wine.

3) The ordinance would allow small, boutique wineries to legally sell the fruit of their labor (wine)to the general public, without obtaining a major land use permit (which requires much time and expense for a small grower/producer).

4) The ordinance promotes the growing and use of locally grown grapes. (I can attest to that ourselves, when we purchased 100% of our grapes from San Diego in 2007; whereas in past years we have purchased from Riverside County and Mexico).

Friends, free the grapes! Allow the good people of San Diego the benefit of living in a land dotted with boutique wineries. If this ordinance is passed, then it will be possible for you, too, to purchase Bluey's finest wine from the Blue-Merle Vineyard. If you live in San Diego County and have a favorable opinion about this, please let your elected County Official know.

(Picture shown is vineyard planted in April, 2008 in Fallbrook, CA.)

(Editor's note: The San Diego Winery Ordinance was passed the week of April 24th. See our journal entry for April 27th for additional information.)

Air Combat Against the Gophers: Installing The Owl Box

We selected the highest spot on the property, with a view of the vineyard below and snow capped mountains beyond, for "Hoot", the nickname the princess gave to our future pet, the barn owl.

Al Gore and I invented the LCD computer projector (1991).

Al Gore and I invented the earphone-mic for cellular phones (1997).

And now, "Owl" Gore and I have come up with a way to reduce the use of pesticides in the environment, by installing boxes for barn owls in the vineyard (2008).

"Lord, good Lord, send us an owl... Lord, oh Lord, send us an owl..." The gophers have been attacking and taunting us on several fronts, keeping me from seeing the movie "Caddie Shack."

Patrick Burke of Escondido, CA can sell you a pre-fabricated owl house for $49 -- folks, the materials alone would probably cost you that much. Call him at (760) 746-8454.

Gentle readers, you know by now that I have no ability whatsoever as a farmer or as a grower, so you will be pleased to know that for the first time in my life I'm really proud of myself: I was able to figure out a way to put that owl box 16' into the air all by myself, by nailing together two 8' left over end-posts (normally used for the vineyard trellis system). I nailed the box to the top of the pole, and the Princess helped me hoist it into position. Yes, mom, the box is still standing.

We are now waiting for THE OWL. The Princess calls him "Hoot." I may end up calling him Godot. Either way, he is Owl [gore the gophers!].