VITICULTURE IS…

WHAT IS VITICULTURE- The Science, Study and Cultivation/ Harvesting of Grapes.  Viticulture is a Subdivision of Horticulture.

“Viticulture is Grape Growing Viniculture is Wine Making.”

GRAPE GROWERS & WINE MAKERS

VITICULTURIST/ VINTER/ WINEMAKER- Person Who’s In Charge of Making the Wine, Generally Employed by Winery or Wine Company.

VIGNERON- Person Who Owns Their Own Vineyard, Grow Their Own Grapes and Produces Wine From the Grape They Grew.

TYPES Of WINE PRODUCERS

RECOLTANT/ (Harvester “Grower”)-  Grower Who Produces Grapes For Purpose of Selling to Negociant.

RECOLTANT-MANIPULANT RM./ (Harvester “Grower”-Producer)- Producer Who Grows Grape For His Own Production as Well as Sell Surplus to Other. (95% of Grape Must Be Personally Grown/ Produced to Be Labeled RM.)

RECOLTANT-CO-OPERATUER/ (Harvester “Grower”–Co-Operative)- Grows Grapes For Local CO-OP. Who Makes the Wine and Gives Portion of Bottles Back to Grower Who Markets and Sells Under His Own Label.

NEGOCIANT/ (Trader “Merchant”)– Wine Maker That Produces, Bottles and Markets Wine Using Grapes Purchased From Other Growers.

NEGOCIANT-MANIPULANT NM./ (Trader “Merchant”-Producer)– Wine Maker That Grows and Purchase Grapes For Production and Marketing On Wine by Their Company.

CO-OPERATUER-MANIPULANT CM./ (Co-Operative-Producer)

  • Owned Jointly by Group of Growers and Producers That Pool Grapes and Resources to Make and Sell Wine Under One or More Brands of Its Own.
  • Association of Small Grower Who Work Together to Combine Grapes and Resources.
  • Most Co.-Ops. Are Skilled Not Just at Viticulture and Viniculture But Are Marketing Savvy.
  • History- Many Co-Ops Organized In Europe After the Depression of the 1930’s.
  • FAMOUS CO.-OPS. Of The WORLD
  • FRANCE
    • Cave de Tain-  Crozes-Hermitage, France
      • (*1933, 300 Members/ Growers, 1,000 ha.)
    • Sainte Bel- Coteaux du Lyonnais
  • ITALY
    • Cantina  Bozano- Alto Adige, Italy
    • Cantina Caldaro- Alto Adige, Italy
    • Cantina Valle Isarco-(53 Members)- Alto Adige, Italy
    • Cantina Toblino-  Trentino, Italy
    • Cantina Viticoltori del Trentino…Cavit-   Trento, Italy
      • (*1950, 5,250 Growers/Members)
    • Produttori dei Barbaresco-  Piemonte, Italy
  • SPAIN/PORTUGAL
    • Adega de Moncoa– Vinho Verde, Portugal (*1958, 25 Members/Growers)
    • Vina Vilano- Ribera del Duero, Spain (*1957)
  • OTHERS
    • Domaine Wachau-  Wachau, Austria

SOCIETE De RECOLTANTS SR./ (Society of Harvesters “Grower”)- Similar to a Cooperative de Manipulation But All the Growers Belong to the Same Family.

MARQUE d’ACHETEUR MA./ (Buyer Mark)- Someone Who Producers a Product For Someone Else.  For a Supermarket Chain or For a Celebrity.

FLYING WINE MAKER- Wine Maker Who Works With “Clients” Often In Different Counties and Hemispheres. They Provided Viticulture Advice, Winemaking Tips and Information and In Many Cases Makes the Wine.

WINE CONSULTANT- Someone Who Advises Wine Buyers On Their Wine Passion.  Provides Assistance On What to Buy, Where to Buy it and at What Price.  Wine Consultants Will Actually Go Out and Purchase the Wine For Their Clients and Deliver it to the Clients Cellar.  They Act a Connection Between Venders and Their Clients, Vetting Stock Prior to Purchasing.

GARAGIST/ Garagistes– Someone Who Produces Wine In Their Garage by Hand, On a Small Scale.

  • History- Some Dedicated Winemakers Who Worked For Predominant Chateau In Bordeaux Wanted to Make “New World Wine” On “Their Own Time” For Personal Reasons or to a Make Statement About the State of Modern Winemaking. These Renegade Small Producers Made Wine In Their Garages. Wines That Would Otherwise Get Them Thrown In Jail or Stricken With a “Table Wine” Label Because of the AOC. Laws. After Robert Parker Rated Some “Right Bank” Garage Wines Higher Than Some First Growths In 1995 Prices Sky-rocked. Now Garage Wine is a Way For Winemakers to Make a Wine For Themselves, or Make a Statement On a Smaller Crafted Stage.
    • Festival- Paso Robles Garage Festival Since 2011(Under 100 Case)
  • WINE & PHILOSOPHY?–“CONTENTIOUS WINE ISSUE!” “I Produce Wine In My Garage Therefor I’m a Garagist!”
    • YES…“I’m a Small Producer Who Only Has a Garage to Produce Wine In, So Both of These Things Make Me a Garagist.”
    • NO…“The Essence of Being a Garagist is That You Are Going In a Counter-Culture Movement.  You Work For a Big Producer But Don’t Agree With What They Are Doing or Like the Wines They Are Producing. You Make Wine In Your Garage Because You Need to Produce it In Secret Behind Your Employers Back.”
  • WINE & PHILOSOPHY? “Does/ Should a Wine Maker Need to Communicate with a Grape Grower In Order to Produce the Correct Style and Best Wine Possible?”
    • “From Pruning to Canopy Management There are Weekly/ Monthly Decisions That Must Be Addressed by Both Sides In Order Coincide With the Wine Makers Style of Wine They Have In Mind to Produce.”

“The Goal of Many Modern Vintners is to Produce a Wine That Tastes Unique to the Terroir of the Vineyard it Was Grown In.”

NEW CALIFORNIA WINE MAKER- The Term Coined by Jon Bonne Who Wrote the Book of the Same Title In 2013.  The Term and Book Brings to Light This New Generation of Winemakers Producing Wines In California.   These New Winemakers Are Generally Without Vineyards But Are Younger, Bright, Adventurous, Energetic, Innovative, With and Entrepreneurial Spirit.   They Produce Wines With Conscious of the Environment and Industry They Have Entered Into.  Generally There Focus is Based On Expressing the Unique Terroir of California Through Organic, Sustainability, and Bio-Dynamics Grape Growing.

ON WINERY TEAM

GRAPE GROWER-

WINE MAKER-

LAB WORKER-

HARVESTER-

HARVEST INTERN-

CELLAR RAT-

ON BUSINESS SIDE

WINE IMPORTER- Someone Who Brings In or Imports Wine Into USA.

WINE WHOLESALER/ DISTRIBUTOR- Someone Who Buy Wine From Importer and Distributes the Wine Regionally

WINE RETAILS- Someone Who Buys Wine From a Wholesaler/ Distributor and Sell the Wine Locally.

  • PIONEERS~ ~Kermit Lynch~ Importer, Winemaker, Author…From San Luis Obispo, But Opened Successful Importing Business Focussing On Wines From France and Italy.

NUMBER OF HANDS  In the Wine Producing World…By the Time the Wine Touches Your Lips There Are Hundreds of Hands That All Play an Important Role From Grape Production to the Finished Wine Product.

  • Person Who Buys the Vineyard.
  • Person Who Studies the Soils.
  • Person(Team) Who Plants the Vineyard.
  • Person(Team) Who Prunes the Vineyard.
  • Person(Team) Who Harvests the Grapes.
  • Person Who Sorts the Grapes.
  • Person Who Presses the Grapes.
  • Person(Team) Who Made the Barrels.
  • Person Who Inoculates the Wine.
  • Person(Team) Who Makes the Wine Bottle.
  • Person Who Designed  the Wine Label.
  • Person Who Makes the Cork.
  • Person Who Bottles the Wine.
  • Person Who Boxes the Wine and Puts It On Trucks.
  • Person Who Trucks It to the Port.
  • Person(Team) Who Ships the Wine Across the Ocean.
  • Person Who Get the Wine to the Disturbers Warehouse.
  • Person(Team) Who Wholesalers the Wine.
  • Person(Team) Who Retails the Wine.
  • Sommelier Who Promotes the Wine.

When This Process of Growing, Producing, Selling is Complete It’s a Minor Miracle That a Bottle of Wine Form a Hill In the Chianti Wine Region Outside the City of Florence In Italy Can Be Sold at a Retails Establishment In the City of Your Choice For $15.

“Sometimes It’s Less About What’s Inside the Bottle and More About Taking the Time to Stop and Contemplate the Time Period the Wine Was Produced or the Number of Hands That Touched it During Its Life.”

VITICULTURE PHILOSOPHY

  • Your/ The Grape Growers Personal Philosophy or Mission Statement On How You Think or Believe Your Grapes Should Be Grown.
    • ~Example~ Organic, Biodynamic
    • ~Derek’s Viticulture Philosophy~

ESTATE WINE/ BOTTLED- Wine Produced From Grapes Grown by the Winery’s Own Vineyards (Vineyard & Winery Must Be In Geographical Area Specified On Label.)
**I Believe Estate Vineyards Must Be Attached to Winery(Contiguous Estate) But Wine Industry Considers Estate Wine as Vineyard Owned by a Winery and That Controls the Farming Within Boundaries of AVA.

VINEYARD DESIGNATED- Label Designation That States Grapes From a Specific Vineyard Named On the Label in 95%+ of What’s In Bottle.

  • WINE & PHILOSOPHY?–“CONTENTIOUS WINE ISSUE!” “Wineries Can and Should Produce Wine With Grapes Sourced Outside Their AVA., DOC., AOC.!”
    • “Some Predominate Wineries Purchase Grape to Produce Wine From Vineyards Outside Their Wineries AVA.. As the Wine World Becomes Increasingly Aware There’s a Negative Connotation of Purchased Grapes. The Underlining Perception is That These Wineries Purchasing the Grapes Have Little Control Over the Viticulture Procedures and Quality of the Grapes Being Brought In. Some Wineries Do Have Some Prolonged Relationships With Grape Farmers and Have Been Buying the Same Grapes From the Same Vineyards for Multiple Years and Even Decades.”
  • WINE & PHILOSOPHY?  “Do You Want to Drink a Wine Produced In Napa From Grapes Sourced In Monterey? Do You Mind if Your Napa Cabernet Sauvignon has 15% of Its Grapes From Lodi?”
    • “If Visiting Sonoma to Taste and Discover What They’re Doing With Their Grapes and Wine Culture I Don’t Want to Try Their Napa Cabernet Sauvignon That They Are Producing From Sources Fruit. As Good as Their Outside Wine Can Be In Looking to Demystify Sonoma.”

ATTENTIVE/ VIGILANT VITICULTURE MANAGEMENT

  • ~Master Vigneron Academy~ MVA.- Professional Workforce Development Program Designed Specifically For Experienced Vineyard Supervisors and Foreman. Designed to Provide an In-Depth Understanding About the Supervisor’s Role and Responsibilities In Implementing Quality Wine growing Practices and Improving Farm Workers Productivity. This Program is Exclusively Taught In Lake County, California.

“Excellent Wine Comes From Regions With Great Terroir and Vineyards Farmed Well And From Producers Who Don’t Do Much to the Wine.”

PERFECT VINTAGE CONDITIONS FOR GRAPES

  • Early  Flowering and Fruit-Set
    • During Weather That is Dry and Warm to Ensure Pollination and Predispose to Even Ripening.
  • No Major Weather Events
    • No Frost or Hail Events During Spring or Fall.
    • No Heat Spikes During Summer Months, Dry and Medium-Warm Weather During Harvest.
    • Hot Days/Cool Nights
  • No Water Issues
    • Abundant Spring Rainfall
    • Moderate Rains at Beneficial Times. Slow Onset of Hydric Stress In Order to Slow Down and Then Put a Definitive Stop to Vine Growth During Veaison.
  • No Pests
  • No Disease Pressure
  • Long Growing Season
    • Full Ripening of Grapes
  • Consistency

VITICULTURAL DECISION THAT EFFECT THE FINISHED WINE

  • Dry Farming
  • Pruning

“Excellent Grapes Are a Regional Agricultural Product.”

MONO vs. POLY-CULTURAL ECOSYSTEM

  • Poly-Culture-Agriculture- Cultivation of Multiple Crops In Same Space.
    • Everything In Life and the Vineyard/ Farm Needs to Be In Balance and That’s Achieved Through Diversity.
  • Mono-Culture-Agriculture- Cultivation of a Single Crop.
  • Ecosystem Management-
    • More Species the Better   |   Planting Decisions
    • Multiple Insect Habitats   |   Use Sheep to Control Weeds
    • Pest Management- “Sustainable Approach to Weeds, Insects, Disease.”
  • PERMACULTURE– A Way of Looking at or Seeing Agriculture as a Process or a Designed System Based In a Self Sustaining and Self Sufficient. There’s No One Agricultural Permaculture, They All Have Different Context and Different Scenarios.

WINE MONOCULTURE– Agricultural Practice of Growing One Single Grape Throughout a Region.

  • MONOCULTURES Of The WINE WORLD
    • REGION– Barolo/ Barbaresco, Italy   |   GRAPE– Nebbiolo
    • REGION– Burgundy, France   |   GRAPE– Chardonnay
    • REGION– Burgundy, France   |   GRAPE– Pinot Noir
    • REGION– Beaujolais, France   |   GRAPE– Gamay
    • REGION– Chablis, France   |   GRAPE– Chardonnay
    • REGION– Champagne, France   |   GRAPE– Pinot Noir, Chardonnay
    • REGION– Napa, California   |   GRAPE-Cabernet Sauvignon
    • REGION– Marlborough, New Zealand   |   GRAPE-Sauvignon Blanc
    • REGION– Willamette, Oregon   |   GRAPE– Pinot Noir
    • REGION- Rias Baixas, Spain   |   GRAPE– Albarino
  • **These Monocultures Are General and Not Always 100% of a Certain Grape Variety.
  • WINE & PHILOSOPHY?  “Can/ Should a 400 Acre Vineyard Be Entirely Planted to One Grape?”
    • “Many Vineyards In France In Particular Are Planted to the Same Grape.  I Feel There Should Be at Least a Few Rows Planted to Something Else.  How Can We Find Out What Else Will Thrive In That Same Terroir if We Don’t Experiment.”

WORLD WINE COLLABORATIONS

Opus One   Collaboration Between: Baron Philippe Rothschild & Robert Mondavi

CELEBRITY WINERY OWNER

  1. Celebrity Who Owns an Estate Winery and Actually Makes Wine.
  2. Celebrity Who Owns a Winery and Someone Else Makes the Wine.
  3. Celebrity Who Doesn’t Own a Winery and Doesn’t Make the Wine But Uses Their Image and Likeness to Sell the Wine. (I Don’t List Any of These Celebrities Here…Snoop Dog.)

ACTORS/ ACTRESSES

  • Aykroyd, Dan  “Dan Aykroyd Wines” Niagara Peninsula, Canada
  • Barrymore, Drew   “Carmel Road”, Monterey, California
  • Coppola, Francis Ford   “Rubicon/ Coppola”, Napa Valley/ Alexander Valley, California
  • Depardieu, Gerard   “De Tigne”, Loire Valley, France
  • Estevez, Emilio   “Casa Dumetz”, Santa Ynez, California
  • Fieri, Guy   “Hunt & Ryde”, Sonoma, California 
  • Lucas, George   “Skywalker”, Marin County, California 
  • MacLachlan, Kyle  “Pursued by Bear”, Washington
  • Neil, Vince   “Two Paddocks”, Central Otago, New Zealand
  • Parker, Fess   “Fess Parker”, Santa Ynez, California
  • Pit, Brand & Jolie, Angela  “Chateau Miraval”, Cotes de Provence, France

ATHLETES

  • Andretti, Mario  “Andretti Wines” Napa Valley, California
  • Bledsoe, Drew  “Double Back”  Walla Walla, Washington
  • Els, Ernie  “Ernie Els Wine”  Stellenbosch, South Africa
  • Gretzky, Wayne  “Wayne Gretzky Estates” Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario
  • Ming, Yao   “Yao Family” Napa Valley, California
  • Nantz, Jim   “The Calling”, Sonoma, California 
  • Norman, Greg   “Greg Norman Estate”, Australia, New Zealand 
  • Woodson, Charles “Intercept” Napa Valley California

MUSIC

  • Matthews, Dave  “Dreaming Tree”, Blenheim Vineyards, Charlottesville, Virginia
  • Maynard Keena (Tool)  “Caduceus”, Verde Valley, Arizona
  • Sting  “Il Palagio”, Tuscany, Italy
  • Train   “Save Me, San Francisco”, Livermore, California

**Refer to “BIBLIOGRAPHY/ Sources” For Details On Scholarly Works Referenced.