"I am going to be relatively
worthless for the near future...veraison in the vineyard and the last push of
summer," wrote Elizabeth Standeven last week of the situation in her vineyards, Shaker Ridge Vineyards. Elizabeth is one of my
treasured contacts in the Sierra Foothill grapegrowing community. Elizabeth is as honest, hardworking and
progressive a grapegrower as you will find anywhere, and her dedication to
farming in the Sierra Foothill terroir is heartwarming.
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| The tempranillo will be the first red to ripen at Shaker Ridge Vineyard |
Earlier this year, she did a long
interview that I wanted to post, but time just flew. You know how that goes.
But here it is, a bit belated, but if you ever wanted to gain more appreciation
for what goes into great grapes and therefore great wine, read on....
IN THE WEEDS IN EARLY JUNE 2013:
TIME-CHALLENGE FOR SMALL VINEYARD OWNERS IN El DORADO COUNTY
TIME-CHALLENGE FOR SMALL VINEYARD OWNERS IN El DORADO COUNTY
Elizabeth
Standeven and her husband Andrew grow Barbera, Primitivo and five Portuguese
winegrape varietals on seven acres of vineyard in a prime location at 1500 feet
elevation in El Dorado County. They are like many small farmers:
time-challenged.
“Right
now,” Elizabeth said early in June, “we are literally in the weeds. We just
mowed between the rows a few weeks ago because the rain is usually done at this
time of the year. But with these constant little bits of rain we’ve had, the
weeds are growing again. I’d like to talk more, but I gotta get out and mow
again.”
It
was difficult for Elizabeth to find 15 minutes to update me on the state of her
vineyard, which actually reflects the status of many vineyards nearby in El
Dorado County, California. Elizabeth, however, does take her position as
President of the El Dorado Wine Grape Growers Association seriously, and any
bits of awareness she can garner for El Dorado grapes has moved closer to the
top of her multi-layered priority list.
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| The vineyard in early spring |
“With
this unusual spring weather pattern, our do-list seems almost endless,” she
said. “So many of the tasks must be done in a tight window of time. For
example, we need to thin the shoots for our Barbera; there are ‘way too many
shoots. And we have to do this when the shoots are between one foot
and two foot of growth. That’s right now.”
Other
tasks on her list?
“Well,
we just had bloom, so we must sample for nutrients and see what to add; we have
to adjust things before you get too far into fruit set. We’ve got this ideal weather
now, between 75-80 degrees, and this is ideal not only for bud burst but it is
also perfect for mildew. So if we have vine growth, we have to start spraying
to control the mildew, and whether you use sulfur or oil, this spraying must be
done every 7 to 10 days.”
Then there is the need for labor. Elizabeth and Andrew try to do as much work as possible themselves on their 7 acres. At that size of vineyard, she notes, you can’t make any money unless you do most of the work yourself. “Unless you have a winery as well as a vineyard, it doesn’t pay to hire lots of labor. The truth is that who performs the tasks is very dependent on the size of the vineyard,” she said.
Then there is the need for labor. Elizabeth and Andrew try to do as much work as possible themselves on their 7 acres. At that size of vineyard, she notes, you can’t make any money unless you do most of the work yourself. “Unless you have a winery as well as a vineyard, it doesn’t pay to hire lots of labor. The truth is that who performs the tasks is very dependent on the size of the vineyard,” she said.
This
year, as in past years, with the tight window of time to thin Barbera shoots,
Elizabeth turned to her labor contractor to supply help. Her vineyard, Shaker
Ridge, needed 100 to 120 hours of work to be done in 2 to 3 days time. But this
year, labor was tight. Her contractor turned her down and she was scrambling to
find help. “I don’t know what is more stressful, trying to do the work
yourself, or trying to find help,” she said with exasperation. Finally their
contractor sent some laborers to help finish the job, but Elizabeth and Andrew
had already put in 60 hours between them on a beautiful spring weekend. Their
daughter busied herself with schoolwork.
“This
is one of the perils of being a small farmer. Scale is helpful in that
respect.”
Providing
high quality grapes to wineries in El Dorado County and elsewhere has been the
role of small winegrape growers, and that isn’t changing very fast. New farmers
come into the Sierra Foothills every year to grow winegrapes, largely because
they want to get out of the corporate rat race and to be close to the land.
Over half of the 70 members of the El Dorado Wine Grape Growers Association
farm fewer than 10 acres.
“We
have a lot of small vineyards here largely because of the mountain topography,”
Elizabeth said. “There are some vineyards of more than 100 acres, but we don’t
have any thousand-acre vineyards. In the middle-range vineyards, between 10 and
100 acres, some vineyard owners have extended families or grown kids who help
them do the work.”
In
the more remote areas of El Dorado County where so many small vineyards are
located, labor will continue to be a concern. “In the Apple Hill area, where
there are a dozen vineyards within a mile of each other, or in the Fair Play
AVA, it’s possible to pool labor efficiently with the labor contractors. But so
many of our members are all by themselves, farming a few acres in challenging
terrain,” Elizabeth noted.
It
is worth the effort. The grapes that these small farmers grow have intense
flavor, gorgeous color, and are used to produce the delicious wines that are
garnering Sierra Foothill wines more and more awards and recognition. The buzz
in the wine business is palpable.
As
to Shaker Ridge Vineyard, located up mountain in the little town of El Dorado,
population about 4500, Elizabeth and Andrew are now in their 11thleaf.
They bought vacant land, prepped it, and planted their vines in 2002. Now in
their mid-forties, the former molecular anthropologist and her husband the
toxicologist have no regrets. Will their elementary school daughter see farming
as a career too?
“She is starting to see the light,”
said Elizabeth.
