ZinQuest Saga Continues: New Ridge Vineyards' Zin Celebrates Three Heritage Clones Connecting Croatia and California

Pribidrag 43.1 planted for the first time commercially in the U.S. (Ridge Vineyards photo)

Source: Seven Fifty Daily

For decades, the origin of Zinfandel, the black-skinned grape that produces full-bodied, jammy red wines and several styles of rosé, was a mystery. Now painstaking work by wine researchers in Croatia and the United States have culminated in a landmark cuvée, to be released later this year, from grapes grown at Ridge Vineyards’ Lytton Springs property in Sonoma, California. For the past five years, Ridge has successfully grown an acre of Crljenak Kaštelanski, and an acre each of two other Pribidrag cuttings (“Pribidrag” is local variant name.). These three clones, discovered in Croatia’s Dalmatia region, were the key to pinpointing Zinfandel’s ancestral home.

• Read more at Seven Fifty Daily

• Related article from Ridge Vineyards web site

Crljenak Kasteljanski clones planed at Lytton Springs
on July 18th, 2015

Pulling into the Future with Solar Electric Tractors at Ecofarm

Source: Ecofarm Press Release

Many farmers agree that the time has come to power their operations with renewable energy. Long- time farm equipment innovator Steve Heckeroth shared his successes and plans with an eager audience at the 38th EcoFarm Conference, January 24 to 27, 2018, in Pacific Grove, California.

[Link to slides from Heckeroth's presentation is here.]

Solar electric tractors are a good idea for many reasons. Electric motors are very efficient. Their maintenance is simpler than for diesel or gasoline engines. An electric motor drive train requires no clutch or transmission, so there are two less mechanical components to malfunction, wear out, or require maintenance.

Electric vehicles are quiet. They start and stop with the flip of a switch. The tractors are powerful for their size – operating at very high torque at low RPMs, gaining traction easily on hills, and pulling heavy loads.

However, it has been difficult to get electric tractors into commercial production because oil, diesel and gasoline prices fluctuate wildly. When the price of oil is low, it’s hard for farmers to justify the cost of a new, unproved style of tractor. Because oil production is subsidized, its social and environmental costs are not factored into its price. When oil is cheap, farmers are less likely to trade in their petroleum-fueled tractors and equipment.

The first Earth Day in 1970 got architect Steve Heckeroth interested in finding the best ways to cut out fossil fuels. When he learned that transportation vehicles use four times more energy than housing, and that they cause ten times more air pollution, Heckeroth switched gears. He started building electric vehicles, and has been continually tinkering with and improving his designs.
Over the years he converted and built electric golf carts, VW vans, Karmann Ghias, a VW Rabbit, a Porsche Spyder, a RAV4, and others. And he has designed many prototypes and models of electric tractors for himself, for American manufacturers and agricultural colleges, and for companies in Holland, Japan, Brazil, and India.

In Northern California’s Mendocino County, where Heckeroth lives and works, many of his neighbors share his enthusiasm for reducing their use of fossil fuel. Most local farms are small and medium- sized, located away from the cool foggy coast, in zones where summer sunshine is abundant. Such farms can be ideal for tractors that recharge from a solar roof on a central barn.
This inventive builder has also patented thin-film photovoltaic “peel and stick” solar panels to power his tractors and other vehicles. In addition, he holds the patent for quick-change battery packs that make it easier to extend the tractors’ daily work hours.

Recently Steve Heckeroth’s Solectrac Company received a substantial research and development grant from the Small Business Administration’s Innovative Research Program, with the possibility of additional levels of follow-up funding. He comments that this grant “will finally allow me to take the tractor into commercial production.”

Heckeroth presented his ideas and designs at EcoFarm Conference on Thursday, January 25 at 10:30 a.m. The workshop was entitled “Electric Tractors and Equipment: The Age of Adaptive Agriculture.”

Contact for Steve Heckeroth, Solectrac
30151 Navarro Ridge Rd. Albion, CA 95410 707-456-9571

Predictions: Loire Regional Director says organic becoming prerequisite, Bertrand sees growing green trend

Nicolas Emereau, director, Alliance Loire

Source: The Drinks Business

The Drinks Business, a UK beverage magazine, asked French wine leaders about their predictions for 2019

Nicolas Emereau, director, Alliance Loire: “People are concerned about wine’s environmental impact, and also additives. Organic, Fairtrade and responsible farming trends will increase; not as an end in itself but as a prerequisite. In 2019, we should rediscover the wines from the cool French regions: Burgundy, Alsace, and Loire Valley have their role to play.

“The main thing, in my mind, will be the reds. With the 2018 vintage, we could change the ideas that many people have about reds from northern regions.”

Gerard Bertrand

“Organic wines, rosé wines, and the rediscovery of old varieties may be the main trends for 2019. Consumers are more aware that going green is essential to preserve our planet. As a pioneer in biodynamic farming in France, this is something we have believed in for many years.

“That said, making world-class rosé is an extension of our savoir faire. The category can definitively be sustained. We also believe that white varieties have great potential in the market. This year, we’ll extend our Côte des Roses range with a Chardonnay expression and a new bottle design.”

Australia's wine exports grow, organic leader eyes China, North America and Europe

 Bob Franchitto, Managing director for Salena Estate, Bob Franchitto,
 is concerned about wine grape prices for the upcoming 2019 vintage.

Source: ABC


Editor's Note: Australia's largest organic producer Salena Estate Wines, which makes 150,000 cases of organically grown wines annually, is focusing on exports to China, North America and Europe

The world can barely get enough of Australian wine with 94 million cases of Aussie wine sold around the world last year.

That is an increase of 5 per cent in volume, but consumers are paying more for it with the value of exports up 10 per cent to $2.8 billion.

Red wine, in particular, has continued its red-hot growth now making up 76 per cent of Australia's wine exports.

Wine Australia's chief executive officer, Andreas Clark, said there was increased understanding and awareness around the premium Australian wine product that was going to all major markets around the world.

"We're seeing that in the $10 FOB (free on board) per litre and above category, which is achieving record volume and value, that segment has now overtaken what has historically been the highest segment, which was around $2.50 to $5 per litre," Mr Clark said

"So it's a really strong premium story that is getting traction in our major markets and it's where we need to play in the longer term.

"An interesting figure, which always brings it into a bit of perspective, is that 22 million glasses of Australian wine is consumed by our global customers every day."

China has been the engine room for much of the growth in Australian wine's value in recent years.

"We're in a really strong position in China, in terms of the continuing trade's appreciation for what Australian wine has to offer across all our price points, so we have a really solid platform of what we're taking to market there," Mr Clark said.

There has been growth in most major markets including the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, and Singapore, but the United States continued to decline slightly.

The value of Australian wine exports increased by 10 per cent.

"We're starting to see some signs of recovery [in the US], we all get a little bit impatient and would like it to move a bit quicker. But the last quarter in the US we were up 1 per cent. Still, on a yearly basis, the overall decline was 5 per cent but that last quarter gives some cause for future optimism."

However, despite a price increase for premium wines on export markets, Bob Franchitto, managing director of Salena Estate in Loxton, said they had not seen a huge increase in value for their wines on export markets.

"The prices have gone up a little bit but I don't think we've gone up 10 per cent," Mr Franchitto said.

"A little bit of that depends on what happens with the world market as well, so it's a combination of everything.

"At the moment, Australia is doing very well in China and Asia but other markets have been a bit short on supply in the last couple of years … after the 2018 vintage they had a bigger crop, and things might be coming into balance a bit … it might put a bit more pressure now on prices not being able to increase too much."

Mr Franchitto said their major focus was now set on exporting their organic wines to China, North America, and Europe.

However, he said he was concerned about the recent wine grape price release to the industry in the Riverland for the upcoming 2019 vintage.

"We are probably seeing an increase of 20 to 25 per cent on last year … it's perhaps a bigger increase than what the market can absorb long term, or the Australian industry can absorb in a medium, long-term future … it's a pretty big jump all of a sudden," he said.

"I think it's going to be much tighter margins for us producers, exporters and wineries because there is no way that we can increase our pricing by 20 per cent and hence to remain competitive."

Wine continues to flow into the United Kingdom

Australia's largest wine market by volume is the United Kingdom, which is why exporters were keen to see trade continue without interruption when the UK leaves the EU.

Read more

France: The 2019 Organic Wine Show attracted 10% more visitors

Source: Montpellier (Hérault)
Translation by Google

Taking place from 28 to 30 January 2019 at Expo Expo in Montpellier by Sudvinbio, the Organic Wine Salon received 6,200 visitors, an additional 10% last year.

The French professionals were in the majority (78%), the foreign participants being 22%. They were welcomed by 1,200 exhibitors, 72% of whom were French. Italy and Spain were also well represented.

Among the products presented and from 22 different countries, beer and spirits made their first appearance in this show. According to foreign exhibitors (Australia, China, Switzerland ...), the attraction of organic wine is a worldwide phenomenon and is observed especially in the USA and in Asia.

Sheep Evangelists Aren't Sheepish: See the Latest Video from Tablas Creek

Last week at Ecofarm, it was great to hear Nathan from Tablas Creek and Kelly Mulville from Paiscines Ranch speak about their experience with sheep in vineyard settings - year round.

While many wineries use a "rent a sheep" service for sheep grazing before bud break, a few pioneers have figured out how to use sheep to graze year round.

At Tablas Creek, sheep also graze non vineyard areas munching on brush that would otherwise be potential forest fire fuel. But sheep do more aside from the obvious "tillage" and fertilization, they also affect vine root structure, as you'll hear in this video.

  Tablas Creek Sheep Program from Shepherd's Films on Vimeo.

I'll be writing more about the Ecofarm session on OrganicWineInsider.com.

Hartman Group: Modern Beverage Culture in Ameria

The Hartman Group's Modern Beverage Culture in America highlights the growth of beverage sales in the U.S., showing that Millenials are the group most likely to drink beverages and most intereested in trying new beverages.

More info here.