Every so often, you meet a person who gets it. I mean, really gets it! I recently met one of those people, and in this case, the it is organic farming … in short, farming naturally, without the use of chemical herbicides, pesticides or fertilizers. And there are few things I dig more than meeting someone who gets it, as each time we get together, I’m blessed with a surge of new ideas, and a match to my unbridled enthusiasm for something I’m totally committed to in my vineyards. The person in question is Amigo Bob, Bob Cantisano, the Man in Black for organic farming, considered to be the best organic farming consultants around, advising farmers of all kinds of crops on organic, sustainable and even bio-dynamic practices. What does all that mean? To me, it means farming in a way that gives more to the land than we are taking from it. Leaving the soil richer in nutrients with every growing season than it was the year before. Using the natural order of plant, animal and insect life to grow the healthiest, most robust and most flavorful wine grapes that our soil will allow, using the likes of bees, bats, ladybugs, sheep, and manpower. It means shunning the shortcuts of chemicals and respecting the wisdom of nature. It means protecting the health of my family and my neighbors, and those who drink my wine, in the process.I started the process myself, farming organically from day one, without the advice of Amigo Bob, just operating on my own instincts, my then vineyard manager Jim Barbour, and the tremendous wisdom I gathered from the old-time farmers down at the coffee shop and Ag coops around the Valley.After 7 years of doing so, I wanted to take it to the next level, so I called in Amigo Bob. He’s worked with the pioneering organic vintners up here, such as Larry Turley of Turley Wine Cellars and John Williams of Frog’s Leap for decades. But now he’s seeing a groundswell of support for organic farming practices, across the state of California. Most exciting for him is that these practices are being adopted because they make good business sense, as well as good environmental sense.Our first walk about our vineyards was fascinating. Amigo Bob did a soil sample from multiple locations around our 13 acres of planted and native (95-year old) vineyards. His report? More earthworms per sample, across the board, than any place he’s seen in the Valley. What does that mean? Great soil health. Earthworms, which just went up a notch in my book, are now elevated to sainthood in the world of organics. Stay tuned, I’ll write on this topic often.
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