Wine & Spirits - Winter 2023 - 35

tall, bushy species look very different to the
ground-hugging cover crop, and comprise
about fifteen to twenty percent of the surface
area of the vineyard. They offer a number
of benefits, including habitat for beneficial
insects, helping to lessen the speed of
water running down the hill, and breaking
up the vinifera monoculture, allowing more
diverse forms of life to prosper in the vineyard,
something that Andrea believes will
enhance the expression of the terroir.
The decision to organize the vine rows
to be " untractorable " is one the Mullineuxs
undertook expressly to protect their soils.
" Our soils are 500 million years old and
they've been weathered for so long, their
structure is very fragile. "
Taking tractors in the rows risks compacting
the soil. Andrea says it takes years to
break it apart again. In the event they need
to spray organic treatments, they'll affix
a " spray cannon " to a tractor and drive it
through the channeling contour rows, or take
backpacks into the rows by foot. All these
choices have created a " literally fluffy " soil
out of the ancient schist that " you can stick
your hand right into, " says Andrea.
It's an exciting time to be a viticulturist in
South Africa-the rediscovery and celebration
of truly-old vine vineyards has ensured
that growers continue to keep their vines in
the ground. The Old Vine Project has become
a nexus of information and training for growers
who are looking to plant vineyards that
will grow to be old, despite increasing climatic
pressure.
NAPA VALLEY
Steve MatthiaSSon haS been working in
the Napa Valley for 21 years, and has seen
the wines change during that time. " If you
taste mainline Napa wines, they're way less
jammy, pruney, or cooked-tasting than they
were ten for fifteen years ago, despite the fact
it's gotten warmer. It's about the viticultural
advancements that have become the norm
here. " The available capital in Napa has
allowed for some pretty slick tech: a smartphone
attachment tracks the heat in the vineyard
via infrared camera; misters installed
along the trellis wires use asmall amount of
water to dissipate heat via evaporation; and
there are shade cloths galore-some of which
stay up from veraison until harvest. Matthiasson
says there are also effective, comparatively
humble adjustments that can make
the difference in the freshness of the grapes.
Minor tweaks to the orientation of the rows
and their spacing can improve the vines' ability
to weather heat events. Matthiasson says,
" Everybody is redesigning their trellises,
period. The biggest growers to the smallest
growers. No one's putting in a VSP (Vertical
Shoot Positioned) trellis anymore. Those
are basically done in our climate in Napa. "
Instead, growers are turning to " cross-arm "
trellising, adding an attachment to the posts
to allow trellises to jut out slightly from the
row. " Now, it's a given that you're going to
have cross arms so the canopy spreads out
and shades the fruit. The question is, 'How
wide are your cross arms,' not 'Are you going
to have them,' " says Matthiasson. " You have
dappled light with the cross arms, " rather
than the excessive shade from old-fashioned
California sprawl, or too little shade from
VSP. " You can manage your light environment, "
he says, working to bring in " lots of
light, not much heat. "
Previously, the vineyards in Napa had
rows oriented north-south, to maximize
sunlight accumulation for photosynthesis.
" We now know that we have more than
ample photosynthesis, and the more relevant
concern is balancing heat load rather
than solar radiation and protecting the fruit
from direct sunlight, " Matthiasson explains.
Because the ambient temperature is lower
in the morning, by planting rows thirtyfive
degrees east of due north, Matthiasson
finds that " during the hottest time of
day in August, the sun is coming straight
down the vine rows so the fruit's protected
underneath the canopy. " The vines have
more shade above and on their west-facing
side, helping to balance their heat load.
He considers August to be the most critical
time to manage the heat since that's when
the grapes are producing their flavor molecules-not
to mention that the darkly pigmented,
post-veraison bunches retain more
heat.
Meanwhile, when I ask him about experimental
varieties in Napa Valley, whether
drought-resistant or heat-tolerant, Matthiasson
is emphatic that those vines are not
coming after cabernet. He has done considerable
research, and is known for some alternative
varieties of his own, but Matthiasson
is confident that cabernet will remain king
in Napa until the end times, like Nero and
his fiddle.
" With the way global warming is now, we
can adapt to it viticulturally and still make
wines that are true to their terroir, " he says,
positing that varieties that have proven to
be the most effective communicators of the
land will continue to be, even as the mercury
rises. " If it ever gets so hot that we can't
manage it through viticulture, then I think
it's probably already going to be like Mad
Max, and there won't be a lot of people buying
Romanée-Conti. " l
Sonoma
Cabernet
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Wine & Spirits - Winter 2023

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