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34 W i n e s & V i n e s M A R C H 2 0 1 4 G R A P E G R O W I N G W illiams Selyem director of winemaking Bob Cabral grew up around grapes, but not in the famed Russian River Valley. It was on his family's ranch in Escalon, located in Cal- ifornia's San Joaquin Valley, where he learned about growing grapes—as well as riding bulls and roping calves. From Escalon, Cabral went on to study at Cal- ifornia State University, Fresno, in the 1980s, receiving a bachelor's degree in enology and a master's degree in agricul- tural chemistry. Escalon and Fresno aren't exactly Pinot Noir country, but Cabral loved that variety nonetheless, and he bought Burgundy and California bottlings (including Williams Selyem) whenever he could afford them. He moved in 1987 to Sonoma County, where he worked at De Loach, Kunde Estate, Alderbrook and Hartford Court. In 1998, Burt Williams—who, along with Ed Selyem, sold the Williams Selyem winery to John Dyson that year—recommended that Cabral be hired to take over as winemaker. Since then, Cabral has overseen the devel- opment of two estate vineyards at Williams Selyem and the building of a new winery. He announced in February that the 2014 harvest will be his last with the winery. Wines & Vines: How has your thinking about vine spacing evolved during your time at Williams Selyem? Bob Cabral: When I started at Williams Selyem in 1998, I inherited quite a few grape contracts that had vineyard blocks with older spacing (8 feet by 12 feet, 8 by 10, 7 by 10, 7 by 12, etc.) Our contracts had a "not to exceed" clause of 3 tons per acre. This was on Burt Williams' recom- mendation, to achieve the concentration that he felt was needed to make our style of wines. This was easily achieved, because most of the sites were older plantings that rarely set more than 1 to 2 tons per acre. The only real complaint I ever heard from a grower was that they were not making much money because of those yields. We chose to plant our first estate vine- yard out on Drake Road on a 5-foot by 7-foot spacing in hopes of getting around that 3 tons per acre. On that site, with deep loamy soils by the Russian River, it has worked out extremely well for us. So I started planting the Williams Selyem Estate on Westside Road at a similar den- sity. While farming this site, I noticed that the vigor was much lower, primarily due to the higher clay content and much less topsoil, so for additional planting, I chose 4 feet by 7 feet to again attempt to achieve that minimum of 3 tons per acre. This seems to have worked out well, because we are seeing extremely high wine quality with economic farming yields. So, in gen- eral, I tend to plant closer spaced vines on marginal sites and look to control vigor on deeper, richer soiled sites. W&V: Some vintners espouse the view that the smaller the crop, the better the quality. You don't think that's necessarily the case. Why? Cabral: I have found over many vintages in Sonoma County that too small of a crop, especially on the Sonoma Coast, can create Pinot Noir wines that lack the finesse or prettiness that I like about this varietal. These wines tend to be extremely concen- trated, tannic and unbalanced. The acids can be much more aggressive, and they can lack the floral or high-toned aromatics that I expect to see in Pinot Noir. I've made some of these types of wines, and they can resemble Syrah more than they do Pinot Winemaker Interview BOB CABRAL Williams Selyem's departing winemaker details his approach to grapegrowing By Laurie Daniel Winemaker Bob Cabral has developed two estate vineyards and overseen the construction of a new winery during his tenure at Williams Selyem in the Russian River.