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W i n e s & V i n e s s e P T e M B e R 2 0 1 4 31 Faces& Forums Lorenzo Della Brea of Antinori California and Daniel Robledo of Crop Production Services. Organic Growing in Napa Valley Grapegrowers discuss vineyard experiences R utherford, Calif.—One-hundred-fifty growers, winemakers and viticultur- ists gathered at Inglenook winery on the morning of July 29 for a sold-out con- ference about organic wine grape growing sponsored by the Napa Valley Grapegrowers. Brise Tencer of the Organic Farming Research Foundation spoke about policy issues related to organic farming, and Dr. Julie Jedlicka from the University of California, Berkeley, discussed the benefits of increased animal diversity in vineyards with assistance from Tres Sabores owner and winemaker Julie Johnson. In addition to being certified organic, the home vineyard at Tres Sabores is also dry farmed, a popular topic during the conference. Attendees who chose to join the dry-farming track were shuttled to Rossi Ranch and White Barn. Frog's Leap owner John Williams said, "When we took over (White Barn), it was 40 years old, but the crop was uneven, ripening was delayed and we had rot. We thought we'd have to replant it. But after converting to dry farming…it became much healthier." Other speakers included Tod Mostero of Dominus Estate and Stu Smith of Smith- Madrone Vineyards & Winery. Smith said he irrigates new vines for a few years before converting to 100% dry farming. "We get smaller berries and a better skin-to-juice ratio" with dry farming, he said. Luke Jeramaz attends the conference with his father, Ivo Jeramaz of Grgich-Hills. Alan Viader (left) of Viader Vineyards talks with winemaker Dawnine Dyer of Dyer Vineyard. Hailey Trefethen of Trefethen Family Vineyards visits with Rory Williams of Calder Wine Co. N E W S M A K E R S Grower Kerry Bearg meets Daniel Budman, a student and intern at Robert Mondavi. Julie Williams of Tres Sabores prepares to present with Dr. Julie Jedlicka of UC Berkley. ALL PHOTOS: PAUL FRANSON