Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/438260
p r a c t i c a l w i n e r y & v i n e ya r d J a n U a r y 2 0 1 5 43 w i n e m a k i n g dar days. Harvest in 2013 was 20 days. "Historically, we are a high Region 2 or low Region 3 climate," says Lachs. "At our elevation, we experience low humid- ity during the growing season." About one-half of the grapes are sold to other wineries, the remainder used for winemaking under the Cedarville Vineyard brand. The vineyard is farmed organically, with strict sustainability motives in mind. By and large the vineyard has been vigorous, which led to review of Lachs' irrigation practices. A neutron probe ser- vice is used to assist in irrigation sched- uling. Because of the drought in California, water availability from a well is limited, and this led Lachs to delay commencing irrigation until July 1. In 2014 he reduced water use by 70%, and the delayed start to irrigation is a significant contributor. Annual rainfall in south El Dorado County is historically about 35 inches, but was only 32, 28 and 23 inches in the last three years. "The property was previously pine and oak forest, and the soils had natu- rally good vigor," says Lachs. "Vigor has diminished over time, which led us to supplementing our soil with compost, manure and cover cropping." As for many California growers I meet, Lachs uses a long irrigation cycle of two to three weeks. I challenged him that this was using his drip-irrigation system as a flood-irrigation system, by adding infrequent irrigation with large volumes. Drip-irrigation systems are designed to allow frequent irrigation of small amounts of water. I encouraged him to investigate irrigating every two to three days with small volumes of water, which would allow better control of vine vigor 2 acres facing east. The landscape has granite outcrops, and the soil is decom- posed granite. The tractor rows are 11 feet wide, and vines are spaced 7 feet apart, although on some of the steepest slopes the spacing is 12 x 8 feet. Varieties planted include Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Syrah, Viognier, and Zinfandel. Two additional acres of Zinfandel and the Grenache were grafted onto the preferred 110R root- stock. No more 110R was available, and the Cabernet Sauvignon and Viognier were grafted onto more vigorous root- stocks 5C and 5BB when planted. The historical annual average of length of harvest to achieve optimum maturity of the five grape varieties is 34 days, harvest in 2014 was 30 calen- C edarville Vineyard in the Sierra Foothills of El Dorado County, northeast of Sacramento, Calif, was introduced to me by Don Neel, PW V editor. The vineyard is owned by University of California Davis enology graduates Jonathan Lachs and Susan Marks, and is making its mark in a region where the reputation is for Zinfandel wines. Lachs and Marks met at Davis and graduated in 1983. They worked in the wine industry in Napa Valley and Central Coast of California through the mid-1980s, before they switched profes- sions to save money to purchase their own vineyard. In 1995 they purchased a 20-acre prop- erty with 5 acres of recently planted Syrah and Zinfandel on their own roots. In 1996 and 1997 they made further plantings, expanding the total vineyard to 13 acres. They commuted each week- end from San Jose, Calif., to the vineyard, moving there in 1999. Lachs and Marks soon realized big changes had occurred in the industry between 1983 and 1993, and many were in viticulture rather than winemaking. After investigating new vineyard developments, and I am pleased to say read my book Sunlight into Wine as one of their key references, they planted variet- ies not common in the Sierra Foothills. They were determined to evaluate a range of trellis systems in their new vine- yard, and Bill Naylor of Naylor Farms in Fair Play, Calif., was hired as vineyard manager and consultant. The vineyard The vineyard site has primarily south- facing exposure (9 acres) at 2,500 feet elevation, among the higher vineyards of the region, 2 acres facing north and Grape-specific trellises in Sierra Foothills vineyard S M A R T V I T I C U L T U R E by Dr. Richard Smart Head-pruned and spur-pruned Zinfandel vine.