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GRAPE GRO WING Grapegrower Interview MARK PISONI Third-generation farmer talks canopy, fungicide and erosion By Laurie Daniel s the son of maverick vintner Gary Pisoni, viticultur- ist Mark Pisoni grew up around wine. Farming is also in his blood: His grandfather, the late Eddie Pisoni, established a vegetable farm in California's Salinas Valley in 1946, a farm that the family still operates. In 1979, the family bought land for cattle at the southern end of the area that was to become the Santa Lucia Highlands ap- pellation. Gary Pisoni eventually planted vines there and founded Pisoni Vineyards. Mark Pisoni has managed Pisoni Vineyards for about 10 years. He also manages two other Santa Lucia Highlands A vineyards, Garys' and Soberanes, in conjunction with Gary Franscioni of Roar Winery, the family's partner in those vine- yards. Grapes from the three vineyards are sold to a number of high-end California wineries including Siduri, Testarossa, Patz & Hall and Kosta Browne. Mark also manages the family vegetable farm, which grows crops such as lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli and asparagus. Mark Pisoni earned his bachelor's degree in agricultural eco- nomics from the University of California, Davis, in 1999 and his master's in farm business management from Cornell University in 2001. Wines & Vines: How do your canopy-management practices differ from vineyard to vineyard, and how have they changed over the years? Mark Pisoni: Our canopy management practices vary from year to year and also from vineyard to vineyard. All our canopy work is done by hand, and our goal is to touch each vine every two weeks. We are lucky, for we have had the same vineyard team for the past 15 years, and they know the vines very well. We invest a great deal of hand labor into our vineyards, and it is expensive and time-consuming. We farm three locations: Garys' Vineyard, Soberanes Vineyard and Pisoni Vineyards. These sites progressively move from north to south in the Santa Lucia Highlands, and each requires unique training. All our vines are cordon-pruned with vertical shoot positioning. Overall, we want moderate exposure and sufficient airflow to reduce disease pressure. Over the past couple of years, there has definitely been a trend away from the full stripping of the fruiting zone to more dappled light. This is a trend I embrace. One of the virtues of California is its sunshine, and as a grower my goal is to balance that for perfect ripeness. The Garys' Vineyard and the Soberanes Vineyard are both about 400-500 feet in elevation and lie under the fog almost every morning. While it's great for low temperatures and slow, even rip- ening, this constant marine moisture also encourages botrytis and mildew. The sun is less intense there, so we remove leaves more 36 Wines & Vines DeCeMBeR 201 1