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July 2016 WINES&VINES 55 GRAPEGROWING A quarter-century ago, vineyard owner Larry Hyde and winemaker Paul Hobbs launched a partnership that inspired them to farm one of the first blocks of Hyde Vineyard Pinot Noir col- laboratively. Hobbs agreed to pay Hyde for the grapes based on expected yield, not how much fruit he harvested. "If the crop looked too big and Paul wanted to drop fruit," Hyde says, "he took the risk." But before the growing season began, Hobbs walked the vineyard in the Carneros district of Napa Valley with Hyde to determine which variet- ies and vineyard blocks he wanted to farm. Ac- cording to Hyde, the agreement gave Hobbs and 40 other winemakers who signed similar con- tracts "leeway to grow exactly what they want." Together, Hyde and Hobbs carved a path to explore the character of the 152-acre vineyard that the Hyde family cleared in 1978 and planted in 1979. "I experiment with climate, soil and farming practices with every vintage," Hyde says. "I learn something new from every producer, every variety, every year." For winemakers like Hobbs, Hyde returned the favor. "I was hungry for knowledge," Hobbs says, "and sitting at Larry's table was the place to be." Lay of the land Hyde and family have replaced nearly half the vineyard since they began. They have culti- vated Cabernet Hill for 30 years and estab- lished the block of Pinot Noir that Hyde and Hobbs farm 25 years ago. With peak summer temperatures 5º to 20º F cooler than other Napa Valley sub-appella- tions, Carneros grapes can lag behind in ripening by seven to 14 days. Fog, afternoon breezes and narrower daily temperature swings lengthen the growing season and favor cool-climate grapes. Two varieties dominate the Carneros dis- trict, which overlaps the Napa-Sonoma county border within sight of San Pablo Bay. Similar percentages of the sub-appellation's vineyards are planted in Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, totaling about 90%. Hyde Vineyards is about two-thirds Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but a cool climate with growing parameters reminis- cent of Burgundy did not discourage Hyde and Hobbs from also growing an assortment of grapes that thrive in warmer regions. With a heat summation of 2,345 degree- days, many growers and viticulturists believed that Carneros was too cool to ripen Cabernet Sauvignon. Hyde planted and Hobbs tended several blocks of a cool-climate clone. "I am surprised that they can ripen Cab in this climate," Glenn McGourty tells Wines & Vines. "However, I do support the notion that on the edge of adaptation, there is brilliance— and occasional unmitigated disasters." Tending the vines The vineyard team's choice of rootstocks and clones helped shape the character of the vineyard. Hyde grafted Cabernet Sauvignon The Hyde-Hobbs Partnership Grower Larry Hyde and vintner Paul Hobbs reflect on a generation of co-farming By Thomas Ulrich KEY POINTS Grapegrower Larry Hyde in the Carneros district of Napa Valley and Sonoma County-based winemaker Paul Hobbs started their collaboration 25 years ago. Hyde gave unusual authority to Hobbs to choose how the blocks of Hyde vineyard from which he would buy the grapes were planted and farmed. In turn Hyde learned much about winemaking from Hobbs that he could apply to his own winemaking ventures. Hobbs joined a half-dozen winemakers working with Hyde in the vineyard in 1991. Today, more than 40 winemakers partner with Hyde. Larry Hyde Paul Hobbs