Yorkville eNews.

May 9, 2005

Veggies in our Vineyard

Left photo - Our Rennie Vineyard Right: Conventional vineyard-

Veggies in our vineyard chemicals for the manicured,

Country Club look

The pictures above were taken the same day a couple weeks ago.

As organic farmers (certified since 1986), each spring we grow a cover crop from a mix of organic seed. Fava beans, Austrian peas, vetch, barley, and oats are all part of a green manure plow-down that provides a habitat for beneficial insects. When it is disked in, it will help maintain a higher level of nutrient, fix lots of nitrogen, and help add organic matter into the soil improving the biological activity.

Since WWII, most vineyards have been farmed using petrochemical industry products including pesticides, synthetic fertilizers and herbicides. An industrial Round-Up is applied under the vine row killing all grasses and weeds. Vineyard owners do this to save labor costs. In our vineyards reducing the competition under the vines has to be done the old fashion way- with a hoe.

Sauvignon Blanc is Back

In our eleven years we had never run out of S.B. before as we always had the next vintage ready when the last bottle of the current one went out of the cellar door. Unfortunately, this year we were delayed in the label approval process as the standards for wording on all products mentioning organic have been changing recently. So, we apologize to our loyal S.B. drinkers for not having a Sauvignon Blanc for the last few months and we proudly introduce our new vintage.