My guests for this episode are Kelly Allen and Andrew Napier of Artemisia Farm in Virginia. They are hybrid grape growers, and winemakers, aromatized wine makers, makers of wine made with native American fruits besides grapes, writers and publishers, wine faire organizers, farmers who do a regular CSA, foragers, and passionate entrepreneurs.
But more than that they are incredibly thoughtful about everything they do, and they are really enjoyable to talk to, which never hurts.
Now, one important thing that is worth mentioning. Kelly and Andrew use lots of wild fruits and ingredients, as well as some permaculture farmed fruits – so things that are far beyond organic – and they use some other farmed fruits that are farmed organically though not certified. But they don’t farm their hybrid grapes organically. This is an intentional choice they make because they believe it is the more ecological choice in their context. Virginia, for those who aren’t familiar, is a subtropical climate that also has cold winters. Their growing season is hot, sticky, humid, and wet… and the perfect conditions for every grape fungal and insect pest. In these conditions, many people in Virginia are growing vinifera. To do this often takes weekly applications of chemical sprays, as many as 15-25 conventional sprays in a growing season. That is frankly insane and is tantamount to poisoning our environment. But Organic sprays, which are less effective, often need to be applied at least as frequently in Virginia – that is weekly - even when using resistant hybrid grapes, which means a lot of substance buildup and compaction and fossil fuel use. Meanwhile Kelly and Andrew can spray their hybrids once per month and are learning how to manage the vineyard so they can do even less. I’m not saying what’s right or wrong here, I’m saying that if you are trying to grow grapes in the most ecological way in this context, I think an organic label doesn’t give you enough information and there are likely compromises to any path you take. However, Kelly and Andrew and I all agree that growing vinifera in Virginia is not only foolish, it’s irresponsible, and we aren’t afraid to piss some people off by saying that.
This conversation is information rich!
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Sponsors:
https://paicineslearning.org/events/regenerative-winegrowing-workshop/
Steven Thompson - Analemma Wines, Aesthetic Farming
Max Paschall - Vitiforestry & The Lost Forest Gardens of Europe
Laurel Marcus - Climate Adaptation for Vineyards & Fish Friendly Farming
Ryland Engelhart - Kiss The Ground, Regenerative Wine
Mark Shepard - Restoration Agriculture & Growing GrapeVines In Trees
Why Wine Is Important - Special Episode
Paul Dolan - A Conversation About Regenerative Organic Wine
Adam Huss - Centralas Wine, Crenshaw Cru, and the Organic Wine Podcast
RAS Wines - Sparkling Wine from Maine Wild Blueberries
Kelly Mulville - Regenerative Grazing-Based Viticulture at Paicines Ranch
Nicole Dooling & Michael Frey - Dirt & Mariah Vineyards, The World’s First Savory Institute Global Land To Market Verified Regenerative Vineyard
Justine Belle Lambright - Kalche Wine Worker Cooperative Making Hybrid Space Juice
Part 2 - How To Make Clean, Delicious Natural Wine
Anne Biklé & David R. Montgomery - How To Heal Our Soil, Improve Our Wine, and Save Ourselves
How To Make Clean, Delicious Natural Wine
Kendra Knapik - Ellison Estate Vineyard Regenerative Grazing-Based Viticulture & Natural Wine
Tom Plocher - How to Breed Grapevines
Diana Snowden Seysses - Climate Change, Carbon, and Bi-Continental Winemaking
Doug & Andrew Becker - Montpelier Vineyards, Vermont Organic Wine
Eric Shatt - Redbyrd Orchard Cider & Cosmic Connections
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