Girl With Two Old Goats

The Casa remains committed to sustainable agriculture. Compost, cover crops, and hand labor are replacing chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. We are learning to farm the way our forebears did, before agricultural practices were trans formed by the post-war surplus of nitrates and the rapidly increasing stockpiles of petrochemical byproducts.

Pictured above is the latest in biological control of leaf hoppers, the vector which carries the deadly Pierce's disease into the vineyard. Nubi, the goat (on four legs) above, has joined our company to devour the vinca, an introduced ground cover which has taken over the riparian corridor and which is prime habitat for the leaf hoppers. Nubi isn't really very fond of vinca. "It's tough and bitter," she says, "but it beats eating license plates and tin cans!" 

Riesling to Cabernet

It is possible to convert a mature grapevine from one variety to another. The technique, called "T" budding, is not as improbable as it sounds at first, considering that only a small fraction of the living vine is visible on the surface. The true life of the vine is in the root structure below the surface. In the case of our Johannisburg Riesling vineyard, the roots are the native american vine, St. George. To make the transformation, a "T" incision is made in the trunk of the vine. If the timing is right, the bark will "slip," permitting a bud cut from another variety to be inserted and taped into the cambium layer of the vine. The top of the vine is then cut off with a chain saw. Great delicacy is required in making the incisions and fitting the bud to the slot. With a great deal of skill and a little bit of luck, a new vine will grow from the grafted bud. Pictured above is Salvador Preciado making the grafts which will convert our JR vineyard into a Cabernet vineyard. Salvador is highly regarded for his skill in "T" budding. In fact, he and his crew have been recruited to do their work in the vineyards of Germany, France, and Italy.

JR Farewell

It is always a sad thing when market pressures force the retirement of a great wine. We made Johannisberg Riesling in 1989, 1995, and 1996, and every vintage was outstanding. In the intervening years, we sold the fruit to Stags Leap Wine Cellars, which continued to make great vintages. The vineyard site is probably the best ground belonging to Casa Nuestra. Despite the unsurpassed quality of the wine, we have never successfully found the market. So great is the ignorance surrounding this noble grape that in the sales room it is difficult to cajole our visitors into even tasting the wine at all. Reluctantly we face the reality that we cannot make a wine unless there are people who will buy it. Thus, we have budded the JR vineyard over to Cabernet Sauvignon, for which there seems to be an insatiable thirst in the market place. Too bad though. Clearly, there are JR loyalists among our customers who will be disappointed. If you are one of these, now is the time to buy up the remaining inventory; and if you don't know what it's all about, you can still get in on it. We save seven rows of JR for sentimental reasons, insuring that JR will not completely disappear from the Napa Valley.