Foris Vineyards Winery

Foris Vineyards Winery
	Latin for "out of doors", foris conveys the mood of the flowing rivers and lush, fir-covered Siskiyou Mountains which surround Foris's vineyards. The recent departure of winemaker Sarah Powell and the assumption of winemaking duties bu owner Ted Gerber signals new and exciting changes, as Foris continues to make some of the best value wines in Southern Oregon.
	From the winery: Foris owner and renowned viticulturist, Ted Gerber, has assumed our winemaking responsibilities in collaboration with Steven Harriman, who has been assisting in the cellar at Foris for the past two years. Through his years of experience working in wine retail and the cellars of France, Steve has developed an incredible palate and passion for winemaking. Gerber Vineyard "One Man's trash is another man's treasure" is never any truer than at the home vineyard site located next to the winery. On the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Soil Survey of Josephine County, a good portion of our ranch is classified as a dump. The mining dump was created over a 50-year period during the late 19th and early 20th centuries and has produced a wonderful vineyard and winery site. Gold mining was the big draw to the Illinois Valley when the first settlers arrived. In trying to search through and process the rock within existing and ancient stream beds, dumping grounds were created. Our ranch is covered with about 20 acres of placer mine rock tailings. The rock was washed from nearby Althouse Creek through two separate tunnels (the longest is 1200 ft) our 100-ft lower elevation than the creek created unlimited dumping capacity. What must have been a low-lying, Swampy piece of ground was transformed into a well-drained site. As the rock exited the tunnels and poured out the flumes that spread the material, the tailings became self sorted. There are three distinct gradations. 1. Big rock, basketball size and larger, which is closer to the tunnel's exit. 2. Gravel 3. Silt Today the larger rock areas grow trees, pine and cedar mainly. The winery and surrounding grounds are located on top of 10- 20 feet deep gravel deposits. The vineyard is grown on the gravely and silty areas. The rock tasting room at the winery is built from the mining tailings and shows the diversity of the rock. Oregon jade is one of the more interesting types that can be found. Not only did the previous owners help transform our vineyard grounds into a desirable site, but history allowed us the ability to establish the grapes. In the early 1970's when we got this crazy notion to grow wine grapes in a location no one had ever tried, farms in the Illinois Valley were comparatively inexpensive. Cattle and dairying were the only viable agriculture in the valley and they were on a slow decline in economic viability. We were able to purchase prime vineyard property for cattle grazing land prices. The historical change that allowed this opportunity was the advent of plastic pipe which provided an economic means of combating frost. Up until we planted our vineyard no one had tried commercial horticultural crops in the Illinois Valley because of spring frosts. Now it is a common practice to sprinkle water on frosty spring nights and the major obstacle for premium wine production has been conquered. Gerber is an 80-acre ranch, with 20 acres of vineyard situated next to the winery. The last 5 plantable acres will be planted in the year 2000. Presently planted at Gerber Vineyard: Pinot Noir 8.5 acres Gewurztraminer 6 acres Early Muscat 2 acres Chardonnay 1 acre Pinot Gris 2 acres Gamay Noir .5 acre Three Creeks Ranch Russell Berard, cattle rancher and businessman, had been neighbors and friends with Ted and Meri Gerber for twenty years, when he married Elizabeth in 1990. It was a time of lifestyle changes for the couple. Elizabeth, an urban vegetarian and artist, was moving to rural Josephine County. Russell, tired of the tiny margins and work involved with raising beef, had all the motivation needed to get out of that business. Ted and Meri had been successfully farming grapes for twenty years on ground quite similar to Russell's Three Creeks Ranch. His site not only had a very large number of plantable acres for our area (approximately 70), but also was situated largely on a well air-drained bench (less frost-prone), with year-round flowing creeks and already existing large ponds able to provide ample gravity flow frost protection water. How many more signs did he need to follow Ted's lead? Planting began in 1990 with four acres each of Pinot noir and Chardonnay, which included one of the state's first plantings of the new and exciting Dijon clones, imported to the United States from France by Oregon State University. Planting continued the next year, with seven more acres of Pinot noir, four acres of Chardonnay, three acres of Gewurztraminer, two acres of Pinot gris and 0.6 acres of Pinot blanc. With continued expansion, in 1995 Russell hired Hans Ahl, from a fifth generation German wineproducing family, to be his vineyard manager. The ranch is currently producing from 16 acres of Pinot noir, 14 acres of Chardonnay, five acres of Pinot gris, three acres of Gewurztraminer, two acres of Pinot blanc.... and the planting continues. Aguila Vineyard -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A burnt-out tax lawyer from Berkeley, Sherman Lamb and his wife Marybeth decided to completely change their lives and pursue what they truly love. For Marybeth, that is breeding, raising, training and showing champion Labrador retrievers. For Sherman, after enjoying the great outdoors, it's attempting to grow grapes for that superb bottle of wine. Of all our growers, Sherman no doubt drinks the best, and he lives out this appreciation of fine wines everyday, in his carefully managed vineyard. In 1989 the couple moved to what would become Aguila Vineyard: 87 acres of land located on the terrace or bench of the eastern slopes of the Siskiyou Mountains near Talent, Oregon. The site is a rolling and folded hillside of various aspects, at approximately 1800 feet elevation, overlooking the Bear Creek Valley and Medford. Because the vineyard borders on the undeveloped and forested mountains, deer, bear, fox, raccoon, squirrel, and numerous bird species frequently visit, often feasting on the grapes during the ripening season. Sherman named his vineyard "Aguila" after the nesting pair of golden eagles he first found on his land. After much thought about what wines they love to drink, and research about which varieties are appropriate for their site, Sherman and Marybeth planted their first vines in 1991. First, four acres of Pinot Gris and one half acre of experimental varieties were planted in the upper, cooler section of the hill. Since then, Sherman has added a few acres each year, experimenting with varieties and trellis systems. Currently the vineyard is 18 acres, consisting of four acres of Pinot Gris, 10 acres of Merlot, three acres of Syrah (one of the first vineyards planted to this variety in Oregon), and one acre of Cabernet Franc. This year another three acres will be planted to a rootstock, which will be field grafted (also relatively new to Oregon) to a yet-to-be-decided variety next year. The first harvest from the vineyard was in 1994, with harvest quantities modest, but increasing every year. While Sherman has succeeded in producing superb quality fruit, it has not been without some hard lessons from Mother Nature. Similarly to Evans Creek Vineyard (located in an entirely different aspect, 35 miles away), the upper reaches of his site have proven to be quite low yielding and prone to cold problems including frost, cold winter air, or isolated hail storms. Still, he says he wouldn't want to be doing anything else, has continued to expand the vineyard, and looks forward to drinking the fruits of his labors each year. Deer Creek Vineyard -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- " What do you really want?" was the question asked by my wife in the spring of 1988. We were dissatisfied with our work, the congested freeways, and the ever-increasing number of new housing tracks in our area. I had always wanted to try my hand at farming, especially after listening to my grandfather tell stories about his farm in rural Maine. We both knew Southern California was not the place to realize such a dream. Cattle ranching, that would be the ticket! In June of that year, we took a vacation driving the back roads of all our favorite states. Frequently, and I do mean frequently, we were told that, in these areas we enjoyed so much, cattle ranching was not a good idea. Something about lava and shale rock not able to support a single animal on any amount of acreage. So, on that note, we decided to conclude our vacation with a visit to my uncle's vineyard in Napa. What a picture! His vineyard is located on rolling hills, in the distance oak trees dot the landscape. Not a weed in the vineyard- none! What a lifestyle! During the entire time we were there no work was done, the vineyard remained beautiful, and we always had time to sit on the patio enjoying good wine and good company. "We can do this," I told Ann. So the next several month were spent looking for property in Northern California. During this time, looking for land and learning about the business of growing grapes, we became aware that Oregon was also producing quality grapes. We explored. We found. By late summer of 1988, we had purchased the initial 30 acres here in Southern Oregon. It took a lot of courage for Ann to ask that question in the spring of '88. She enjoyed shopping at finer stores on a regular basis, never more than 20 minutes away. Now, Deer Creek Vineyards is located in an area denoted by two lonely flashing lights, over the only two intersections in the area, and the finer stores are now over 250 miles away. I do thank her for following me. From nursery to vineyard took two years. We have had six harvests, and the vineyard has expanded by a few more acres. I often said in the first few years, if I had known then what I know now, we probably would not have gone through with this project. That would have been a very wrong decision. I owe a great deal of thanks to a good many people, for their shared knowledge, time, and understanding that I didn't know all that much ten years ago. The care of some 33,000 vines is demanding, and I still don't have all the answers. The rewards, however, equal the effort. Each New Year brings greater expectations and ideas for improvement. Do we find time to enjoy a glass of fine Foris wine on our own patio? You bet. What do I really want now? As with all growers of wine grapes for Foris Winery, Deer Creek Vineyards, with the cooperation (or not) of the elements, wants the care and attention to the needs of the vines, and doing whatever necessary to provide the very best quality grapes possible, to the benefit of Foris, and Oregon. Deer Creek Vineyard is 70 acres with 40 acres planted to grapes. Pinot Noir 20 acres Chardonnay 8 acres Pinot Gris 12 acres The vineyard is on a south-facing slope on valley bench and valley floor. The bench land soil is deep, well-drained brown and red clay loam with slow water permeability and a rooting depth of 60 inches. The valley floor is deep, well-drained gravely loam above brown gravely clay loam with moderately slow water permeability and a rooting depth of 60 inches or more. Evans Creek Vineyard -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Similar to several of our growers, Nancy Tappan and Vernon Hixson primarily decided to grow grapes out of their great love of wine - in particular, the wines of Bordeaux. Also similar to several of our growers, neither had a background in agriculture. The petite and gracious Nancy, magazine editor by profession, had dabbled in growing garlic and grazing cattle on her 60-acre parcel, north of the Rogue River, in the rural Evans Creek Valley. After a bull tried to stomp her - "I made the mistake of making it a pet," she recalls - the Los Angeles refugee looked out across the sweeping hillside of her land and thought, "Wouldn't it be fun to have a vineyard?" This was 1981; the same year Nancy met Vernon, when he came out to Oregon to film a documentary. They became friends and business partners, and over the years Vernon helped Nancy plan and plant the first vines and work the vineyard on getaway vacations from his fast-paced life in New York City. "Nancy's the green thumb," says Vernon. "I'm just the help - tractor driver, gopher chaser…" That's full time now. Sporting his black Malcom X baseball cap, blue jeans, white beard, quick wit and energetic east coast accent, one can easily surmise that Vernon is a transplant to the quiet community of Rogue River. Yet this worldly, retired television producer is entirely at home on a tractor - and loving it! Together, Nancy and Vernon farm about 13 of their 60 acres. Rather than expand the vineyard, their focus remains on growing superb fruit. "When it comes to growing grapes, you either love it or hate it," Nancy explains. "There's no in-between. It's hands-on and labor intensive. To do a first-rate job, you have to be observant and familiar with what's going on with every vine. You don't learn this from a book." Their most poignant lessons have, indeed, come from Mother Nature, who has been particularly hard on this small parcel of grapes. From the severe winter damage of 1989 and again in 1990, to the difficult spring frosts and low-yielding soils, their 13 acres have turned out to be one of the most difficult to manage and smallest yielding sites we have encountered in the Rogue Valley. Thanks to Nancy and Vernon's perseverance and dedication to quality viticulture, the site gives us some of our highest quality wines, which are bottled separately, and vineyard-designated in the finest vintages. These wines are very limited in production, and truly, a rarity to be found in Oregon of intensity, concentration, ripeness, and finesse. The Gold Vineyard -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Founded in 1984, the Gold Vineyard has 18 planted acres, planted to Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec. The soil is predominately Coleman Clay Loam. A deep moderately drained soil on streeam terraces, and Manita Loam, a deep, well-drained soil on alluvial fans. The vineyard is on a gradual southeast-facing slope and gets approximately 20 inches of precipitation per season, falling mostly from January through May and November through December. This property is fully planted, discussing partnerships with neighbors. In June of 1985, Becky and I [Randy Gold] had planted and nurtured our new vineyard through the previous year and were ready to train trunks in anticipation of our first crop the following year. Having no idea what to expect this season, we took off on vacation to Boston for two weeks and returned ready to get to work training the vines. What we found made us want to turn around and head back east. The weeds had grown halfway up the stakes and the young vines which we had pruned to the ground the previous winter had put out numerous shoots that were now 4 and 5 feet long and instead of growing perfectly up the stakes, were lying on the ground. It took us (mostly Becky) about 3 weeks to tie the vines so I could get to the weeds (which were no 3 and 4 feet high) with the tractor and disc. The lesson here was never, ever go on vacation in June, the most active time of plant growth in the vineyard. This story is typical of our early experience in establishing Gold Vineyard. Neither of us had farming experience, far from it. I was a graphics person by education and experience, and Becky was and still is an elementary school teacher. We were drawn by the romance of a rural lifestyle and a love of wine. Becky says that our madness took root in our frequent visits to southeastern Washington State in the mid-1970's to visit her parents. We would get off the freeway and drive the back roads where we'd see the orchards and new vineyards. Becky would often have to grab the steering wheel so I wouldn't drift off the road in some vine inspired dream. We're better at what we do now and have found it a very satisfying lifestyle. We still love the wine, the romance and the company of the rest of the dreamers we have met on our journey. It has been especially gratifying to watch the maturing of the Oregon wine industry in general and the Rogue Appellation specifically. We feel very lucky to be living in a very special place at a very exciting ti Hillcrest Orchard -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Directed since 1908 by the Parsons family, Hillcrest is one of southern Oregon's oldest orchards. Settled first in 1853, the land was acquired over forty years later by William H. Stewart, whose father, Joseph J. Stewart, planted the first commercial orchard in Medford in 1885. William H. Stewart probably planted some of the original trees on the land now known as Hillcrest Orchard in 1897. In 1903, as his orchard was coming into bearing, Stewart sold to Portland businessman Julian Wells Perkins, who named the orchard Hillcrest and built a new residence. In 1908 J.W. Perkins sold the property to the Hillcrest Orchard Company. Within two years, company president Reginald Hascall Parsons of Seattle, Washington, became owner and manager and soon made Hillcrest into one of the finest orchards in southern Oregon. The Parsons family hired Medford architect Frank C. Clark to design a new residence that was completed in 1917. Clark, who practiced from 1903 until 1957, designed several hundred residences and commercial and institutional buildings in southern Oregon. The Hillcrest Orchard complex, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, includes the main residence, office, guest house, recreation hall, garages, barn, packing house and other agricultural buildings. In 1908 Hillcrest Orchard was about 185 acres in size and divided equally between pears and apples. By 1938, all the apple blocks had been removed and replaced with pears. As older pear trees declined in production new ones were planted. Some of the Comice pear trees planted in 1897, however, continue to produce a century later. One hundred years later, in 1997, the first wine grapes were planted on about five acres. The decision to replace a few declining and unprofitable blocks of pears with wine grapes, made Hillcrest one of the very few Southern Oregon pear growers diversified into the wine industry. Hillcrest Orchard is now over 200 acres in size and with nearby residential neighborhoods expanding, is nearly surrounded by suburban Medford. The west facing, south sloped site, under the direction of Jud Parsons and management of Jon Meadors, shows tremendous promise for superb quality fruit from the heat-seeking Bordeaux varieties. The first harvest of Merlot and Cabernet franc will take place in October 1999, a few weeks after the latest ripening pears will have been picked. Red and green Bartletts, Comice, Bosc, and d'Anjou pears, harvested from mid August to early October, are sold for fresh market or gift box use by local packing houses. Some fruit is sold on site for local customers, including pears, apples and peaches grown on the orchard. Planting of pears and grapes continues this year, including a very promising site being planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Maple Ranch -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just begging to grow grapes, it took Maple Ranch about 125 years after the first settlers arrived in the valley to fulfill this calling. When we bought the ranch in late 1986, small wild or old time planting of apples, plums, grapes, pears, quince, walnuts, cherries, elderberries, and the weed-like blackberry grew over much of the ranch. Today, most of the farmable ground is planted to wine grapes, predominantly Pinot Noir. The first human residents of the ranch left their traces in the form of arrowheads and the like. Obsidian is not a locally found rock, so you know you've found Native American workings even if it's just a chip. Some time just before the Civil War, James Buchanan deeded the land to early settlers. Looking for gold, copper and other minerals, the efforts of these settlers left rock piles along the banks of the several streams that flow through the area. One can still walk several hundred yards into the mountain through a hard rock mining tunnel. Although the local area was rich in gold, Maple Ranch was a bust. Farmers cleared and prospered on the farm from the late 19th century until World War II. The hand hewn beams in the big barn & granary show some of the efforts the Johnson family made. This was quite a musical family of fiddle players with a pump organ at the main house. Folk, ragtime, and flapper music was the predominant style played at the local grange hall. Violin making was also a sideline of the family. One maple tree fell in 1932 and supplied about 60 violin backs and some of the instruments have sold for up to $25,000. As of 1996, one of the Johnson girls still played in the symphony in Paris, CA at age 80. From the early 1940's until the early 1970's, Maple Ranch slowly declined. Farming had become a sideline to working in the lumber mill. In 1972, new owners brought new life to Maple Ranch although they called the place Rainbow Ranch. For 14 years, they remodeled, repaired and built getting ready to farm. The three families consisted of Grandma & Grandpa, son & daughter with their respective spouses and six granddaughters. Grandpa had played with several well known big bands during the early '40's, but spent most of his adult life at GM. Maple Ranch was a great place to retire. The son & daughter taught school in Cave Junction, but soon retired to farming. Maple Ranch again was prosperous as a farm only this time instead of pigs and cows it was an Herb. The several greenhouses were called starter boxes and the attics were drying rooms. Still today in the granary that was remodeled to become a house, one corner is sealed closed: an inside growing room for the Herb, no floor, just dirt, insulated and reflective walls, electrical plugs for grow lights, and a watering hose. Hired as a farmer to occasionally work up the fields, I later learned I was just making the farm look active. While plowing, I drooled over Maple Ranch as a vineyard site. The place was a natural, including creek banks growing native grapes - Vitis Californica. This is its northern native range. The Herb farmers eventually got nabbed and the ranch was put up for sale. In the fall of 1986, wanting to expand our vineyard, I, Ted Gerber, and my wife Merideth formed a partnership with my mother and stepfather, Bob and Marge Maple. The name Maple Ranch is not only for the native big leaf maple trees found along the 3 creeks, but also for the owners that feel fortunate to be caretending this piece of ground. There are 112 acres on the ranch. Grape plantings are 35 acres with 4 more grape plantable acres plus 3 acres planted to asparagus. Fall from the top grape planting to bottom is 150 feet with 6 distinct fields separated by creeks or roads. All but the top 4 acres are gravity fed frost protected from a pond at the top of the ranch. 27 acres Pinot Noir with 12 clones on 8 rootstocks plus self-rooted vines. 4 acres Pinot Gris 5 acres Chardonnay - 7 clones 1/2 acre Gamay Noir 1/4 acre rootstock The soil permeability is moderate to five feet and rapid below this depth. Clay loam and gravelly loam surface layers with substratum gravelly loamy sand. Never is a puddle of water seen on the surface. Pheasant Hill Vineyards -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Founded 1990 Owners: Laura and Kurt Lotspeich Planted acreage: 10 + 8 in 1999 Unplanted acreage: 15 Varieties: Merlot 5 acres; clones 3,6,181, and "Lane clone" Cabernet Sauvignon 1.5 ac; clone 7 Cabernet Franc 1.5 ac; clone 1 Pinot Gris 2 ac; clones 146 and 152 Soil: Darrow clay loam, 4'-6' deep Slope: West face, gentle to moderate Rainfall: ~20 " average Irrigation: drip Row spacing: 6' x 10' and 6' x 8.5' Trellis: Vertical shoot positioned In 1988, we began entertaining thoughts of growing wine grapes in Southern Oregon. At the time we were living in the mountains of Colorado and after only one year of trying to grow a garden there we had given up the thoughts of growing anything. We had moved there from Alaska where Kurt had worked as a pilot in the bush (we could grow more there than in Colorado)! Neither of these two locales was a great place to grow grapes, but Southern Oregon seemed like a wonderful place to get involved in a budding industry and Kurt's job as an airline pilot would allow the move. Kurt's parents had retired in the area, and a visit to Foris found us talking to Ted Gerber. Ted had a wonderful way of encouraging us -- he said don't do it! Then he proceeded to give us all kinds of information on growing grapes. He told us to get Winkler's General Viticulture and read it. This dry textbook was written 20 years ago and while come of it still applies, I think Ted's idea was, if we got through it we would be serious enough to see the project through. We planted our first five acres in 1990. Most of our family and many of our friends helped us with it, from deer fencing, to planting, to training the vines and waiting what seemed an eternity for the first crop in 1993. We had a concern that other growers would not want to see new growers and would be secretive with their knowledge. What we found was just the opposite. From the first conversation we had with Ted until today, we are impressed with the openness of this industry and with the help and shared knowledge of growers and wineries alike. It's like a big family. Our first planting was of four varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Gris, and Chardonnay (The Chardonnay was removed this fall). In 1995 and 1996, we planted a second five acres, all reds this time, as Merlot and Cabernet Franc were sought after varieties and grew well on our site. This spring we will plant eight acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and have an additional 15 acres to plant (our philosophy has been slow growth and to reinvest the cash back into the vineyard, this is not just a labor intensive industry, it is also capital intensive). Every grape we have sold ha gone to Foris! Ever since Ted told us not to plant, we have had a great relationship with them. Winemaker Sarah Powell visits our vineyard several times a year. At harvest she comes out to taste the grapes and make picking decisions, but earlier in the year, she is also here to make suggestions to enhance grape quality before the fact. We work together to provide the best quality grapes we can grow so Foris can produce high quality wine for the consumer. We believe in integrated production to provide for sustainable agriculture for generations to come. Weed control is primarily mechanical, insect control is via natural predators, and mildew control is primarily with sulfur, all of which serve to reduce the amount of chemicals going into the general environment and make the Earth a better place to live. Villa Novia Vineyard -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Orange Ave., downtown El Cajon, CA, 10:23 AM: Suddenly there was a great commotion out in the street! Horns honking and someone was using rather colorful expletives in a most derogatory manner! Dashing out, I found our pigs had gotten lose, again! Two buckets of grain mixed with considerable pushing and shoving brought them back within the confines of our property. My husband looked around and stated, "we need a place where a more bucolic lifestyle is the norm." So we left San Diego heading north to Southern Oregon, land of soft winds, warm days, gentle rains, and open space. Achieving the "more bucolic lifestyle" required forty acres of land, a barn, a chicken house, an acre of vegetable garden, a milk cow, a few ducks, and some cattle, "for business purposes." The soft winds came in the middle of the night, replete with eighty-five miles per hour gusts blowing the doors off the barn, which let the cattle into the stored hay! Then the gentle rains turned into a flood that was only exceeded when Noah had to build the Ark! Chickens had to be rescued from the fruit trees; fences were destroyed letting our cattle out and the neighbor's cattle in! But, then summer came…with a vengeance! Day after day of temperatures of 100 degrees or more! Well… the 27-foot travel trailer complete with two adults, two children, dogs, cats and boxes of baby chickens took care of the "open space"! Where's my San Diego? Then came the revelation. We said," let's do something with that pasture that can's knock down fences and wander away, let's grow grapes! You know, put some cuttings in the ground, throw a little water their way and stand back. Well why not, couldn't be that hard now, could it?" To make a long story short, that was 1982 and anything was possible. It is now 1999 anything is still possible. One just goes at it a little differently. Some of the grapes that were planted in 1982 are still around, while others, "the mystery block" seem to come & go on a rather regular basis. You learn to pay attention to soil types, irrigation techniques, frost protection fungicide applications, insects, deer, ground squirrels, hoards of birds (they usually come in flocks, but not in wine-grape country), and the many aspects of vineyard management. But now that the dust has settled, and the right decisions have been made, there exists a beautiful vineyard consisting of five acres of Pinot Noir, soon to be ten acres, ten acres of Chardonnay, soon to five acres, and three acres of Pinot Gris. Time to kick back and enjoy that bucolic lifestyle…Hey, did you see that 100 acres for sale just down the road? Epilogue Villa NoviaVineyards is located near the small town of Selma, OR. Deer Creek meanders through a lovely valley ringed with forested mountains. Over the centuries, this creek has moved back and forth across the valley floor creating soil conditions that range from gravely loam to rocks. Chardonnay loves the rocks. We enjoy warm days and cool nights. Bud break generally happens around the early part of April with harvest starting in late September to early October. In 1997 we instituted an intense nutritional program to bring balance between soil conditions and plant needs. That program is still in progress and working successfully. Plant spacing ranges from 11 by 7 feet to 10 by 6 feet. Production runs between 1.5 to 4.0 tons per acre depending on the age of the plants and the desires of the winemaker. The lifestyle may not be as bucolic as anticipated, but is much enjoyed.