Get your earplugs ready – we are about to toot our own horn, loudly! CCVT Executive Director Kris O’Connor was recently named the 2010 San Luis Obispo County Wine Industry Person of the Year. Woot! Woot!

CCVT Executive Director Kris O'Connor (3rd from left) along with other industry awards winners Clay Brock (4th from left) and members of the Dusi family.

The peer-driven award was chosen by members of Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance, Independent Grape Growers of Paso Robles, Central Coast Vineyard Team (no comments from the peanut gallery — we played fair!), San Luis Obispo Vintners Association and past award recipients. Clay Brock of Wild Horse Winery and Vineyards in Templeton won Winemaker of the Year and Winegrape Grower of the Year went to an entire family: the Dusis of Dante Dusi Vineyard. All the winners were honored at a industry event on July 30 at the Mid State Fair.

In presenting the award to O’Connor, CCVT Founding Member and Past Chair Dana Merrill (Mesa Vineyard Management  and SIP-certified Pomar Junction Vineyard & Winery) recalled the year 1998, when “what we really needed was an executive director, but all we could afford was part-time.” O’Connor brought numerous skills to that part-time job, including having co-authored a textbook, extensive field experience in soils and irrigation, and fluency in Spanish.

Over the years, part-time became full-time – and then some – and Merrill noted that CCVT grew as well. Today, it represents some 80,000 acres in the tri-county area of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Monterey Counties, and the SIP Program can currently be applied to 10,000 acres, with more in the pipeline.

“It really shows you what can be accomplished with voluntary efforts,” said Merrill, “and a lot of that come back to what kind of leadership Kris provides.”

When O’Connor took the podium, one of her first phrases was “Who would have thought it?” Indeed, as she noted, “Sustainability was not a buzzword back in 1994 (CCVT’s first year). It’s been an amazing thing and so much credit should go to those founding members who dared think outside the box.”

Besides all the numbers that bear witness to CCVT’s and SIP’s growth and achievements, O’Connor also pointed out the success of the annual Earth Day Food & Wine Festival, saying “How cool is it to be able to celebrate Earth Day around farmers and other ag people?”

She also shared an anecdote which really brought home the vibrant, organic growth of CCVT. A few years ago, O’Connor was visiting some vineyards in Chile; when she starting her presentation about CCVT, one of the Chilean members of the group reached into his backpack and pulled out a piece of reference material he had already been using. It was a copy of the Spanish version of the CCVT’s PPS (Positive Points System).

How do you say “Woot! Woot!” in Spanish?

Aaahhhh, sigh … just now coming off my cloud of bliss following the 2010 Earth Day Food & Wine Festival on April 17. Great weather, great food, great wine, great venue, great attendees … okay, okay you get the point.

One of the big highlights this year was the chance to taste “The Wine” – the wine that recently snagged 100 Parker points, Saxum Vineyard’s 2007 James Berry Vineyard Proprietary Red. Produced by Justin and Heather Smith, this label is near and dear to Central Coast Vineyard Team since Justin’s dad, Pebble Smith, was a CCVT founding member.

Justin not only graciously hosted a private tasting for a lucky few at the winery on Saturday morning, but also poured at the Earth Day main event that afternoon. Since allotments of the ’07 James Berry all but vanished from the general market soon after the Parker blessing, I can only say, “THANK YOU FOR SHARING, JUSTIN!!”

Justin Smith offers some barrel samples of one of the '09 James Berry components.

Robert Parker called the ’07 James Berry “Utter perfection,” and who are we to argue. A blend of 41% Grenache, 31% Mourvedre, and 28% Syrah, all three varietals brought their strengths to the table. This wine had the most perfect pitch I’ve ever tasted in a wine, with bright notes and fabulous depth, sturdy but not overwhelming tannins, and stunning balance.

At the private tasting, Justin also offered another treat – barrel tastings of the three main wines slated to go into the 2009 James Berry Red. Tasting each of these wines individually really gave a sense of how Justin was orchestrating the ’09 fruit and how each really does bring a specific theme to the finished wine. First was a bright Grenache with a joyful sense of pure fruit, being aged in concrete tanks; second was a 50/30/20 MSG with big earthy Mourvèdre on the nose but not a lot of tannins, co-fermented in new oak; and third was a Syrah with some great tannins and rich but subtle mid-palate notes. Given how all these wines are showing now, the ’09 James Berry should be one to watch for!

The lucky folks who joined Justin Smith for a private tasting at Saxum Vineyards before the Earth Day Food & Wine Festival main event.

the estate vineyard for Ancient Peaks Winery

Ancient Peaks Winery’s estate Margarita Vineyard is one of the latest to earn SIP (Sustainability in Practice) Certification in recognition of the vineyard’s numerous sustainable viticultural practices.

 “We are proud to have met the rigorous standards of the SIP certification process,” said co-owner and vineyard manager Doug Filipponi. “This certification recognizes what we are doing to ensure natural quality in our wines, and it reflects our passion for being good stewards of the land.”

Margarita Vineyard stands alone as the southernmost vineyard in the Paso Robles appellation, nestled into the rugged Santa Lucia Mountain range just 14 miles from the Pacific Ocean . Margarita Vineyard resides on the historic Santa Margarita Ranch (where the CCVT annual Earth Day Food & Wine Festival is held), which was first planted to vines by Franciscan missionaries in 1774. The vineyard spans 996 acres planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc and other varietals.

Sustainable practices at Margarita Vineyard include deficit irrigation, natural cover crops, wildlife corridors, rotational groundwater usage and the use of compost tea in place of synthetic fertilizers. Stream and wetland health is preserved by the avoidance of tillage practices that might cause soil erosion. Vineyard pests are managed naturally by promoting habits for native predators, a program that includes 34 bat boxes, 471 bluebird boxes, 29 owl boxes and 13 predatory bird perches. No oak trees were removed in the planting of Margarita Vineyard, and wetland setback requirements were exceeded.

 Ancient Peaks is a family-owned winery specializing in wines from the estate Margarita Vineyard, and is named for the tall peaks surrounding the estate vineyard which were forged by the collision of the coastal plates, geologic forces which give the vineyard five distinct soil zones—ancient sea bed, shale, sediment, granite and volcanic.

It was great to see Niels Udsen of Castoro Cellars recently honored by the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance as their 2009 Paso Robles Wine Industry Person of the Year.

A longtime supporter of Central Coast Vineyard Team and the SIP program – some of Castoro’s vineyards are SIP certified, as well as being certified organic – Niels started as a local cellar rat back in 1981, when no one knew what a Paso Robles was. He and his wife Bimmer launched Castoro (Italian for Niels’ nickname: “Beaver”) in 1983, and over the years, it can certainly be considered one of the labels that helped put Paso Robles on the map as a stellar wine region.

Over the years, the Udsens quietly but steadily practiced responsible stewardship of their vineyards, and have clearly emerged as successful role models for sustainability and community leadership. To name just a few of their efforts: their employees are encouraged to recycle, there is no bottled water sold at the tasting room, the events room at the Templeton tasting room is largely powered by solar panels, and Castoro was one of the first wineries in the area to offer employee benefits.

Under the direction of Niels, Winemaker/Enologist Tom Myers, and Assistant Winemaker Mikel Olsten, Castoro Cellars has grown into a 60,000 case label (plus a thriving custom crush facility and mobile bottling service). Typically, there are about 15 varietals bottled, from the flagship Zinfandels to the more obscure varietals such as Cabernet Franc. Several blends and vineyard-designate wines are always on hand as well, but – despite the breadth of available wines – we’ve never found Castoro to be about quantity. All the wines are classic varietal interpretations, some with forward fruit if the grape and vintage suggest it, but the rest show veteran finesse and restraint in the winemaking process, making them wonderful wines to pair with food.

Central Coast Vineyard Team was one of six businesses recently honored with Green Awards from the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce. There were over 70 nominees for the award, which celebrated companies dedicated to saving energy and reducing their waste.
Keynote speaker was Deborah Lyons, an environmental sustainability specialist for Hewlett-Packard in Palo Alto, the largest information technology company in the country and recently named as the greenest company in America by Newsweek magazine.
According to The Tribune’s Biz Buzz Report on November 11, 2009, “Lyons’ message was that saving the planet is good for businesses — and the bottom line. She came to San Luis Obispo hoping to inspire local enterprises to measure their energy usage and waste, be efficient with their resources and find new ways to save costs. But after listening to what county businesses were doing to reduce their carbon footprint, she said, ‘I’m the one who’s inspired’.”

Taste of SLO has done it again, I thoroughly enjoyed myself last Wednesday night as I wandered, well due to the great turn out, shuffled up and down the Mission Plaza tasting all that San Luis Obispo has to offer. This year’s disco themed event came complete with go go dancers, a giant disco ball, great music, and of course fabulous food and wine. The best of the best of San Luis Obispo restaurants made their appearances with delicious samplers; Tuna tacos from Native Lounge to mushroom soup topped with grated espresso bean from Mother’s Tavern to profiteroles from Mama’s Meatballs, can only begin to explain the range choices that were laid out in front of me. While samplers may sound like child’s play compared to the gigantic meals we are served at some restaurants, with a choice of samplers from over 30 restaurants I found that my graceful walk into the event had turned into a bit more of a waddle as I left the evening.
But wait, there’s more!