Estate Vineyards — Overview

 

Our estate vineyards — Pepper Bridge and Seven Hills — produce some of the most sought-after grapes in the state. Furthermore, these two vineyards are leaders in the practice of sustainable agriculture. Managing Partner Norm McKibben is committed to environmental stewardship, implementing the following practices in the vineyards:

• Applying compost tea through their drip irrigation systems to restore fungal and microbial components to the soil and feeding the tea with molasses via the drip systems. (This compost tea contains living organisms and thus needs to be fed in order to stay alive!)
• Using drip irrigation and buried soil-moisture monitors to ensure they do not waste water by irrigating below the roots of the vines.
• Adding compost to the soil to restore the soil humus.
• Leaving some ground cover un-mowed to preserve the habitat for beneficial insects.
• Planting wild roses and leaving blackberries where they exist to provide winter habitat for a parasitic wasp that attacks leafhoppers.
• Utilizing organic products such as sulfur and saver soaps to replace hard chemicals that control powdery mildew.