I witnessed a rare and special sight this weekend. Jesse on a piece of heavy equipment, reforming the landscape of Sky Vineyards.
The old vines in the Back are finally being torn out. The vines have not been producing grapes for the last few years. When phylloxera hit Napa Valley in the 1980s, we hoped that we were safe nestled up in the hills. Unfortunately, the pest eventually found its way up the mountain and our vines planted on the AXR rootstock - originally and apparently inaccurately touted for its phylloxera resistance - were attacked. Phylloxera slowly and irreversibly kills grapevines. We were able to tear out and replant half or two-thirds of the vineyard in 2000. The remainder - the Top, The Back and most of the Front - has slowly continued their decline. The grapes were last used for our regular zin in 2005. We picked through them one last time in 2008 for our rose. And now, finally, we say a final goodbye.
The grapevines at Sky were planted by my family around1975. My parents moved up to the property in 1973. The house was built, my sister was born and grapevines were planted. I came a couple of years later, in 1977. And yes, again, for the record, Sky was not named after me; I was named named after it.
Here is Lore in the 1970s with the original planting.
The vineyard was composed several blocks: the Top, the Back, the Front, Upper Barrel, the Delta, the Battlefield, Ohio, Monkey Island, and Mirror Image. Now, only the Top and Front remain, and likely, only for a short while.
All that remains of the Back is the two vines on the right hand side (planted on a different root stock - St. George - which was actually resistant to phylloxera). The Back used to occupy the entire corner. The rows were long, the hillside was steep, and the battle against star thistle was difficult. It was not the easiest place to pick through.
But the Back was a special secret spot. It was not visible from the road and it hosted the only view of the winery possible from the vineyard. The road that ran along the bottom was barely passable with a vehicle but was a cool part of the vineyard perimeter. It felt more wild, like it had not been as domesticated as the rest of the vineyard. There were metal fence posts set at a diagonal through the block that demarcated the midpoint, where we could turn back and start picking toward to road again. I feel the memories of that place.
The Back has been there since before I arrived. I have trudged through that rugged terrain almost every harvest of my life (i did miss five harvests out of the past thirty-two). It has been hard to see the old vineyard limp along on a death march and is hard to see that place disappear.
But it is also exciting to see Jesse on the tractor clearing the way for the future. The vines are done and the land is better left fallow than marked with the abandoned dying plants. We won't be replanting right now, but tearing out the old vines is the first step in that direction. The newly cleared horizon has possibilities and potential. I may not be familiar with the new lay of the land and I may not be able to see what the space will look like in a few years, but whatever happens next, I know I will be part of it and it will become part of me.
