Our family does not own vineyards or grow grapes. We find that to do that right is truly a fulltime job, and we’ve worked hard over the last twenty years to develop two-way working relationships with honest, hardworking growers who respect nature and can partner with us to optimize grape quality. While we do not insist on organic certification, we do encourage sustainable practices such as minimum tillage and avoidance of pesticides and herbicides. We find that a living soil (read more...) enhances distinctive terroir expression (read more...) and imparts mineral energy (read more...) to our wines, enhancing palate interest, flavor persistence, and longevity in the cellar.
Here’s Clark’s certification method. When he visits the vineyard, we take a shovel and go looking for earthworms. Claude Bourgignon teaches that a healthy earthworm population creates the conditions for the establishment of mycorrhizal fungi which facilitate rootlet mineral uptake. Since we want you to meet these folks so you know where your wine is coming from, here is a gallery of pictures of these fine people, including some pictures of them and their dirt.
