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Wineries unwelcome in SLO?
Regarding your article on Paso Robles Wine growth, (Headlines, winesandvines.com, Aug. 8) you should review the decisions of the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors in the Tribune (sanluisobispo.com) on June 16, 2007. All is not as portrayed in your article. My winery was denied a tasting room, and 45 conditions were placed on my permit for fermentation. The county planner on the project clearly explained to me that our project was selected by the county planning department to restrict the growth of wineries.
The deathblow to the future of small wineries was condition No. 45.
It requires that the winery must pay the county's legal expenses in event of a third-party suit. This condition all but rules out a small winery in the county.
This decision effectively also killed several other small wineries on our easement road, and has caused several landowners to postpone vineyard expansion.
We have subsequently sold our vineyard equipment and halted the work in process on our vineyard. We have also decided not to pursue a winery unless the draconian condition 45 is lifted.
I think that in the honesty of truthful reporting, you should expose this side of Paso Wine, so that wine investors are not lured into the area with incomplete information.
Dave Carleton
Carleton X-winery project
Creston, Calif.
Editor's note: According to the referenced newspaper article, Carleton's winery project was nixed mainly due to objections from neighboring property owners sharing the private road.
Demystifying de-alc
I read with interest the Wines & Vines article (yep, I subscribe) on de-alc-ing (Tim Patterson's Cellar Scene, August, 2007). The thing that wasn't mentioned, unless I missed it in my quick read, was the fact that a lot of these wines that come in at 15% have (already) been de-alced.
I've heard that from soooo many winemakers.
Robert Whitley
Publisher, winereviewonline.com
San Diego, Calif.
Not news, but good reading
I read with interest Paul Franson's article, "Busting Vineyard Myths" (Headlines, winesandvines.com, Aug. 28) regarding recent research findings. This "news" can be read in standard viticultural textbooks.
Dropping fruit = no change in Brix? It's a no brainer, a simple matter of vine balance. Any vineyard manager can tell you this.
Smart Dyson canopies in hot climates for Shiraz = burned fruit? Really? Anyone using foliage wires in hot climates to grow Shiraz needs to take a look at Australia. If you are prepared to create the thinnest leaf layer in a climate where light is not limited and evapotranspiration is at a maximum, you are going to lose leaves, yielding exposed fruit that will sunburn. The question that should be asked, perhaps, is "What is the reason for using canopy manipulation in a hot climate?" Can't think of many good reasons.
Deficit irrigation? This topic is so well researched, perhaps a literature search and compilation of the findings to produce a comprehensive overview of the subject might be the best use of the researchers' time.
It's a good read though, well done for getting the research out there in the public arena.
Craig Markby
Vineyard manager
Lenswood, Adelaide Hills
South Australia
Regarding your article on Paso Robles Wine growth, (Headlines, winesandvines.com, Aug. 8) you should review the decisions of the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors in the Tribune (sanluisobispo.com) on June 16, 2007. All is not as portrayed in your article. My winery was denied a tasting room, and 45 conditions were placed on my permit for fermentation. The county planner on the project clearly explained to me that our project was selected by the county planning department to restrict the growth of wineries.
The deathblow to the future of small wineries was condition No. 45.
It requires that the winery must pay the county's legal expenses in event of a third-party suit. This condition all but rules out a small winery in the county.
This decision effectively also killed several other small wineries on our easement road, and has caused several landowners to postpone vineyard expansion.
We have subsequently sold our vineyard equipment and halted the work in process on our vineyard. We have also decided not to pursue a winery unless the draconian condition 45 is lifted.
I think that in the honesty of truthful reporting, you should expose this side of Paso Wine, so that wine investors are not lured into the area with incomplete information.
Dave Carleton
Carleton X-winery project
Creston, Calif.
Editor's note: According to the referenced newspaper article, Carleton's winery project was nixed mainly due to objections from neighboring property owners sharing the private road.
Demystifying de-alc
I read with interest the Wines & Vines article (yep, I subscribe) on de-alc-ing (Tim Patterson's Cellar Scene, August, 2007). The thing that wasn't mentioned, unless I missed it in my quick read, was the fact that a lot of these wines that come in at 15% have (already) been de-alced.
I've heard that from soooo many winemakers.
Robert Whitley
Publisher, winereviewonline.com
San Diego, Calif.
Not news, but good reading
I read with interest Paul Franson's article, "Busting Vineyard Myths" (Headlines, winesandvines.com, Aug. 28) regarding recent research findings. This "news" can be read in standard viticultural textbooks.
Dropping fruit = no change in Brix? It's a no brainer, a simple matter of vine balance. Any vineyard manager can tell you this.
Smart Dyson canopies in hot climates for Shiraz = burned fruit? Really? Anyone using foliage wires in hot climates to grow Shiraz needs to take a look at Australia. If you are prepared to create the thinnest leaf layer in a climate where light is not limited and evapotranspiration is at a maximum, you are going to lose leaves, yielding exposed fruit that will sunburn. The question that should be asked, perhaps, is "What is the reason for using canopy manipulation in a hot climate?" Can't think of many good reasons.
Deficit irrigation? This topic is so well researched, perhaps a literature search and compilation of the findings to produce a comprehensive overview of the subject might be the best use of the researchers' time.
It's a good read though, well done for getting the research out there in the public arena.
Craig Markby
Vineyard manager
Lenswood, Adelaide Hills
South Australia
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