Today's blog comes from a guest blogger: Jan Hovey, blogger for the Calaveras Winegrape Alliance. John Holleman is a leader of the Calaveras wine scene and the owner of a very highly coveted Zinfandel Vineyard in Calaveras.
Jan's profile:
Colorful metallic streamers, big yellow balloons with huge eyes, distressed bird call recordings that had neighbors wondering if they were in a tropical forest while on a walk. John Holleman will do anything to protect his three precious acres of Zinfandel in San Andreas from pesky birds. He will even attempt to herd wild turkeys - which is a feat all unto itself.
A retired Marine Biologist who taught biology, oceanography and zoology at Merritt College in Oakland, John is as much a scientist in his vineyard as he was traveling around the world with his wife, Nancy, visiting marine laboratories in New Zealand, Australia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, American Samoa, New Caledonia and Hawaii. "With my research and training, I have to be very observant, " John told me when I recently visited his pristine vineyard. Honestly, I have nevber encountered a more manicured, well-cared-for vineyard in my wine days here.
John trains his vines on a bilateral cordon with one fixed line and one movable line which can move the canopy and bring more sun to the middle of the vine, similar to "parting hair" down rows of burgeoning vines. This innovative procedure creates less of a chance of mildew and allows John to customize sunlight to different eco-systems within his three acres. He also trims the second "wing" on every cluster so that the maximum amount of flavor can flow to the single cluster. He even knows how many clusters there are to every vine, every row in the vineyard. He records daily temperatures on a device which is downloaded into his computer once a month. "I water before and after a hot day, as where some will only water their vineyards on hot days. You've got to think about the physiology of the plant."
He also drops about four tons of fruit each year, spread about the floor of the vineyards for their fertilizing properties. "We produce no more than nine tons of Zinfandel each year from our three acres. It's quality versus quantity." All nine tons are sold to Newsome-Harlow Winery in Murphys.
The vineyard was planted in 1998 and this vintage will be the 10th crop for Holleman Vineyards. As I sat on their shady deck overlooking the vineyards awaiting the 2010 harvest, Nancy said, "This is the romantic stage of growing wine grapes," which, of course translates to the year-round dedication and hard work of owing a small vineyard. John was one of the original pioneers of the Calaveras Grape Growers' Association and most certainly has his vineyard down to a fine science. It's not a serious business for John, but a passion - as a smile never left his face while giving me a tour.
RCB postscript: John finished harvesting his vineyard in late September, before the Calaveras weather became strange and problematic. According to John, Scott Klann, proprietor/winemaker at Newsome-Harlow, was extremely pleased with the quality of the 2010 fruit. This means quiet anticipation for the release of the 2010 "Big John" Zinfandel from Newsome-Harlow.
If you have any comments about this - or any - of my blogs, please contact me at paladin.mod@hotmail.com. I promise to respond to all comments and post those that seem appropriate.
Jan's profile:
Colorful metallic streamers, big yellow balloons with huge eyes, distressed bird call recordings that had neighbors wondering if they were in a tropical forest while on a walk. John Holleman will do anything to protect his three precious acres of Zinfandel in San Andreas from pesky birds. He will even attempt to herd wild turkeys - which is a feat all unto itself.
A retired Marine Biologist who taught biology, oceanography and zoology at Merritt College in Oakland, John is as much a scientist in his vineyard as he was traveling around the world with his wife, Nancy, visiting marine laboratories in New Zealand, Australia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, American Samoa, New Caledonia and Hawaii. "With my research and training, I have to be very observant, " John told me when I recently visited his pristine vineyard. Honestly, I have nevber encountered a more manicured, well-cared-for vineyard in my wine days here.
John trains his vines on a bilateral cordon with one fixed line and one movable line which can move the canopy and bring more sun to the middle of the vine, similar to "parting hair" down rows of burgeoning vines. This innovative procedure creates less of a chance of mildew and allows John to customize sunlight to different eco-systems within his three acres. He also trims the second "wing" on every cluster so that the maximum amount of flavor can flow to the single cluster. He even knows how many clusters there are to every vine, every row in the vineyard. He records daily temperatures on a device which is downloaded into his computer once a month. "I water before and after a hot day, as where some will only water their vineyards on hot days. You've got to think about the physiology of the plant."
He also drops about four tons of fruit each year, spread about the floor of the vineyards for their fertilizing properties. "We produce no more than nine tons of Zinfandel each year from our three acres. It's quality versus quantity." All nine tons are sold to Newsome-Harlow Winery in Murphys.
The vineyard was planted in 1998 and this vintage will be the 10th crop for Holleman Vineyards. As I sat on their shady deck overlooking the vineyards awaiting the 2010 harvest, Nancy said, "This is the romantic stage of growing wine grapes," which, of course translates to the year-round dedication and hard work of owing a small vineyard. John was one of the original pioneers of the Calaveras Grape Growers' Association and most certainly has his vineyard down to a fine science. It's not a serious business for John, but a passion - as a smile never left his face while giving me a tour.
RCB postscript: John finished harvesting his vineyard in late September, before the Calaveras weather became strange and problematic. According to John, Scott Klann, proprietor/winemaker at Newsome-Harlow, was extremely pleased with the quality of the 2010 fruit. This means quiet anticipation for the release of the 2010 "Big John" Zinfandel from Newsome-Harlow.
If you have any comments about this - or any - of my blogs, please contact me at paladin.mod@hotmail.com. I promise to respond to all comments and post those that seem appropriate.