Historic Vineyard Society and Cal Poly Old Vine Zin Research Project

Received the below email today, thought it was worth sharing. Seem’s like a great research project to try to quantify/document something that a lot of us already believe as fact. Hopefully can help with possibly gaining some Public Funds to assist the HVS’s mission going forward.

Full Disclosure, I have pledged some money (as I did to support the HVS last year as well).

Dear friends,

We hope you’re all staying safe and well during this tumultuous year. While we patiently await the day when we can once again host in-person HVS events, we’re writing to share about an exciting initiative to support California’s historic vineyards this year.

Earlier this summer, we were approached by Federico Casassa Ph.D., Associate Professor of Enology at the Cal Poly Wine & Viticulture Department. Federico and Dr. Jean Dodson Peterson (viticulture) are running a research project that aims to evaluate the effect of “Old Vine” Zinfandel on grape quality and wine quality, including chemistry and wine composition.

This research project studies young vines (10 years old or younger), old vines (50 years old or older) and a control group through the growing season, including making wines from the three sample sets and assessing the samples with both chemical and sensory analysis. Federico and his team conducted this research in 2019 with no grant funds, then in 2020 received a grant from the Agricultural Research Institute. This grant requires a cash match of $6,305.00 in order to release the full grant amount for 2020-2021. The grant money pays the salary of a hard-working grad student along with funding laboratory analysis to provide important data needed for the project.

The HVS board members agree this project is very much worthwhile, and we’d like to contribute this cash requirement for Federico and his team.

How to Support this Important Project?

HVS plans to match the first 50% of the in-cash requirement ($3,152.50). In order to raise 100% of the funds needed, we need your help - and every penny counts!

If you have a few dollars to spare for this project, please let us know by filling out the form linked below. Our goal is to reach $3,152.50 in contributions from HVS member wineries, vineyards and supporters.

When we reach our contribution goal, we’ll send a link for you to make the donation on our website or instructions to mail a check to HVS. If you’d like to skip over the pledge process and make a donation right away, you’re welcome to do so at any time on our website and add to your order notes “Cal Poly Research.”

With any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out by replying to this email. Thanks so much in advance for your support - let’s help make this Cal Poly research happen!

Cheers,
The HVS Board

Andrew, many thanks for your post. HVS see this study as an important step in better understanding what makes our historic vineyard heritage so valuable and unique. We’ve had a great response so far. Any and all tax-deductible donations are greatly appreciated!

You can arrange for your Amazon purchases to benefit the HVS as well! Check out the HVS site for detail, IIRC.

It is important for a new Zinfandel study site to be established as I believe that the Napa Heritage Vineyard location was terminated recently.

The prospect of continuing investigations into heritage Zinfandel vineyard samples is intriguing to me.

Aside from conserving historically significant vine material, it also serves as a study of the importance of site selection on grape quality.

How so? A long-term study can be conducted on Zinfandel samples (originally from distinct/unique locations) over a long period of observation, where all factors like weather, soil type, degree-days, etc, are kept constant. This will aid in quantifying what traits the samples share and how they differ.

The ZAP collaboration with UC Davis (Heritage Vineyard Project) originally was intended to run indefinitely. Yes, the juxtaposition of different vine cuttings in a common plot of land helped isolate the Zin vines that possessed the most desirable qualities for commercial propagation. That took only a few years to conclude. However, if decades were permitted to pass in a theoretical longer-term study, what new conclusions would be drawn?



Washington Post
“How Can Producers Secure Zinfandel’s Future? By Looking to the Past.”
by Dave McIntyre
February 23, 2018


"…So along with the Viticulture and Enology Department at the University of California at Davis, ZAP created the Heritage Vineyard Project in 1995. Cuttings from old-vine vineyards throughout California were planted at Davis and later in Oakville, in Napa Valley. The original 90 selections were whittled down to 20 that were virus free. Of those 20, four were selected to represent heritage zinfandel — from the Moore, Teldeschi, Zeni and Lytton vineyards. These selections were planted in experimental ‘heritage’ vineyards around California, and their cuttings are available to growers planting new vintages.

"…‘The differences among the four selections are subtle,’ says Joel Peterson, founder of Ravenswood Winery and one of the most famous zin producers. (He is also Twain-Peterson’s father.) And the differences seem to be dependent on where the vines grow. ‘We now know how zinfandel expresses itself and the important role site plays in that expression.’

“The answers aren’t yet definitive. ‘We believe the Heritage Vineyard Project is 20 years into a hundred-year effort,’ says Rebecca Robinson, ZAP’s executive director. ‘Our goal is that zinfandel will thrive for many more generations, even though the original vineyards will one day be a distant memory.’…”



Consider the following blog entry from the author of A Zinfandel Odyssey, Rhoda Stewart. The author compares the anecdotes of two of California’s most famous Zinfandel winemakers. The late Kent Rosenblum planted cuttings from 4 different vineyards in a Contra Costa site. Ridge Vineyards’ Paul Draper grafted 3 Zinfandel field selections onto one-year-old 110R rootstock in the Geyserville Vineyard. Ms Stewart even relates her experiences over 20 years tasting 2 wines bottled from the Hendry Vineyard’s own trials with selection-specific plantings. After several years, it seems they all came to a similar conclusion.


A Piece of Earth blog
“Clonal Differences in Zinfandel”
by Rhoda Stewart


"…Regarding grape vines clones, the question is to what extent does the character of wine from one terroir transfer via a clone from that terroir to another vineyard with totally different terroir.

"During my years of writing on Zinfandel, I visited several vineyards planted in blocks of individual or ‘field selection’, clones, and tasted wines made from these separate blocks. In Contra Costa County, the late Kent Rosenblum became so intrigued with Zinfandel from a few special historic vineyards near Oakley and Brentwood that he undertook planting a new vineyard in Contra Costa’s sandy soil to budwood from 5 of his favorite North Coast vineyards. *ZO 141,2. (Four were field selection budwood from Costa Magna, St. Peters Church, Brandlin, and Samsel; one was from George Hendry Block 7, UCD Clone #2.) The vines were trained on cordons. Rosenblum was interested to discover if vines grown in the cooler North Coast terroirs would carry their distinctive characteristics to the warmer Contra Costa region with its sandy/loam soil. By year 2000, after a few vintages, Rosenblum determined that only the St. Peter’s Church field selection had maintained its distinctive North Coast character. Terroir seemed to be the dominant contributor to wine character among the other four.

"Paul Draper had a similar experience with his Geyserville Vineyard. He, too, was interested to learn ‘the effect, if any, of soil and climate on field selections.’ His selections came from the DuPratt, the Pichetti, and the old Trentadue ‘Heart’s Desire’ Vineyard, ‘We chose 110R rootstock, planted it in 1991, and field-budded the [three] selections in 1992.’ (ZO 405). As early as 1996, Paul had told me, “terror seemed to be winning out over clonal selection. Wine made from each of the selections shared the elegant Geyserville character.”

“…Only the most distinctive clonal selections have shown an ability to stand up to the influence of terroir…”.

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• Stewart, Rhouda. A Zinfandel Odyssey. San Rafael: PWV, Inc., 2002

There was an effort conducted by a few winemakers and growers to resolve questions of vine genetics vs site. I was unable to find any additional information about the project. While it was exciting to find that another heritage vineyard had been established, albeit with a different mission than the prospective HVS collaboration with Cal Poly, I find it frustrating that no follow-up studies/conclusions were to be found:


Wines and Vines Analytics
“Sierra Foothills Zins: Clones vs. Terroir in Heritage Vineyard”
by Kenneth Young
January 2006


“Is it the parentage of the vines or the environmental conditions of the region that give Sierra Foothills Zinfandels their unique characteristics? This question has been the subject of continuous controversy among foothill wine producers and consumers for decades. In 1997 a group of foothill grapegrowers and winemakers got together with Amador County farm advisor Donna Hirschfelt, of the UC Cooperative Extension, to develop a project to address the question of parentage versus environment. Their idea was to obtain cuttings of as many of the existing foothills Zinfandel clones as possible and propagate a ‘foothill heritage’ vineyard. Wines would then be made from each of the vineyard clones and evaluated for distinctive aroma, flavor and character…”.


Sierra Foothill Heritage Vineyard Sample Sources

· Aparicio
· Deaver
· Dal Porto
· Eschen
· Ghirardelli
· Higgens
· Lubenko
· Steiner
· Upton
· Primitivo (control?)

Here’s a little information on the scientists who are involved in the Historic Vineyard Society’s collaboration with Cal Poly:


· Federico Casassa, PhD
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

· Dr Jean Dodson Peterson
Assistant Professor of Viticulture, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo

https://wvit.calpoly.edu/faculty-staff/jean-dodson-peterson


Cal Poly 2019-2020 Research Projects
Jean Dodson Peterson: “Effect of Vine Age on Performance of Zinfandel Grapes and Wines in Edna Valley, California”


Urban Ag News blog
“The Fruit Of The Vine At Cal Poly San Luis Obispo”
by Jim Pantaleo
November 6, 2016


Edible Communities: San Luis Obispo
“Supporting Cast”
by Jaime Lewis
Fall 2018

**An article shared by Mr SeanR today on the “Santa Clara San Benito Wine Heritage” thread brought my attention to a different piece from Wine Enthusiast magazine.

The Historic Vineyard Society’s collaboration with Cal Poly SLO’s research includes mapping vine-depth of older plantings.**


Wine Enthusiast magazine
“Old Vines Cultivate Pride and Profits at New World Wineries”
by Stacy Briscoe
January 5, 2021


"…The Historic Vineyard Society also helped fund a Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo research project to study the effects of vine age on grape and wine quality.

"Led by Dr. L. Federico Casassa, a professor of enology, in collaboration with Dr. Jean Dodson Peterson, a professor of viticulture, researchers examined performance of young vines (10 years or younger), old vines (50 years or older) and a control group throughout the growing season.

"They analyze the three groupings during the winemaking process and assess the samples with both chemical and sensory analyses.

“‘The concept of old vines is particularly relevant because most are dry-farmed, an important aspect in terms of sustainable viticulture,’ says Casassa. Their deep root structure and stable physiology means dry-farmed old vines can better adapt to their terroir and are less susceptible to environmental factors like climate change.

"Casassa also plans to create 3-D imaging of old-vine root systems to map their depth and compare their architecture versus younger roots.

“‘These studies have both commercial and cultural value,’ says Casassa. ‘Commercial, because there is an implication that old vines are higher in quality. Cultural, because the Zinfandel grape is an integral part of the patrimony of the U.S. wine industry…’."


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The Historic Vineyard Society strives to increase public awareness of old-growth vineyards across the state of California. One way to aid this effort is by providing physical markers that identify vineyards found on the HVS roster*.

Last night, I saw the following sign while playing around on the Google Maps app:

Can YOU tell me what old vineyard is depicted in the above image?


HVS Winter 2017 Newsletter:

“Shop using AmazonSmile, where .5% of every eligible order will be donated to HVS. To get started, visit smile.amazon.com , then search for and select ‘Historic Vineyard Society’. Every penny counts!”

This is a very easy way to contribute to the future existence of heritage viticultural sites.



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• Historic Vineyard Society website’s “Registered Vineyards” roster: https://historicvineyardsociety.org/vineyards