"Ask three vineyard managers a question, you'll get five different answers."

Should soil be ripped or lay fallow?
Should you irrigate or should the vines be stressed?
Should spacing be tight to promote competition or wide to reduce irrigation?

Like all disciplines, vineyard consultants offer strong opinions on the way things "ought to be done." This couldn't be more true in the wine industry, which can sometimes feel like one part agriculture for every three parts marketing and style.

As my understanding increases, so does my humility. I find that the most humble folks in this industry are the academics, who must support all assertions with repeatable and clinically proven trials. As a result, unless they know exactly why "red blotch" (a disease spreading among vineyards in the Sierra) is spreading and exactly which "vector" (the pest that carries the disease from plant to plant), they hesitate to suggest a remedy.

So how do we ever make decisions? For me, I try to identify a middle path. What are people saying on each side, and where do they meet in the middle. In the end, no one will have spent more time knowing our land than me. I know where the sun rises in the Winter and sets in the Fall. If our aim is to produce high quality wine grapes, we'll find the middle path that which is informed by the most sustainable agricultural practices that have a demonstrated effect on the vine's health.