Does a lot of rain mean a lot of aquifer replenishment?
Let’s ask a hydrogeologist! I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Timothy Parker of Parker Groundwater Consulting in Sacramento, CA. Timothy Parker began his career as a regulator working in contaminant hydrogeology. He got involved with fresh water while working for the California Geological Survey, doing watershed assessment and timber harvest oversight, and […]
Unboxing Owl Boxes
Rebuilding habitats for natural rodent control The following article was originally posted in Wine Business Monthly in April of 2022. Did you know that owls are cannibalistic? Baby owls will feast on their owlet-siblings to reduce competition. Did you know that owls strike so fast they kill on contact? It’s the equivalent of getting hit […]
Can I rely on wind for frost protection?
How can I find out? Despite the deluge we Californians got this winter and early spring, we’re not out of the drought. Many of the state’s groundwater basins are still overdrafted, some by a lot. The reason we’re in dire straits right now is because of agriculture. There are not enough low-flow toilets in the […]
After the flood…Part deux!
After the flood…Part deux! How did the recent rains affect your aquifer…if at all? California was hit by some torrential rain in January. In our last post, we explored how that rain had affected soil moisture. In some cases, the water percolated right through and left the soil dry again. In other cases, the rain […]
After the flood…
After the flood… What does soil moisture look like after two weeks of rain? In the last couple of months, California has been hit with a lot more water than we’re used to. Here in Sonoma County we’ve had excesses of 18” of rain and that was just since January 1st. Other parts of the […]
Is Regenerative the New Biodynamic?
Is Regenerative the new Biodynamic? Is this just another buzzword or is there meat on those bones? By Mark Greenspan and Loni Lyttle The following is reprinted from Wine Business Monthly’s July 2021 Issue. Read the original article here. The wine industry is particularly susceptible to buzzwords. Terms like “terroir” and “minerality” may be nebulous, […]
Herbicide-free algae control
Herbicide-free algae control Ultrasonic technology keeps the blooms at bay Algae blooms can be a big problem, especially for those in the wine industry. Runoff containing fertilizer from the vineyard or nutrients from wine production can wash into your surface water and cause an microbiological explosion. It’s hazardous to your health, it kills off other […]
Do consumers care about sustainability?
Do consumers care about sustainability? …does it matter? Here at AV we talk a lot about viticulture. It is, after all, in our name. But we certainly haven’t lost sight of the overall goals of our industry: to make wine. And we don’t just want to make wine, we want to make darn good wine, […]
To till or not to till?
To till or not to till? The trend is towards less tillage, but could it be detrimental to vineyards? The following is from an article originally published in Wine Business Monthly in June of 2019. Read the original here. I recently attended a tour of some vineyards in central Spain. I had been to Spain […]
New regulation is coming. Invest now in improving your water management.
New regulation is coming Invest now in improving your water management There’s nothing farmers love more than government regulation, am I right? And there’s nothing this viticulturist loves more than legal rhetoric. That is of course why I violently sobbed into my textbook during the semester I studied food and beverage law in undergrad: my […]
