California Bountiful Magazine - July/August 2020

Sommeliers compare wines and learn grape-growing techniques— including the use of owls to control pests, above right. Grower Mark Pisoni, bottom, shares insights.

Santa Lucia Highlands AVA One of the best ways to appreciate the concept of terroir is to experience it. Savvy growers andwinemakers, including those in the Santa Lucia Highlands of Monterey County, create educational tastings and vineyard tours that do just that for wine enthusiasts. For the past six summers, the Santa LuciaHighlands AVA has hosted sommeliers from around the country for a two-and-a-half-day tour, allowing them to experience what makes the Santa Lucia Highlands unique—including its sun, wind and winemaking practices. (Due to the pandemic, organizers this year plan to host a virtual event.) Known for it s highly rated pinot noi r and chardonnay, this small, cool-climate AVA is part of the western mountain range that shields the Salinas Valley from the Pacif ic Ocean. The Santa Lucia Highlands is notable for its cooling fog, afternoon winds and extended sun exposure that lengthen the growing season and allow the grapes to develop complex f lavors and a crisp acidity. “The SLH Somm Tour is great for wine education and connecting people with our appellation,” said Mark Pisoni, a third-generation farmer and vineyard manager of Pisoni Vineyards. “The (sommeliers) tour our ranches to dig in the soils, experience the wind and weather, and better appreciate why our wines taste the way they do.” One of Pisoni’s favorite activities during the SLH SommTour is introducing guests to crop thinning. “We take them into the vineyards to experience the work we do and understand how it affects the wines,” he said. Armed with a pair of clippers in a row of vines, participants learn how to drop fruit—clearing out clusters of grapes to give other clusters better air circulation, more sunlight and less disease pressure—to create higher quality wines.

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July/August 2020

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