Thinking outside the bottle

Red-legged frog, steelhead trout, California Pacific pond turtles and other endangered species wanted?

“Yes,” said Jean-Pierre Wolff of Wolff Vineyards in the Edna Valley.

In fact, since he purchased the vineyard in 1999, this Brussels, Belgium, native has all but hung a “Wanted” sign on his gate to encourage those and other species to move in among the vines and creeks running through his 125-acre chardonnay, pinot noir, syrah, petite sirah, Teroldego and Riesling vineyard.

“I view them as my own canaries in the mine,” said Wolff. “When these species thrive on my property, I can tell that nature is in balance.”

So far, Wolff's eco-friendly techniques have been successful; however, it has taken some radical changes and progressive management methods to get to this point.

The first step was to reduce and eliminate many of the broad-spectrum pesticides that were being used in the vineyard. But by doing so, he increased the risk of invasive pests attacking his grapes.

To counteract the attack, he has planted native grasses and wildflowers to provide a habitat for his army of beneficial insects. Lady bugs and stingless wasps are just a few of the beneficial insects employed in his integrated pest management plan.

After four years, those little creatures have taken hold, feeding on the invasive pests and dramatically reducing the need for pesticides.

As is always the case with farming, setbacks are common and require an ongoing effort and long-term commitment.

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As with Wolff, integrated pest management - often referred to as IPM in the agriculture industry - has become popular on many of the farms and in vineyards throughout the Central Coast.

From large farms to backyard gardeners, varying levels of IPM have been implemented to aid agriculture production.

To eradicate persistent pests when the beneficial insects need assistance, Wolff uses a zone application of specified pesticides instead of whole-area application. The method has proven successful and reduced his spraying dramatically.

To combat mold and mildew - the plague of the mild climate in the Edna Valley - he uses much less wettable sulfur than in the past, opting for smaller concentrations, approximately 1.5 pounds per acre during the spring and summer month spraying cycles, ending in late July.

Against the recommendation of his peers, Wolff has also all but turned off irrigation on his chardonnay vines. When he does irrigate, Wolff uses drip emitters on the top third, at the crown of his vineyard.

“The water travels down the crown, on a natural bedrock layer under the topsoil, irrigating the remaining vines,” Wolff explained.

He is able to have pinpoint water delivery through retrofitting his water system with pressure-compensating irrigation and by installing a constant-pressure, variable-speed pump in his well.

Wolff makes sure all his water use is “reasonable and beneficial for his grapes,” assuring that no drop is wasted.

The remaining 50 acres, which Wolff calls “the oldest producing chardonnay vines in Edna Valley,” are left to thrive on the annual rainfall and natural aquifer that runs under the flat portion of the vineyard.

In 2007, with only 8.5 inches of rain - 36.5 percent of his average 22.5-inch annual rainfall - his grape vines remain as hardy as ever and are reaching to the sky while the trellises sag from the weight of the grape clusters.

“I average a yield of 3.5 to 3.75 tons of chardonnay per acre,” said Wolff.

Most, if not all, of those grapes go into the creation of his award-winning wines.

Wolff credits his growing success to the management techniques he has implemented to retain the soil's moisture.

“Both the cover crop and native grasses improve the water-holding capability of the soil,” said Wolff, who has opted to use a no-till method that has saved on the cost of diesel fuel to power the vineyard equipment. He is currently transitioning his equipment to biodiesel fuel.

Wolff stressed his various farming techniques are a team effort with his vineyard management company, Pacific Vineyard.

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Prior to his acquiring the vineyard, Wolff noted there was almost no fertilizer, for almost 25 years, incorporated back into the soil.

“This was a huge problem,” he said. “It's like taking from nature and giving nothing back.”

That has changed under Wolff's management. Now his ranch manager annually spreads three tons per acre of composted material, a special blend of composted manure and gypsum, back into the soil.

In his spare time, Wolff works to improve the three miles of blue-line stream that runs through his property and ultimately empties into the Pacific Ocean at Pismo Beach.

To do so, he has increased his creek setbacks from 16 feet to between 25 and 35 feet in most areas.

He has also installed holding ponds to encourage steelhead trout regeneration and has cut back and eradicated the invasive plants that had overgrown the stream.

Those projects were performed in collaboration with multiple agencies.

A walk though Wolff Vineyard is peaceful. There are no zone guns or noisemakers used to scare away birds and no flashy tin foil on the lines.

“At times, I have employed a falcon to chase off the birds,” he said. “I view noisemakers as an oxymoron when attempting to maintain good relations with my neighbors.”

To protect his “public relations manager,” a black Labrador named Brixie, from possible secondary poisoning, Wolff avoids rodent baits entirely, instead using traps to manage the gopher population.

“Our animals are free to roam around the ranch,” he said. “We would hate to see our family pet become sick from something that we used in our vineyard.”

Combined, those management methods have established Wolff Vineyard as a model of sustainability.

Both socially conscious and eco-friendly, the care Wolff employs on his vines has a direct correlation to the quality and distinctive flavor profile of his wines.

The many species that flourish in Wolff's vineyard adorn the labels on his bottles and continue to inspire this agriculturist and environmentalist who strives for a better life for his family and his vineyard.

Steven Knudsen is outreach coordinator for the San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau. He can be reached at 543-3654 or steven@ slofarmbureau.org