Tablas Creek's Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) baseline: Organic and biodynamic certifications

Tablas Creek, the pioneer of the California Rhone movement, is the first winery in the world to have simultaneously held organic, biodynamic, and regenerative organic certifications and, to date, is only one of three wineries (the others being Applegate Valley's Troon Vineyards and Santa Barbara County's Solminer Wine Company) to have accomplished this feat. 

Why did the estate pursue a third certification beyond organic and biodynamic and why the Regenerative Organic certification? How difficult a process was it? What were the lessons learned and the benefits derived? I will explore these and other questions in a series of posts beginning with this one wherein I baseline the organization. The sources of information for my posts are interviews conducted with Jason Haas and Jordan Lonborg, Partner and General Manager and Viticulturist, respectively, at Tablas Creek.

Company Origins

Tablas Creek is jointly owned by the Perrin (Chateau du Beaucastel) and Haas (Vineyard Brands) families, a joint venture which came about as a result of a successful search by Robert Haas and the Perrin family for a California site which would be suitable for the planting of Rhone varieties. The company was launched in 1989 with the purchase of a 120-acre parcel in the Adelaida District, just west of Paso Robles. The area's climate was similar to that of the Rhone and the shallow rocky limestone soils were the same geologic origin as was the soils at Beaucastel. Average elevation was 1500 feet.

The intent of the estate was to produce wines at Tablas Creek that were similar to those produced at Chateau du Beaucastel; hence the painstaking search for similar growing conditions. Once the location was secured, Rhone vinefera, and a variety of rootstocks, were imported from the Chateau. Planting began in 1994 and, as of 2020, 115 acres had been planted to vine.

Viticulture

The estate's viticulture practices emphasize quality through dry farming and moderate crop levels. The estate gained organic certification in 2003, biodynamic certification in 2017, and Regenerative Organic Certification in 2020. The first two are discussed further herein with the third, and its transition, discussed under separate cover.

Organic Farming

Tablas Creek was always going to be farmed organically because that was the practice in use at Beaucastel where it was held that the only way to be true to terroir was to farm organically. Neil Collins, the Tablas Creek's Executive Winemaker and Vineyard Manager, had spent time training at Beaucastel and had brought organic farming to the fledgling estate upon his return.

The estate's organic practices include:

• No chemical herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers used in the vineyards
• The use of cover crops in order to minimize erosion and to host beneficial insects
• Composting in order to return nitrogen to the soil
• Compost tea to control mildew in the vineyard and to reduce the need for sulfur.

Organic farming allows for conservation tillage (ridge, mulch, or strip). According to Jordan, Tablas Creek tills its dry-farmed blocks.

Tillage in dry-farmed blocks is crucial due to the high clay content in our soil. Without some sort of soil disruption (as the soils dry out after the winter rains) large, deep cracks form, allowing precious moisture to evaporate into the atmosphere. We create what is known as a dust mulch layer by breaking up the top 3 to 4 inches of soil into finer particle sizes thus preventing any form of shrinking.

Farming organically provided an "ecosystem that was clean and balanced." But Tablas Creek wanted to do more within that framework so they began to look around for optimization opportunities. This led to initiatives to reduce external inputs. An example of this is the estate using material already on the farm to make its own compost rather than buying compost offsite and having it trucked in. This particular action reduced the carbon expended in fertilizer acquisition.

Biodynamic Farming

Tablas Creek began biodynamic farming experiments on a 20-acre plot in 2010. Jason said that the tasting team noticed that the wine from that plot came to the fore when tasted with its peers. They expanded the trial to 40 acres in subsequent vintages and the wines from these grapes proved to be "super expressive" and the associated soils were "healthy and vibrant." The entire vineyard was converted to biodynamic farming in 2016 and certification was awarded in 2017. Some of the programs implemented during the biodynamic regime are discussed below.

Sheep

Running sheep through the vineyard has a number of significant advantages:

• Efficient weed removal without the compaction that comes with spraying
• Tons of manure/acre/day on every inch of ground between the vines. Phenomenal amount of nutrients added to the soil annually
• The sheep can clear out the understory of the forest thus acting in a fire suppression role.

Pursuit of a Diverse Ecosystem

This is manifested in a number of ways, with especial focus on moving away from a monoculture. The use of sheep in the vineyard is a move in that direction but so are initiatives such as: planting fruit trees (apples, pears, plums, peaches, nectarines, quince, pomegranates, figs, cherries, and persimmons); a vegetable garden (fresh tomatoes, corn, zucchini, squash, melons, radishes, and basil); retaining sections of native vegetation and planting insect-friendly flowering plants; building owl boxes to control rodent pests naturally; and keeping their own bee hives.

As regards trees on the estate, Jordan states (in a follow-up email);

As far as fruit trees are concerned, we have one orchard made up of Pome fruits (apples, peras and quince), cherries, and figs. There are about 10 acres of olive trees planted as windbreaks lining roads throughout the property. Lastly, throughout our dry-farmed plantings, we typically plant one fruit tree for every 50 vines or so. In the unfortunate case of vine death in dry-farmed locations, we plant fruit trees instead of planting another vine.

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This then, was the state of affairs when Tablas Creek was approached to participate in a Regenerative Organic Certification pilot program. Before getting into the particulars of the program, I will, in my next post, cover the basic elements of Regenerative Agriculture and the Regenerative Organic Certification.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Regenerative Agriculture: Cover crops for soil health and carbon sequestration

Before I became sidetracked by Timorasso, and, before that, by Emergent Spanish Wine Regions, etc., etc., I had begun a series on Regenerative Agriculture and published posts on: what it is and its positioning within the body of farming practices; the main land-management objectives (soil health and carbon sequestration) of the approach; a primer on soils composition; the then-brand-new Regenerative Organic Certification; and the use of Biochar as one of the tools to aid in the attainment of approach objectives. With this post I continue the journey.

"A cover crop is a crop you grow for the soil, instead of for your plate. The practice of growing specific crops just for fertilizing and building the soil dates back to the Roman Empire" (Organic Growers School). UCANR defines a cover crop as any non-harvested vegetation grown between vineyard rows (and, in some cases, under the vines). Cover crops were used in California since the early 1900s but were mostly abandoned during the late 1940s and early 1950s when conventional agriculture became dependent on synthetic fertilizers for enhancement of soil fertility. There was a resurgence of cover-cropping in the 80s and 90s, thanks largely to a growing interest in sustainable agriculture (UCANR).

Cover-cropping is an important component of the Regenerative Agriculture system, with its application having a "direct impact on the health of vines and the surrounding ecosystem." One of the areas where cover cropping plays a role is in the fight against soil erosion. Soil erosion involves "movement of soil particles from one area to another: by wind, in arid areas; by water movement in areas with more rainfall. "Surface runoff, and resulting soil erosion, are the principal means by which fertilizers, sediments, and pesticide residues reach surface water." Sandy soils are most prone to erosion because they do not aggregate well due to a lack of clay minerals or other colloids that facilitate soil-particle adhesion. The harm-minimization strategies that can be employed here include cover crops to avoid direct raindrop strikes on bare surfaces as well as to slow the movement of water in the vineyard. 

The benefits, and potential drawbacks, of cover-cropping are presented in the tables following.

Table 1. Benefits of growing cover crops

Benefit	Description
Improve soil structure	Glue-like substances produced by roots and associated soil organisms bind soil particles together, ameliorating soil structure and water infiltration Mechanical action of cover-crop roots loosen the soil up to 60 inches depth, reducing its compaction and improving the penetration of air and water
Improve mineral fertility	Decomposition increases soil nitrogen and soil cation exchange capability Legumes contribute to nitrogen-enrichment of the soil by symbiotic fixation of its atmospheric form Can prevent the leaching of some soil nitrate to ground water during the wet winter months by taking up and storing excess soil nitrogen
Improve soil botanical activity and organic matter content	Rapidly and intensely stimulate the biological activity of the soil during their growth and, especially, after decomposition The quantity of formed humus allows maintenance of the soil organic content Roots add organic matter and create pores in the soil as they die
Protect against erosion and runoff	Protects the soil surface from the impact of soil-dispersing raindrops Grasses reduce erosion by improving water penetration and by slowing the movement of water downslope
Provide habitat for beneficial insects and predators	Some crops attract beneficial insects and arthropods which contribute to the control of harmful insects and mites
Pest management	Some weeds may be suppressed by use of appropriate cover-crop species and cultural practices Some crops act against Root-Knot and Pratylenchus nematodes
Influence grapevine growth	Compete with the vines for water and nutrients Provide additional nitrogen for vine development
Aesthetics

Table 2. Potential drawbacks associated with growing cover crops

Potential Drawbacks	Description
Demand for water	Cover crops often compete with the vines for soil moisture
Compete with vines for nutrients	Winter annual grasses require large quantities of nitrogen and, if allowed to mature, can delay nitrogen availability to the vines and reduce vigor      - Can be used to advantage in vineyards with excessive vigor      - Adding legume to the mix can offset the demand for nitrogen      - Adding fertilizer to the cover crop can offset its demand for nitrogen
Pest problems may arise from cover cropping	Flower thrips may move to the vines as cover crops mature in the spring or after they are mowed Some cover crops may themselves become weeds if they reseed and grow in an undesirable manner Buildup of vertebrate pests (gophers and voles) can be especially damaging to young vines Nematode populations may increase in cover-cropped vineyards
Threat of frost in early spring	Cover crops reduce the amount of solar radiation reaching the soil during daylight hours and can reduce temperatures on cold, clear nights Duration f lower temperatures may be longer in cover-cropped vineyards
Increased cost	Cover cropping costs more in real terms Requires more attention

The benefits and shortcomings listed above are not characteristic of cover crops as a class; rather they may exist to a greater or lesser extent depending on the species or seasonal characteristic of the cover crop. The different views of cover crops are detailed in the chart immediately following and specific selection criteria in the second chart.

Compiled from UCANR

The method of tilling the cover crops is the obvious next discussion step and I will take that up in a follow-up post.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Regenerative Organic Certification: A "revolutionary" new certification ...

The Regenerative Organic Certification (ROC) is a "revolutionary" new certification for food, fiber, and personal care ingredients that has been developed under the auspices of the Regenerative Organic Alliance. Using the USDA Organic certification as a jumping-off point, ROC incorporates elements of Biodynamics and Permaculture into its Land Management corpus and extends beyond that sphere to cover Animal Welfare and Farmer and Worker Fairness.

The organizing framework of the program is illustrated in the chart below.

The program completed its pilot program in early 2020 and expects to begin taking general applications in the summer of this year. The objectives of the pilot program were to (ROC):

1. Develop a greater understanding of how standards can be implemented at the farm and ranch level
2. Provide information that would help to inform the creation of training materials, audit tools, guidance documents, etc.

For someone farming chemically, Land Management certification would proceed as follows:

• Years 1 - 3: Preparation for USDA Organic Certification
• Year 3: USDA Organic Certification
• Year 4: Demeter Biodynamic Certification
• Year 4+ Naturland Fair Certification.

I will be writing extensively about this certification over the next few months beginning with the battle that has arisen between Regenerative proponents, who see this approach as part of a solution to the climate crisis, and Climatologists who are saying "stay in your lane."

©Wine -- Mise en abyme