Quarterly Update from Beth Vukmanic | Q1 2025

At Vineyard Team, spring means one thing—Tailgates! You know you’ve arrived when you spot rows of white trucks, smell good coffee, and see growers swapping stories.

Zach Merkel from J. Lohr Vineyard & Wines puts it best: “Being a member of Vineyard Team has given me access to some of the top minds in the wine industry.”

And that couldn’t have been more apparent than at last year’s Developing a New Vineyard Site Tailgate at Niner Wine Estates in Paso Robles, California.

With a combined 166 years of farming experience, our panel of experts brought serious knowledge to the table:

Craig Macmillan, Niner Wine Estates – 34 years
Fritz Helzer, Mesa Vineyard Management – 49 years
Lucas Pope, Coastal Vineyard Services – 19 years
Kevin Wilkinson, Coastal Vineyard Services – 23 years
Jon Winsted, Vineyard Professional Services – 41 years

(Pictured from left to right)

That’s an incredible depth of experience, all shared with our winegrowing community.

For 30 years, Members like you have come together to learn, grow, and tackle challenges—from fungicide spraying to biochar, and bird abatement to labor.

With six more Tailgates coming up this year, you’ll have plenty of chances to connect directly with experts and keep the conversations going.

Sincerely,

Beth Vukmanic

Pop Quiz True or False: Vineyard Team ordered 100 syringe bodies and needles for a grant. (Scroll to the bottom for the answer!)

Pop Quiz

True or False: Vineyard Team ordered 100 syringe bodies and needles for a grant.

(Scroll to the bottom for the answer!)

It’s a Wrap

Over two years, we released 30 online courses that garnered 526 total views in the Sustainable Winegrowing On-Demand online course grant project thanks to Western SARE!

Top 3 reasons students took courses:

59% - Improve sustainability
56% - DPR hours
52% - Learn for future projects

Soon we will rerelease all courses with DPR hours for a nominal fee. You will be able to earn hours on courses you took in 2024.

Increasing Tasting Room Traffic

ReSIProcal February is an opportunity to connect like-minded brands and wine enthusiasts who value sustainability and are passionate about the industry.

When a tasting room participates, they allow their wine club members to claim two complimentary tastings at any other participating location.

The fifth annual ReSIProcal February saw the highest participation so far – there were 33 tasting locations between the Central Coast of California and Michigan State!

“We have already seen 25-35 tasters between our two tasting rooms – many nice, wine-loving visitors. Our staff tracked a few cases of wine sold in just the first two weeks! Most of the traffic has been driven by our neighboring local wineries.” – Anjie, Lucas & Lewellen Vineyards

Any tasting location that pours wine made with a current SIP Certified member’s fruit can join ReSIProcal February. Keep an eye out in September for next year’s participation form!

Better Together

In our winter 2022 Strategic Plan, our Board of Directors set a goal to partner with industry organizations and researchers to fund and/or promote sustainable ag research.

This year we made four of these partnerships:

Measure to Improve
Community Alliance with Family Farmers
California Association of Winegrape Growers
Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo

Our collaborative work on grazing, dry farming, climate-smart practices, and biochar will be shared at this year’s Tailgates and the Sustainable Ag Expo.

These partnerships help us connect you with experts and advance sustainable ag.

Scholarship Awards

Applications for the Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship closed on March 31. We have 15 impressive applicants. Our Scholarship Committee meets on April 28 to review and select this year's scholars.

Stay tuned to learn about this year’s recipients!

Scholar Updates

Rocelin (CSU Long Beach) changed her major from interior design to business, marketing, and communications. This spring she's looking for an internship and working with a professor on a figurine stand marketing project.

Denise (Yale) is joining a cultural and language program in Spain this summer. Already planning for her return home, she is applying for internships with California State representatives and exploring roles with non-profit organizations that support the community.

Lizbeth (Cal Poly/Cuesta College) has worked tirelessly over the past year to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse. When she wasn’t accepted into the highly competitive nursing program, she collaborated with Mentor Alex, to create a new plan. She gained experience as a phlebotomist, took courses part-time, and studied for the entrance exam. With her bilingual skills, she has now been officially accepted into Cuesta College’s nursing program.

New Sponsorship Opportunities

We’re offering unique sponsorship opportunities to increase your brand’s visibility!

Connect with your target audience through the Sustainable Ag Expo, Sustainable Winegrowing Podcast, and online courses.

For more details and to secure your sponsorship, visit our sponsorship page.

What’s Up Next?

Member BBQ and Scholarship Awards - on July 9, mingle with Members, socialize with Scholars, and dine on the divine.
Sustainable Ag Expo - the premiere winegrowing event of the year announces the Headliner soon!

Cheers,

Beth Vukmanic | Executive Director

P.S. The Pop Quiz answer is TRUE In 2007, Vineyard Team received a grant from the Regional Water Quality Control Board to help vineyards comply with the Conditional Ag Waiver for Irrigated Lands. The project focused on practical solutions for Central Coast winegrape growers, including filter strip widths, vegetative road management, alternatives to simazine for weed control, beneficial habitats, cover crops, water quality Best Management Practices (BMPs), bait station demonstrations, grower interviews, and public outreach. A key experiment tested how well different cover crop species could reduce erosion using a rain simulator made with 100 syringe bodies and needles, following a design by Battany and Grismer (2000). This setup simulated an intense, one-hour, 100-year storm event for the area—about 10 inches of rainfall per hour. We constructed six erosion boxes (3 ft x 3 ft x 2 ft) with a slight slope to sit beneath the simulator. Each box allowed for two tests during the same storm: one with bare soil and the other with a planted treatment. Pomar Junction Vineyard in Templeton hosted the experiment, where we collected data on runoff volume, sediment concentration, plant biomass, rooting depth, and percent cover. The results were promising. Several cover crop species proved well-suited for the Central Coast, and four of the twelve tested treatments prevented any surface runoff during the simulated storm. For the full findings, check out Section 7.5 of the Final Report. The Rain Simulator Design can be found in the Final Report Attachments on page 12.

P.S. The Pop Quiz answer is TRUE

In 2007, Vineyard Team received a grant from the Regional Water Quality Control Board to help vineyards comply with the Conditional Ag Waiver for Irrigated Lands. The project focused on practical solutions for Central Coast winegrape growers, including filter strip widths, vegetative road management, alternatives to simazine for weed control, beneficial habitats, cover crops, water quality Best Management Practices (BMPs), bait station demonstrations, grower interviews, and public outreach.

A key experiment tested how well different cover crop species could reduce erosion using a rain simulator made with 100 syringe bodies and needles, following a design by Battany and Grismer (2000). This setup simulated an intense, one-hour, 100-year storm event for the area—about 10 inches of rainfall per hour.

We constructed six erosion boxes (3 ft x 3 ft x 2 ft) with a slight slope to sit beneath the simulator. Each box allowed for two tests during the same storm: one with bare soil and the other with a planted treatment.

Pomar Junction Vineyard in Templeton hosted the experiment, where we collected data on runoff volume, sediment concentration, plant biomass, rooting depth, and percent cover.

The results were promising. Several cover crop species proved well-suited for the Central Coast, and four of the twelve tested treatments prevented any surface runoff during the simulated storm.

For the full findings, check out Section 7.5 of the Final Report. The Rain Simulator Design can be found in the Final Report Attachments on page 12.

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