Cru Vin Bugs

I’m a huge fan of bugs. I find them extremely cool in both appearance and behavior. They live pretty much everywhere and outnumber us humans by some astronomical factor. And, most important to me, they’re environmental indicators – they tell us about the health and balance of the world we live in. But what do bugs have to do with making great wine?

A lot.
(Honey bee foraging on a mustard flower. This picture involved a little camera and a lot of luck.)


(Right:Chardonnay shoot among flowering cover crop.)

Insects have co-evolved with plants for millions of years. It’s simple -- without bugs there can be no grapevines. And the vineyard manager can choose to either fight insects, ignore them, or work with them. Sadly, most vineyards are not bug friendly. And ironically, it’s when we try to “clean the slate” and eliminate bugs from the system that problems quickly arise.



Conventionally farmed vineyards are continually tilled, compacting and destroying soil life and exacerbating erosion. Furthermore, the application of caustic chemical pesticides and herbicides kills all bugs, good and bad (you won’t find many bugs of any kind in a conventional vineyard). And since the very first invaders to a sterile system are always weeds and pests then it’s pretty easy to see the folly in this hyper-management approach to farming. Obviously, I’m a huge fan of organic and sustainable farming.

The amazing west Dry Creek Valley vineyard where I source much of the fruit for Cru Vin Dogs wine is farmed organically. In place of tractors and salty fertilizers is a herd of English babydoll sheep, which convert the weeds and grasses to fertilizer, naturally. Instead of spraying Roundup herbicide we encourage and foster a healthy ground cover to provide food and habitat to the ladybugs, soldier beetles, lacewings and syrphid flies that naturally feed on any grapevine pests before they can get established. This vineyard is never sprayed with pesticides or herbicides. There’s simply no need. This is not only a very good thing for the environment but also a very good thing for wine lovers – happy vines produce great grapes which make outstanding wines.


So I encourage everyone to give bugs a little respect. After all, we cannot exist without them. But just to prove I’m not completely bug-obsessed I’d like to close this blog with a couple of pictures I took recently of warm and furry mammals. Keep drinking great wine!

---Tony

(Left:Betty and Mowgli -- very happy vineyard dogs.)



















(Right:This lamb was born just hours
before I took it's picture. Seriously cute.)




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