A little background: Several years ago our beautiful Chardonnay vineyard began showing the symptoms of Pierce's Disease, which is incurable. Our only option was to replant. It was a sad realization, but we also recognized crisis as opportunity. The vineyard was originally planted in the 70s and 20-plus years is a long time in a young wine-producing region like Napa Valley. The learning curve is steep and many of our ideas had changed over the years. In its way, having to replant gave us a chance to use what we'd learned. Please click here for information on how Piece's Disease is contracted: http://www.goosecross.com/education/sharpshooter.html

Q: Once you became aware that the Chardonnay had Pierce's Disease, how much time did that leave you to plan on what to do?
Geoff: We first noticed the symptoms in the late 80s and started replacing sick vines one by one. Eventually the vineyard was over 50% replanted and even though the wine was wonderful, it was a really difficult situation because of uneven ripening at harvest with the mix of young and old vines. Plus we had old-fashioned spacing and trellising. We knew it was time to start over. But that gave us lots of time to think about replanting and to plan. We finally replanted in 2003.

Q: What's the first step?
Geoff: Since so many years had gone by we thought it would be a good idea to take a really hard look at the property, so we hired a couple of the most respected viticultural consultants in the valley. They dug sample pits in different parts of the property to check the soil depth and composition, re-measured the meso-climate and we put our heads together to determine what to plant and where.

Q: Say you had to start from scratch and buy land. What does an acre on the Napa Valley floor run these days?
Geoff: Without a home site about $200,000/acre or unplanted, $150,000. Location and parcel size can make a significant difference.

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