In search of the Steepest Vineyard in America

Posted on 07 May 2009 under Overall Wine Reviews, Uncategorized by admin

Few months ago I heard someone was talking about a vineyard in Santa Cruz which stirred a controversial debate from the residents who live in the town of La Honda. 83 percent of the water supply are from the bottom of the 16 acres swath. The residents were afraid their water will be contaminated by the newly planted vineyard due to the planting on the steep drainage and destabilize the slope, causing landslides they say could bury the spring and choke the creek with silt. Clos de la Tech, owned by T.J Rodgers & Valeta Massey, which located against the slope of the summit of Langley Ridge, considered to be the steepest Vineyard in the US, with vines planted in vertical rows down slopes as extreme as 45 to 70 percent.
Rodgers and Massey say they have invested more than $20 million since breaking ground in 2001, planting 16 acres of what they hope will be an 80 acre vineyard.
Based on these facts, it is enough to trigger my curiosity !
I decided to pay a visit there and investigate whether the 70% slope are accurate !
So I called up my friend who grew up in the nearby town to drive me up the ridgetop to locate the Vineyard.
After spending an hour looking for it and we finally see the sign of the entry. Unfortunately, it was a foggy day, I mean really bad visibility. So, even though I knew that we were at the edge of the slope, I mean I could feel it but I couldn’t see a damn thing. I was disappointed but still I was glad I did it. Here are some pictures below….

In the middle of the woods in search of the Steepest vineyard

In the middle of the woods in search of the Steepest vineyard


I finally found the sign to clos de la tech

I finally found the sign to clos de la tech


Lois Louise vineyard by Clos de la Tech, planted Pinot Noir Clones 115, 777, 828

Lois Louise vineyard by Clos de la Tech, planted Pinot Noir Clones 115, 777, 828

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.