The Joy of Farming Wine Grapes by Cass Winemaker and Vineyard Manager Lood Kotze

Once again another cycle of grape growing has begun in the vineyard. We are currently in early bud break, a time I truly enjoy as it is probably one of the most beautiful periods in the vineyard. It has been a very dry winter, which is never a good thing in agriculture where you depend on good water for a successful crop, however the late rain has been a wonderful gift, and I believe, even with this year’s rain well below average, the timing of the March / April rains will be very effective, as it is right there, when and where it is needed, in the root zone when growing starts.

A very dangerous and potentially devastating occurrence during this time of the growing season is off course late winter frost, and the one growing challenge grape growers in this area will complain about most. There are few more discouraging sights to a grape grower then seeing the new shoots burnt and dried up from cold chill, often times from a single frost event.

I added a photo from April 9 this year. We had five days where it got around 28F, for five nights. It was a bit of a reminder of last years devastating frost, exactly a year ago, although not nearly as destructive. The positive side, was that very few of the varieties were in bud break since this year seems to be two to three weeks later then last year, at least for us.

Currently my parents are visiting from overseas, spending time with us and their grandsons. My dad, working in agriculture for well over 40 years, could not resist accompanying me at 3:30am to the vineyard during this mentioned freeze event. He told me a story I just had to share.

“A seasoned grape grower was walking down town one day and recognized a grape grower friend of his, selling hammers off his truck’s tailgate. After the normal greetings, his friend explained he had sold his vineyard recently, and he started this new business selling tools. The grape grower could not help but notice the low price which the hammers were selling for. Concerned he asked his friend: you are selling these hammers for $8 a piece, what do you get them for? His friend replied: I pay wholesale price of $12 a hammer. The grape grower commented: but you can’t make money like that! On which his entrepreneur friend replied: It might be, but I am still doing a lot better then when I was selling grapes.”

Anyway, it made me laugh. Frost or no frost, I’ll celebrate the new season with a glass of wine.

Paderewski

If you've been to our winery you may have noticed, a Polish Flag, or recently, an 7 ft. tall statue of Paderewski, and most recently, 2 Steinway concert grands in addition to Alice's Yamaha grand piano...

Probably not standard fare at tasting rooms around the Central Coast...here is the story.
Paderewski was a concert pianist who performed internationally from 1885 until his death in 1942. By 1910 he was a major celebrity, and he began to speak out in favor of freedom and democracy in many forums because his native country, Poland, was occupied by Germany, Austria, and Russia.

Just before WW1 broke out, he was on a concert tour of the US and in California suffering from a bit of arthriis in his hands, when he learned of the healing powers of the Paso Robles hot springs and came for a visit. While here, he practiced at the Paso Robles Resort and toured the countryside. He ended up buying some 3,000 acres of land and over time planted Zinfandel grapes and later made Zinfandel wine at the old York Mountain Winery. One of his wines was later rated one of the top 10 wines in the world by the LA Times. Many give him credit for giving Paso Robles the reputation for making high quality Zinfandel wines.

During the war he donated much of his fortune to the relief of refugees from the war and played in countless fundraising concerts to also raise money for relief. He continued to tour and speak out for freedom, he was on Time Magazine cover twice and knew every president in his era on a first name basis. He was a good friend of Andrew Carnegie and performed the first ever sold out concert at Carnegie Hall. I personally suspect he had some influence in Paso Robles getting the funding for our own Carnegie Library.

Following the war he used his celebrity to meet with decision makers among the Allies to encourage them to create an independent Poland.

Politicians within Poland asked him to serve as the county's first Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, which he did, and subsequently signed the Versaille Treaty on behalf of Poland. (All while being a Zin grower in Paso!)

He died in 1942 in the US and was buried in Arlington Cemetary, quite a testament to his status.

Jump forward to 1993, when an elementary school principal , Virginia Peterson, started a Festival in his honor. She organized a series of concerts and Polish themed events on her own from 1993 until 1999, when her health began to fail her. Soon there after, the festival was suspended, and then the earthquake damaged Flamson concert hall, and plans for a renewal of the Festival drifted way. (Incidentally, the school where she worked was named after her)

Jump forward to 2002, when the Polish Music Center at the Thornton School of Music at USC launched a Paderewsi a lecture and concert series, because they too, had a link to Paderewski, since they had given him an honorary diploma in 1922.

Jump forward again to 2006 ...Jonathan Plowright, a British Concert pianist is engaged for a concert at USC. As a specialist in classical piano pieces he was quite familiar with Paderewski's compositions. He asked the Director of the Polish Music Center, Marek Zebrowski, to see if anyone in Paso Robles would host him for a concert in an effort to restart the Festival here. Marek heard from one of our wine club members that Alice (my wife) is Polish and plays piano, and our winery sometimes has music events. He called me and proposed this concert.

So, on 2 week notice we threw together the concert, we borrowed a 1945-era Steinway from the school district and invited wine club members and about 20 community leaders for the concert. The concert was a stunning success and we decided to form a non-profit and re-start the Festival.

Todays Festival is similar to the original one in that we have many Polish themed events and concerts. What we have added new is a Youth Piano Competition for kids 10-18, and a Cultural Exchange with equally talented young performers from Poland. In even years we send a select number of our competion winners to Poland for a series of concerts, master classes, and cultural experiences. In the odd years they, come here and we host them in similar fashion. Our agreement with our Polish counterparts is the that sending country pays ofr airfare, and the host county takes care of all expenses in the host county. This year we have 3 guests arriving and are working to set up several performances for them. One will be at our winery.

This cultural exchange has given us the opportunity to get great media exposure thru TV Polonia (Polish national Television) and great support from various agencies of the regional and federal Polish Government bodies. We expect our first tour bus of Polish visitors this month. Hopefully, many more to follow

This years Festival events run November 8th thru the 11th. Mark your calendar for the unveiling ceremony of the statue of Paderewski to be installed in Paso Robles city park this fall. The ceremony is planned for November 10th.