The new vineyards are slated for Annapolis, a quiet outpost known for sheep and steelhead on the Gualala River, one of the cleanest waterways in the west. Sonoma Coastal Pinots are highly prized by the cognoscenti and growers can barely keep up with the demand, no doubt fueled by movies like Sideways.
Growers have promised to mitigate by planting a zillion new redwood sprouts and donating 200 acres to a county park. You can read more about the proposed vineyards here. As much as I love a good Pinot, I am going to have to side with the trees on this one.
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The Gravenstein was introduced to the area by Russian immigrants in the 1880's. Production of the once burgeoning apple has decreased to just over 700 acres.
Gravenstein farmers and fanciers have started a "save the gravenstein" movement, replete with bumper stickers, but it may be already too late.
“If we don’t start promoting it, and recognizing it and saving it, it’s going to die.”
Sonoma County Gravenstein grower Barbara Walker
2 comments:
let 'em grow their friggin' pinots elsewhere.
Again, I'm w/ Grumpy on this. Its not just the redwoods and steelhead, although that should be reason enough, the Gualala river basin is a tremendously beautiful, unique and complex eco system. That whole river system needs to be babied and nurtured. It got logged hard 100 plus years ago and it has not yet recovered all that well. I go there every year to pick mushrooms and fish for steelhead.
Brian V
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