Tom Stubbs points, with obvious pride, at his two
windmills and the neighboring solar-panel-clad shed that are the source
of Stubbs Ranch’s electricity. Even on this, a calm day, the wind
is constant at this privileged elevation. It is easy to imagine the
landscape in times before human settlement; from this vantage point
there are few visible fingerprints of change, and no power lines to
spoil the view.
Below, in the valley floor, are 11 acres of Pinot
Noir and Chardonnay vines that are the first in Marin to be certified
organic. In October, Tom and Mary Stubbs harvested the grapes that will
become their first wines bearing the "organically farmed"
label, following a three-year certification process overseen by the
Marin Office of Agriculture.
Lifestyle fulfillment
Transitioning to organic cultivation was just another
natural step toward a self-sufficient and sustainable lifestyle that
has been the goal of Tom and Mary Stubbs from the outset.
Tom Stubbs bought the 600-acre Hicks Valley property
in 1982, and not long after, became the second person to sell an easement
to the Marin Agricultural Land Trust. For many years Stubbs Ranch was
a weekend retreat from San Francisco, where Stubbs had a successful
career in real estate. In 1996, inspired by Mary, who had studied in
the Wine Business Program at Sonoma State, and by a shared desire to
make a living off of the land, the Stubbs Vineyard was born.
Five years ago, Tom Stubbs retired into a second career
as full-time viticulturist. Born of a family of growers in England,
it is a role that fits him well. He is self-assured and unpretentious.
"There’s a perception that – and we certainly shared
this – that you have a vineyard and a winery, you make this beautiful
wine, and it’s that simple," he said. "But we’re
all fighting for shelf-space."
Early adopters
When Mark Pasternak planted an 18-acre vineyard in
Nicasio in 1980, he was only the second grape grower in Marin, and the
first in West Marin. Pasternak was instrumental in the establishment
of other area vineyards, including the Stubbs Vineyard, and today helps
farm almost 80 percent of Marin’s grapes.
The North Coast Grape Growers Association, of which
Pasternak is a board member, represents wineries in Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino,
Lake, Solano and Marin Counties, and, in 2002, claimed 561 vineyards
covering 127,759 acres across the entire North Coast viticultural area.
Of this, Marin accounted for only eight growers and 74 acres.
In the 2004 Summary of County Agricultural Commissioners’
Reports published by the California Department of Food and Agriculture,
wine grapes are tenth on the list of leading Marin agricultural commodities,
its gross value of $266,000 a whole order of magnitude behind the number
one item, milk, valued at over $33 million.
Planting a vineyard is a significant and long-term
investment that few individuals can afford. Stubbs explains that the
price of planting alone is generally $35,000-$40,000 per acre, and can
be as much as $70,000 per acre if planting on terraced hillsides. Because
it is often three to five years before the vines are producing quality
grapes, it is an investment that cannot even begin to pay dividends
for many years.
‘Growing grapes is not profitable’
Growing in the cool and damp West Marin climate presents
hardships as well. It is just these conditions that give the local Pinots
and Chardonnays their complex flavors and delicate acidity, but the
cooler temperatures curb the size of the harvest. "It’s great
quality, but consistently low yields point towards minimal profitability,"
said Stubbs. Even though Marin Pinot Noir grapes generally command a
higher price than those grown elsewhere on the North Coast, he said
that "growing grapes is not profitable."
"In a premium wine – that is a wine over
$15 a bottle – only seven percent of the price goes to the grape
grower," explains Tom Stubbs, "so we’re moving up the
distribution chain." Since 2002, Stubbs Vineyard has been bottling
their own wine. Their wine is produced off-site, in Santa Rosa, by longtime
Marin grape advocate and winemaker Dan Goldfield, "known for picking
out little vineyards that have the best fruit," said Mary Stubbs.
Stubbs Vineyard’s plan is to ramp production
slowly while doing their best to get on local restaurants’ menus,
and to eventually leverage their client base with a private online mailing-list.
Already, their wine is served at an impressive list of bay area restaurants.
"It’s hard to get new wines in the door," said Mary Stubbs,
"but people have been interested because it’s from Marin."
Helge Hellberg, Director of Marin Organic, the nonprofit
that hopes to see Marin become an entirely organic county, believes
the economic difficulties of doing business in Marin can be overcome.
"What we have seen with Marin Organic is that small producers have
the opportunity of product differentiation. If it’s based on a
real environmental, a real cultural difference, and you have a real
story to tell – if those are all given, true value added holds
the opportunity for small operations to survive."
Organic future told
The Stubbses, especially now that they are organically
certified, certainly do have a compelling story to tell. But it is more
involved than simply crafting a wine made from organic grapes. They
may be the first organic growers in Marin, but when looking outside
the county lines, Tom Stubbs acknowledges that "we’re not
unique by any means."
In 2003, According to the Economic Record Service
of the USDA, California has 17,304 acres of organic grapes, though this
number is inclusive of raisin, table and juice grapes. According to
Mark Pasternak, "wine grapes are one of the easiest to grow organically.
There are virtually no insect problems, and there are very few other
problems that would require chemicals." In another ERS/USDA study,
it was found that organic grapes accounted for 39 percent of the total
US organic fruit and nut acreage.
That is not to say that growing organically is easy.
Both Pasternak and Stubbs pointed to the difficulty of controlling weeds
without the help of herbicides. Five or six times during the growing
season, Tom Stubbs mows, trims, tills and hoes down every row and around
every vine. "You try to mechanize," he said, but mostly "everything’s
done by hand."
The success of the organic farming movement is in
part explained by the real economic benefit it provides farmers. Sustainable
growing practices often reduce up-front material costs, but more important
is the price premium organic products offer. Organic wine grapes, however,
do not provide a similar cost benefit. "There has not been a premium,
that I know of, paid for organic grapes," said Mark Pasternak.
Most quality growers have long been aware, he explains, that sustainable
and natural practices contribute to a healthier vine.
Organic v. conventional grapes
Many of the traditional growers have adopted methods
similar to those outlined by organic standards. Consequently, there
is not a consistently appreciable difference of quality between organic
and non-organic grapes: "I have yet to see a direct-line correlation,"
said Pasternak.
Yet Pasternak stands behind the idea of organic cultivation.
"I believe in it for sustainability." He is himself in the
process of certifying his 18 acres, and the two new vineyards that he
is helping to plant, 20 acres each, will both be organic. With the addition
of these three properties, Marin will have, at 20 percent, a higher
proportion of organic vineyards than any other county in California.
For Tom and Mary Stubbs, too, the commitment to organic
cultivation has little to do with a cost-benefit analysis. It is part
of a broader understanding of sustainability and local environmental
stewardship that is a timeless and priceless investment. "We want
this vineyard for our children, and our children’s children,"
said Mary Stubbs.
Marin Organic’s Hellberg is bullish on their
success and was willing to bet that the Stubbs Vineyard Pinot Noir will
win awards. "Any vineyard that has such a beautiful story to tell
has a good chance."