Vineyard Management

Vineyard Manager John Santos can be accurately described as progressive.  He can be equally touted as forward thinking.  Most certainly he cannot be labeled stagnant or at rest on his laurels.  Definitions aside, John’s astute management has ushered Hazlitt Vineyards to the forefront of world class grape production.

As for wine and grape philosophy, Santos dwells in the house of thought of Nelson Shaulis and Richard Smart.  “There are no magic numbers on vine spacing or how much fruit a vine should carry,” says Santos as he samples a Riesling grape from the Homestead vineyard.  “You have to know your soil, know your vine vigor, and trellis and plant so shoot density and leaf canopy match the yield.  During growing season we take a block of vines and weigh the fruit.  In the winter during pruning we weigh the wood from the same block of vines.  This fruit to wood ratio allows us to determine vine balance and there by insure appropriate yield.  The practice led to adopting the Scott Henry method of trellising.

A forestry degree from Cornell University and a farming background add to John’s agricultural expertise.  An afternoon of argument and banter began his tenure with Hazlitt’s.  “I walked in to the tasting room a few years back and got into a tenacious debate with a Hazlitt family member about what makes a good Pinot Noir.  Three hours and a few samples later I was offered a job.  This family winery wants to present the best product.  And they welcome fresh input and new methodology if that’s what it takes to do it.”