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7 2 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | M a y - J u n e 2 015 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m trees and an organic garden that produced some of the most intensely flavored tomatoes, strawberries and basil he'd ever tasted, he said. WATER: THE BAZILLION DOLLAR QUESTION Grahm wants to plant another 90 acres or so of vines, but cannot do so without water, the lifeblood of the universe. "Building a pond here is ground zero," Grahm said. "Basically, our water table is so low it's in China," he joked. The Bonny Doon team plans to avoid regular drip irri- gation, preferring to defer the heavy lifting to nature. "We want to encourage nature's intelligence, like let- ting kids learn on their own without protecting them from everything," Grahm said. Once he has water from the pond he hopes to build, not only can vine planting begin in earnest, but he'll also be able to grow specialty crops such as peche de vigne (also known as blood peach), a delicacy of Alsace and Burgundy planted to provide snacks for vineyard work- ers. The fruit also makes jam and eau de vie, additional products Grahm envisions as part of the larger output of the ranch. STATE OF THE DOONIVERSE After one real harvest from the tiny Pinot Noir vine- yard in 2014, plus some grapes from the nursery – mostly Grenache and Ruché – Grahm is optimistic. The first crop of Pinot yielded less than half a barrel of wine, he said, most of the grapes having gone to raccoons and birds – but still, it showed promise. Similarly, he made about a barrel of Grenache, which, he said, exhib- ited the kind of wild minerality that excites him and keeps him focused. "Something far more interesting may develop beyond a proven variety," Grahm said. "It may seem counterintuitive, but when varietal characteristics are submerged, does this allow other characters to come to the fore? Until we do it, we don't know what will emerge. Magic is happening with the creation of small variations/variegations on the path to complexity and nuance in the resulting wine." Laura Ness, aka "Her VineNess," is a wine journalist and critic who judges a variety of wine competitions and writes regularly for consumer and trade publica- tions, including the websites WineOhTV.com and WineFoodExplorer.com. Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwmmedia.com. Most people think of Bonny Doon as a large winery, but these days it produces only about 50,000 cases per year. Money is in short supply, so Grahm invites all interested parties to help the experiment come to fruition. He dreams of 5,000 supporters, and believes the property can produce about 6,000 cases of wine a year. An initial infusion of $50,000-$100,000 would be suf- ficient to develop the pond and infrastructure for the experimen- tal plantings. Grahm plans to create an advi- sory board of viticulturists from around the world and wants to focus on how biochar can sup- port global agriculture. While the marketing and business development team at Bonny Doon is still working with Kickstarter and other platforms to formalize the details of the crowdsourcing campaign, it plans to offer a number of rewards for investors, such as the opportu- nity to name new grape varieties developed at the site. For information, visit bonny- doonvineyard.com – L.N. FUNDING THE EXPERIMENT This drawing shows Grahm's vision for the future of the Popelouchum property. In addition to vineyards, it includes peach and olive trees, and a vegetable garden.