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VINEYARD NORTHWEST WATCH According to Bob Rupar of Nel- son Irrigation, who is another managing partner at both Seven Hills and SeVein, "We hired expert hydrogeologists to help us deter- mine where to drill. Even so, we got very lucky; we hit a wonder- ful vein." He explained, "They did a 24-hour drawdown test after we tapped it, and it lowered the water level by only 10 feet. Then it recov- ered in something like two sec- onds. We were elated. That's an amazingly good source." have ambitions to be (major Cali- fornia vineyard land owner) Andy Beckstoffer." Securing the right to partition the land below that 160-acre minimum turned out to be the most difficult hurdle in SeVein's establishment. Other factions of local agriculture decided to fight the request. "It © 2012 StaVin Inc. took five years and a trip to the Ore- gon Supreme Court," said Clubb. "But we finally won. We secured the right to sell 40-acre parcels. So we proceeded to design and engi- neer all the roads and the water network. Plus, we obtained a few early investors." He added, "Then we hit the recession." Chris Figgins, co-owner of Leonetti Cel- lar, overcame concerns about water and zoning issues with the SeVein project. With the land acquired and plenty of good water available, the partners were eager to move for- ward with vineyard development. But there was one more issue to address: "We had zoning to tackle," said Figgins. "Each of the managing partners had agreed to take 80 acres with corresponding water rights. As well, we'd devel- op infrastructure across the entire property so we could sell the rest of it as vineyard lots alongside our own. But the minimum legal parcel size was 160 acres, and few people WWW.VWM-ONLINE.COM For over twenty years we've searched the world to source the very fi nest oak known to wine. Our hikes through numerous forests in countries on two continents have yielded fi ndings some winemakers consider treasure. Such travels have shown us the rewards of perseverance, and the importance of variety. Because even the most delicious wines rarely taste the same. StaVın Inc, P.O.Box 1693, Sausalito,CA 94966 (415) 331-7849 f (415) 331-0516 stavin.com ® SEPT - OCT 2012 VINEYARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT 31