Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/654468
LAST BITE More Young Growers at goodfruit.com/yg Mike McLaren grower / Salem, Oregon age / 35 crops / Wine grapes business / Vineyard Equipment Manager, Chateau Ste. Michelle Canoe Ridge Estate Vineyard family background / Mike is a fi rst-generation grower who pursued a degree in winemaking before getting his start working in wine sales, distribution and learning to make wine at Corliss Estates. " " " " What are some of your recent goals? I recently took an opportunity with Ste. Michelle that would allow me to really develop my viticulture skills. All along the way I've obtained a ton of knowledge. Even though my path might not have been direct, I think the education I've gained from it is fairly signifi cant. I've been working with the management team to fi gure out what our shortcomings are, what we can improve on in the vineyard, year-in, year-out. Also, keeping on top of what's popular in the industry does give me an edge and understanding where we can improve quality. What do you see as the focus for vineyards of the future? If labor is an issue then we'll plan for mechani- zation to reduce potential problems. I think we'll see a signifi cant dip in the next three to fi ve years. We need to fi gure out how to balance the quality against a reduction of labor. Quality control using mechanization has been fairly inconsistent. What do you think Washington vineyards will be doing soon? I think over the next several years you're going to see a lot of older vineyards coming across problems with plant parasitic nematodes, Eutypa dieback, and grapevine leafroll virus. We're going to have to fi gure out a way to remove signifi cant amounts of vineyard in a short period of time for replant. Because the second you know you've got a problem, you've got to remove it. From a technology standpoint, we've found a machine that can take a single plant and remove all root infrastructure out of the ground before replant. What would you tell younger growers? My dad had a strong work ethic, and I was able to take from that and apply it to my career in the wine industry. It is extremely hard work that involves a lot of hard hours, but the payoff is being able to say that I grow wine grapes. How cool is that? " You can't make good wine with bad fruit. It all starts in the vineyard. PLAY goodfruit.com/yg scan to watch the interview www.gslong.com SPONSORED BY by TJ Mullinax More from this interview and other Young Growers at goodfruit.com/yg. 46 MARCH 15, 2016 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com