Wine Grape Growing Guidelines for Northern California

The Region

• Wine Country in Northern California is northeast of San Francisco, where premium wine grapes grow in a Mediterranean climate of morning fog and afternoon sun. Viniculture, wine grape growing, has been part of the region since the Spanish missions were founded in the mid-18th century.

  When California wines beat their French counterparts in a blind Paris taste test in 1976, there were 25 wineries in Napa Valley; in 2011, there are more than 400. California has 107 designated American Viticultural Areas, the most famous -- Napa, Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino -- are in Northern California.

The Grapes

• European wines dominated the industry for centuries. California imported Vitis vinifera grape vines from historic vineyards in 1833, grafting them onto native root stocks. By 1860, some 300 varieties had been imported. They especially thrived in Northern California, maturing naturally in the dry warm summers.

Growing Methods

• Growers in Northern California plant north-south rows so both sides of the vine are exposed to the sun and plant above frost-prone, low-lying areas. Vines are 6 feet apart and rows 8 feet wide. Grape vines are trellised on three wires stretched at 40, 52 and 64 inches above the soil. The strongest shoot is trained to grow straight up. By the second year, two side shoots will become the arms from which all grape fruiting canes will grow. Fruit is harvested when the sugar content measures a gravity between 1.095 and 1.105. Vines average a gallon of wine per year.

  Grapes and wine have been consumed by humans for thousands of years. As man developed agriculture, wine grapes were cultivated and vineyards passed from generation to generation using the same processes. Growing methods were seldom questioned, examined, regulated or scientifically studied until the 1860s.

  With the rapid growth of wineries in the late 20th century, Northern California growers began to examine their practices and how they affect future generations.

Growing Guidelines

• The California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance produced the Code of Sustainable Winegrowing in 2002. Guidelines call for environmentally sound, economically viable and socially equitable practices. There are 14 areas of activity in the guidelines including use of pesticides, herbicides, water and fertilizer.

  Growers attest to their practices in ecosystem management, water use, energy efficiency, air quality and solid waste reduction. A winery on a hill above a salmon stream may plant a cover crop to curb sediment runoff and control weeds with organic methods to protect hatchlings. Growers may follow Integrated Pest Management practices to limit the use of chemicals and farm organically with biological pest controls to eliminate pesticide use.