Episode 108: Increasing the Nutrient Density of Wine Grapes with Nicole Dooling and Michael Frey

Regenerative Agriculture Podcast

AEA Marketing

Science, Natural Sciences, Earth Sciences

4.7 • 548 Ratings

🗓️ 7 March 2024

⏱️ 77 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Nicole Dooling and Michael Frey help operate Mariah Vineyards in the Mendocino Ridge alongside Nicole's parents, Dan and Vicki. As founders, Dan and Vicki have mindfully tended their land for over 40 years, putting in the hard labor of planting and growing this vineyard from the ground up. Their family and vineyard have thrived due to their dedication, adaptability, and resourcefulness in working with nature. Situated at 2,400 ft elevation without irrigation, they holistically manage their vineyard using organic and regenerative farming practices.

In 2020, Mariah Vineyards partnered with the Savory Institute to pilot the Land to Market Ecological Outcome Verification program for vineyards worldwide. They are proud to be the first regenerative vineyard for Savory's Global Land to Market Verified program and are dedicated to helping expand regenerative viticulture.

In this episode, John, Nicole, and Michael discuss:

How regenerative agriculture is a constant path of exploration and learning
Rewarding results coming from the process of trial and error
Different generations of growers working together
Cover crop management
Pruning for sap flow
Measuring and managing nutrient density

Additional Resources
To learn more about pruning for sap flow, visit: https://simonitesirch.us/

To learn more about the Savory Institute, visit: https://savory.global/

To get a copy of the Plant Health Pyramid, developed by John Kempf, visit: https://advancingecoag.com/growers-tools/

About John Kempf
John Kempf is the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA). A top expert in biological and regenerative farming, John founded AEA in 2006 to help fellow farmers by providing the education, tools, and strategies that will have a global effect on the food supply and those who grow it.

Through intense study and the knowledge gleaned from many industry leaders, John is building a comprehensive systems-based approach to plant nutrition – a system solidly based on the sciences of plant physiology, mineral nutrition, and soil microbiology.

Support For This Show & Helping You Grow
Since 2006, AEA has been on a mission to help growers become more resilient, efficient, and profitable with regenerative agriculture.

AEA works directly with growers to apply its unique line of liquid mineral crop nutrition products and biological inoculants. Informed by cutting-edge plant and soil data-gathering techniques, AEA's science-based programs empower farm operations to meet the crop quality markers that matter the most.

AEA has created real and lasting change on millions of acres with its products and data-driven services by working hand-in-hand with growers to produce healthier soil, stronger crops, and higher profits.

Beyond working on the ground with growers, AEA leads in regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.

Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com

VIDEO: To learn more from John Kempf about regenerative agriculture, watch this conversation between John and three AEA grower partners about how regenerative agriculture is changing lives and conventional farming: https://youtu.be/n9U6GwbYPDk

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hi friends, this is John. Welcome back to the regenerative agriculture podcasts. You won't believe the
0:05.3	fun conversation we're going to have today. I've been looking forward to this discussion. I'm joined by
0:10.4	a farming couple, Michael Frye and Nicole Dooling from Mariah Vineyards, who have a really fascinating story of the journey that they have been on with their vineyard in California.
0:21.6	Michael and Nicole, welcome to the show. Thanks for all the work that you're doing. Can you tell
0:26.6	us a little bit about your personal journey, your story, both the two of you as individuals,
0:33.1	and what brought you back to the farm, and what has been happening with your enterprise?
0:38.7	First of all, thank you very much for having us and I think.
0:43.2	Yeah, thanks for having us on. I mean, I listen to be a podcast all the time.
0:47.3	So it's amazing to be on the other side of it, I guess.
0:52.5	Long story long. No, I'll try to make it short, but I guess we should start with
1:00.0	Mariah Vineyards is a high elevation dry farm vineyard in the Mendocino Ridge AVA.
1:09.0	It is the, as far as I know, still only non-contiguous ABA in America.
1:14.8	It consists of the first coastal ridge line in Mendocino County. When you say a high elevation
1:21.8	and dry land, what does that translate to in terms of moisture, rainfall? What does that look like in terms of a farming environment?
1:29.7	So our vineyard, well, the ABA is anything above 1,200 feet. So it's kind of this peak
1:36.2	mountain top peaks along this ridgeline. Our vineyards had said about approximately 2,400 feet,
1:42.5	which is quite high for, you know, a vineyard in
1:47.3	California. And our, well, whatever is normal anymore is, I don't know, but we get...
1:55.0	Normal is becoming pretty changeable, isn't it?
1:57.0	Yes. So climate variability is definitely an issue.
2:01.6	So I mean, the level of rainfall we got when I grew up up there versus what we get now
2:07.3	is obviously different.
	...

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