Why appreciation of old vines is challenging yet more important than ever
Recent harvest in Mokelumne River-Lodi's Royal Tee Vineyard, a mixed block of own-rooted vines (Zinfandel with Carignan, Mission, Flame Tokay and Black Prince), still owned and farmed by the same family who planted the vineyard in 1889. Old vines are officially a thing. For years and years, appreciation of old vines has fallen almost exclusively in the domain of growers who nurture old plantings far beyond the conventional shelf life of productive grapevines, typically thought of as somewhere in the range of 25 to 35 years. The reasons for farming vines much longer than that have been, for past generations, largely selfless, entailing motivations not much more than the importance of retaining family heirlooms. Maybe nine parts sentiment, one part value or practicality. You know how pet dogs often resemble their humans (or is it vice versa)? Custodians of old vines are often like their plants, creaky and cantankerous, stubborn and gnarled, wise beyond belief—the wine world's
