Sometimes the challenges around the vineyard seem insurmountable. In 2022, it started before bud break when the glass for our mid-March bottling was stuck on a ship in the Atlantic with no available port space. As a result, bottle costs nearly doubled as we scrambled to find replacements.
Shipping challenges also prevented the arrival of the new frost machines from California in time for bud break. The ensuing late spring frost killed half the primary buds on the Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Production of these wines was correspondingly reduced.
The warm winter disrupted vine phenology and ecological interdependencies. A foot of rain in August and Hurricane Ian heightened mildew pressure and diluted the wines. The precision electrostatic sprayer broke three times. We had powdery mildew in the Chardonnay blocks for the first time. Veraison was late, but harvest arrived quickly, with little time for sampling. Titratable acidity, a routine preharvest test, wasn’t measured. Neither was the yeast assimilable nitrogen, crucial to managing yeast nutrition during fermentation.
Disrupted supply chains remain a headache. We scheduled delivery of parts for the new destemmer to arrive in Baltimore in June. The ship reached the Chesapeake Bay in late October, long after harvest. Even then, it was redirected to Freeport, the Bahamas, again for lack of dock space. Our old destemmer, the one we, fortunately, hadn’t sold yet, didn’t start when I recommissioned it. Two members of the team had to isolate because of Covid-19 during harvest.
I was on edge throughout the season.
There Are No Bad Vintages
Every season, I’m dazzled that the buds break, shoots grow, inflorescences bloom, and fruit sets and ripens. It’s a bit like the sun coming up in the morning. Who can complain after that miracle? But some vintages are more successful than others. And despite the challenges, 2022 was more triumphant than most.
Some of the success was dumb luck. Red fruit yields were significantly larger than usual across the Mid-Atlantic region. Dodon was no exception. We picked more Merlot than we had tank space for, an excellent problem but one that required some ingenuity. The superb weather we had Memorial Day weekend resulted in high levels of fruit set. It made up for losing half the Sauvignon and Chardonnay to frost.
But preparation, planning, and hard work also contributed. July’s foot of rain reduced the phenolic levels below average, but the fruit was fully ripe and clean. The stormwater quickly infiltrated the vineyard floor. Despite the unusual occurrence of powdery mildew, we had very little downy mildew. While the good weather after veraison contributed, the benefits of our ecological farming practices are apparent.
And, of course, this success occurred with the tremendous effort of Dodon’s vineyard manager, Roberto Gomez, and his vineyard team. Facing the arrival of Hurricane Ian, the team regularly picked four and a half tons or more in the days preceding the storm, including 5.4 tons on the day Ian arrived. It was a truly heroic effort.
Transitions
Those of you who have been members of the wine club through the pandemic know the degree to which it forced us to change how we interact with you. As much as we enjoyed getting to know a broader slice of the community when we opened the vineyard to the public, it wasn’t us. We have neither the right place nor the disposition to be a raucous bar or restaurant. Instead, Dodon is a tranquil place to linger, converse, and enjoy nature.
We began transitioning back to tours, indoor seated tastings, dinners, and indoor and outdoor club member hours in 2022. It will hit full stride in 2023. Regina and the hospitality team will soon announce an exciting new year’s schedule, with more opportunities for private events and partnerships with wine shops, restaurants, and clubs.
Dodon’s hospitality manager, Katie Luscher, has successfully created a new food program that features offerings from some of our favorite local creameries, charcuterie makers, bakers, and other food artisans. You can look forward to enjoying this menu during wine club hours all year long.
We start the new year with some important staff changes. First, all of you in the Dodon Wine Club will be thrilled to hear that Regina has been promoted to General Manager. Simply put, she has earned our trust, respect, and admiration. Regina brings extraordinary commitment, thoughtfulness, and humanity to Dodon every day.
We welcome Kurtis Flaherty back to Dodon as Assistant Winemaker. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Kurtis excelled as an intern at Dodon during the 2020 vintage. He then successfully honed his skills at The Wine Collective in Baltimore over the past two harvests. His dream has been to oversee an integrated vineyard and winery operation. Kurtis’ intellectual curiosity, executive skills, and attention to detail will ensure his success.
Of course, we are all sorry to see former Assistant Winemaker Seth McCombs leave Dodon for new ventures. His kindness, quick smile, and friendship taught us to be better people. We wish Seth and his family all the best in their next chapter.
Looking forward to 2023
Our challenges reflect the state of the world in which we live. Covid-19 continues to cause misery and, all too frequently, death here and abroad. The senseless, unprovoked war in Ukraine prolongs suffering and despair in that country, hunger in east Africa, and economic hardship here and in Europe. These problems also created the supply chain problems that were always around the corner in 2022.
Greed and an extractive economy degrade soil, destroy ecosystems, and accelerate the climate crisis that affects us in many ways. Hatred, intolerance, and exploitation prolong unnecessary prejudice, gun violence, poverty, and poor health. A dysfunctional political system delays meaningful progress in solving these and other problems, even when we know what to do. A healthy planet seems idealistic and naïve. Cataclysm has become plausible.
Doing Our Part
In many ways, I am fortunate to be a winemaker and thus on the front lines of some of world’s greatest challenges. The essential partners of our trade, the vines, sequester carbon and create healthy soil. The vines become healthier and yield more when they are part of a diverse, functioning ecosystem. Unlike most in our community, we have the opportunity, indeed the obligation, to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide, not just slow emissions.
The extreme weather events and changing pest patterns, annual occurrences at Dodon, directly result from a rapidly changing climate. We could respond to them quickly by boosting the intensity and frequency of pesticide applications. But this short-term solution would also require tractor passes and more diesel fuel, kill beneficial insects, and reduce the diversity of the vineyard microbiome. In other words, farming in a conventional manner would contribute to the very problems that adversely affect us the most.
Instead, we look to nature for solutions. We seek healthy plants in a self-regulating system. Using the tools of agroecology, we build healthy soil, enhance biodiversity, and restore ecosystem function. Blending indigenous and traditional knowledge, we use diverse native cover crops to improve soil structure and create channels that allow stormwater to infiltrate deep into the subsoil. The sheep help build a diverse microbiome and enhance nutrient cycling. Adding crab meal to their winter ration reduces powdery mildew and eliminates tractor passes.
While we cannot solve the world’s problems alone, the Dodon team is determined to be a force for good in our community and the world. As we guide our small business through the zeitgeist of climate change, ecological degradation, economic disruption, and systemic racism, we promise to do our part to advance meaningful solutions and a more just, inclusive world.
So despite the trials of our operation, like many others, I’m entering 2023 remarkably upbeat, almost like a fog has lifted. It’s a toe-tapping type of optimism, the kind inspired by Aaron Copland’s “Hoe Down” from his ballet Rodeo. The challenges in the vineyard are daunting. Those faced by our species seem insurmountable. But there is a clear path to a bright future if we grab it.
As always, we thank you for being part of the Dodon community and wish you a happy and prosperous new year!