Paradoxically, drought years can produce unusually good wine—providing the vines are husbanded properly. With limited rainfall, the roots dig deep for moisture, and the resulting fruit possesses the kind of tannins that can produce artful complexity in wine. Pisoni’s 2016 estate wines offer excellent example of the bold tannins and intensity that develop when vines are stressed in this way. But they must also be carefully coaxed and managed. Conditions in 2016 led the Pisonis to drop a considerable amount of fruit, Jeff notes. Indeed, at approximately two tons/acre, the yield for the 2016 vintage was considerably lower than Pisoni’s three ton/acre maximum.

Mark, Pisoni’s vineyard manager explains this phenomenon: “the 2016 drought made the vines work extra hard. Phenolic maturity came early, and we adapted our farming to obtain balanced fruit by harvest.” Once the fruit reached the winery, Jeff furthered Mark’s work in the vineyard with similar fine-tuned adjustments during fermentation. In the cellar, Jeff, explains, “our priority was to watch the tannin evolution during fermentation.” Because the fruit had greater structure, Jeff shifted the majority of punch-down (the practice of breaking up the “cap” of skins, seeds, stems, and pulp that rise to the surface during fermentation) to the beginning and middle of this process with less at the end.

As many people know, grapevines are highly sensitive to changes in soil and weather. Just as the vines respond to weather, so the Pisonis respond to the vines. For Jeff and Mark and their father Gary, who work in concert to this end, adaption is an active, ongoing process—one performed season after season.

Their commitment to developing sustainable farming methods is a natural outgrowth of their close attention to the land. They plant a cover crop to foster soil diversity and a balanced ecosystem in the vineyards. They graft phylloxera-resistant and drought-resistant root stocks onto the vines as well as growing grapes on their own roots so that they can tailor their grape-growing to specific soil characteristics. And they till the soil in accord with the level of precipitation to prevent run-off and increase the amount of moisture the land absorbs after each rain. Their Santa Lucia Highland vineyards are at inherently low risk to rising temperatures, thanks both to their elevation and their location near the Pacific, with its cooling, almost year-round fogs. Nonetheless, the family sees sustainable winemaking as a process that is both ecologically sound and socially responsible. Jeff sums up this point of view nicely. In the course of working toward creating the best possible wine, “working toward sustainable farming allows us to do our part in Monterey County on our ranch.”