By Kristen Shubert
The email from owner of Catalina View Wines, Jim York said: “We harvest Pinot tomorrow.” It was August 10—an early harvest for any grape, especially a red grape. With my doubts, but also excitement, I immediately planned my trip down the coast to Los Angeles, to be a part of the first harvest of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, the newest AVA in California.
The Lay of the Land
According to York, “The climate, geology, soils, and elevation are perfect for the thin-skinned Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes.” And the fog patterns and ocean breezes over the peninsula provide protection from the Mediterranean climate.
Ken Brown, who York has dubbed the “Prince of Pinot” because of his 40 years working with the fickle grape, consults on the project. He assured me of the unique positioning of the vineyard: “Since Catalina View Vineyard is only several hundred meters from the Pacific Ocean, it has a short dormancy period and a very narrow daily diurnal change during growing season.”
The ripening process follows the cycles of dormancy, growth, harvest . . . back to dormancy. The process begins in January/February when the soil begins to warm with 63-degree temperatures that wake up the dormant vine. The Palos Verdes Peninsula has an 8- to 15-degree diurnal shift versus an area like Sta. Rita Hills, which has a 30- to 40-degree shift. Brown explained that “the end result is that the time from budbreak to harvest is about the same number of days as the warmer east end of the Sta. Rita Hills.”
The five-acre vineyard is planted on the south, southeast, and southwest-facing slopes, providing year-round sun exposure. The soils are a blend of loam and clay, which retains moisture, a much-needed factor when average annual rainfall is 14 inches. These soils—specifically Altamont clay, Altamont clay adobe, and Diablo clay adobe—have high percentages of calcium, which can help develop thicker skins than non-calcareous sites. Grapevine roots are continually searching for moisture and nutrients deeper into the soil as they age. The physical properties of the soil are important: In clay, roots can penetrate deeper through the dried cracks in summer to find moisture; vines have a certain amount of energy to expend between root growth, canopy growth, and berry ripening, and if the root system is searching for nutrients and water in poor soil, such as the notorious hardpan of Los Angeles County, that energy will detract from the berry-ripening function.
Surprisingly, this year the Pinot Noir was ripe at 23.8 degrees Brix with perfectly formed dark clusters. The chemistry of the 2021 harvest “has been just about perfect and not needing acid adjustments,” according to Brown, who also shared the juice’s pH of 3.44 and the 5.9 g/L titratable acidity measurements. The Chardonnay was harvested a week later, which is customary, and measured 23.6 Brix, pH of 3.25, and 7.6g/L titratable acidity.
Becoming an AVA
York planted the vineyard in 2012 and has produced commercial-quality grapes the past four vintages. Over the four years, vineyard manager Nick Zetts has implemented techniques like leaf pulling, shoot positioning, cluster thinning, and bird netting, which has helped show improvement with each vintage. Meanwhile, York petitioned for the Palos Verdes Peninsula AVA. “We didn’t want to print ‘California’ on our labels; we wanted something more specific,” he said.
Creating an AVA is no simple feat. A petitioner must submit their petition to The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Commission (TTB), which is created from an 83-page instructional guide. In addition they must also submit boundaries with GPS coordinates, USGS map analysis, rainfall charts, and further climate and soil information. In providing such information “the petitioner [explains] how features of the proposed AVA affect grape growing (grape varietals, process, viticulture),” according to Karen Thornton, AVA program director in the regulations and rulings department at the TTB.
When the petition meets all requirements, it is “perfected,” and will proceed forward with “rulemaking.” The rule document is drafted, and the site is open for public comments that are usually for, but can be against, the creation of the AVA. Thornton said that on average in the United States, seven petitions for new AVAs are granted each year.
Wes Hagen was key in petitioning the Alisos Canyon AVA which, along with several other Central Coast AVAs, became effective in September of 2020. Hagen said that when a petition is submitted, the motivation is “leaving a legacy of carefully identifying special growing areas.” And he posited that “an AVA only helps if the winemaker and growers use it as an important tool of place.”
York’s petition was completed by the Treasury Department on January 9, 2021—days before the Trump administration left the White House. Both York and Hagan said the administration shut down the Federal Register, adding months to the ratification of their AVAs. There is no exact deadline for the process, as Thornton said of the process, “It’s done when it’s done.” She also remarked that “the Trump administration wanted to see everything,” which slowed the approval. All parties agree that the measures were intended to reduce red tape, but instead created lengthy delays and thousands of dollars.
But after years of hard work, the Palos Verdes Peninsula AVA was granted in June, and the bottles in the 700 cases that Catalina View Wines produced in 2020 will have the official Palos Verdes Peninsula AVA distinction on their labels. There is already a fair amount of local buzz about the AVA—according to York, Catalina View Wines “sales are through the roof,” noting a recent order of five cases from a restaurant in nearby Santa Monica that jumped at the opportunity to have a Palos Verdes Peninsula AVA wine on its list.
When asked about future expansion, York said, “The good news is that I own 120 acres and can receive approval from the City of Rancho Palos Verdes to plant an additional 15 acres.” The AVA is 15,900 acres total, so there is room for expansion for his neighboring vignerons. Opening a tasting room, however, requires jumping through a whole separate set of hoops, and the winery has yet to house one. But interested parties in the area can purchase Catalina View Wines in Rancho Palos Verdes at Terranea Resort, Malaga Cove Market, the International Seafood Market, and at the Wine Shoppe in Torrance, California.
