“After experimenting for several years with a few blocks of vines, in 2003 we decided to make the jump to the entire vineyard,” says Marimar Estate Vineyards & Winery founder Marimar Torres.
Over the past decade, the Marimar winery has become a leader among “green wineries” in Sonoma County, adopting policies and procedures that will help assure the estate is around for decades to come.
“The whole idea is to create an ideal balance between the vines and nature,” Torres notes. “The vineyard will be ecologically healthier, and the grapes of higher quality. That’s our long-term reward.”
Torres adds that she is excited about taking the next step.
“Now that our vineyards are certified organic, we are moving into biodynamics,” she says. “This is really a step up from organic viticulture, where the approach is to see the vineyard as an ecological whole; not just rows of grapevines, but the soil beneath them — an organism in its own right — and the other flora and fauna in the area, growing together interdependently. To enhance biodiversity, ‘compost teas,’ prepared from special herbs, are also sprayed in minute quantities.
“Biodynamics is a leap of faith; it’s impossible to quantify the success of the practices. But we firmly believe that our wines have become more reflective of their terroir, rounder, and more ‘stand-alone’ since we became organic.”
