Hyde Vineyard / HdV Winery: tasting terroir in Carneros
This is Mr Stephane Vivier, taking us through Hyde Vineyards . He is the winemaker of both Hyde de Villaine and Vivier in Carneros. Here, he is examining chardonnay grapes and teaching us a bit about the pros and cons of high elevation, botrytis, and millerandage.
Hyde Vineyards is one of the most treasured vineyards in California, and one reason for this is Mr Vivier, who is a purist but also a scientist. His task is to translate Burgundian philosophy that great wine is made in the vineyard, and that starts with terroir and finishes with careful viticulture and vinification. As Vivier told us, “terroir needs to be found, and then respected.” Such beliefs are why Hyde Vineyards practices green viticulture: no herbicides, predominately dry farming, use of cover crops, and careful canopy management. The vines at Hyde Vineyard work at optimal performance without the need for outside fertilization or systematic irrigation, therefore letting the land and vines speak for themselves.
This is chardonnay, almost ready to harvest on this sustainably farmed vineyard. It is essential in vineyard management to match the right rootstock with the right varietal and soil type in order to control vigor, yield, quality and complexity. At Hyde Vineyard, seven different unique rootstock are planted amongst the eight varietals planted.
But what else keeps the sense of terroir in Carneros? I would say: the people. It is imperative that the people pruning the vines, measuring ripeness, harvesting, or handling the vineyard in any aspect understand the nuances of each row. That is why Hyde Vineyard has a very small but dedicated staff to run its affairs. The winery foreman has been working with the property for 30 years and knows each vine like the back of his hand. He is also charged with training the next generation of Hyde Vineyard elite. Stefane Vivier has not only a background in enology and biochemistry, but has also worked in the vineyards of Burgundy for most of his life. Larry Hyde, the proprietor and vineyard manager, is a UC-Davis educated man who got his start apprenticing under the forefathers of the Napa Valley wine industry, and is also renowned for his clonal experiments. Aubert de Villaine, director of HdV, is the co-proprietor of Burgundy’s famed DRC, bringing with him the strict Burgundian philosophies of terroir and quality-minded limited production. It is these people make the terroir sing, and the commitment to quality at Hyde Vineyard and HdV runs in the family.
