Winemaking has been a tradition in the Leonetti family since Francesco Leonetti immigrated to the Walla Walla Valley from Italy in 1905. Francesco was a truck gardener who grew an acre of grapes on the side to make wine for his family’s consumption. As a child, Gary Figgins sipped diluted wine served by his grandfather, Francesco. In 1974, Gary planted his first acre of grapes above his grandparent’s original homestead. Gary taught himself winemaking and produced his first wines in his basement under the Leonetti name in 1978. From the start his wines were in demand, and he soon quit his job as a machinist to pursue winemaking full time. Today Leonetti wines are available only in upscale restaurants or through their mailing list.

Chris Figgins is the next generation of winemakers in the Leonetti family, and he is grafting new ideas about vineyard management and resource conservation onto the family business. Chris collaborates with his father Gary in winemaking and is the lead viticulturist, overseeing management of nearly 200 acres of vineyards in four different locations in the Walla Walla Valley. Chris has a degree in horticulture, but feels there were some essential gaps in his formal education. “We spent so much time on soil structure and chemical makeup and very little time on soil biology” he says.

A presentation on the soil food web opened Chris’s eyes to the relationship between soil biology, overall plant health and fruit quality. He comments, “The next spring we ran soil biology assays, and not surprisingly given what I know now, the vineyards with the highest mycorrhizal colonization, the best soil quality and health, produce the highest aromatics and the highest quality of wine.” That convinced Chris to move toward more biology-centered soil management in the fields.

With his new interest in fostering the symbiotic relationship between beneficial fungus in the soil and the roots of his grape plants, Chris began applying compost teas to the vineyards to enhance natural nutrient cycling. Chris reports, “We have seen truly amazing results. Mycorrhizal colonization went from zero to 32 percent in one year using compost tea and fungal counts and bacterial biomass went up dramatically.”

There are also more visible differences that distinguish Leonetti’s vineyards from others in the region. For one thing, grasses and small flowering plants are allowed to grow on the rows between the grapes. “The wine industry is so visual in terms of the consumer and the media, that you just want everything looking perfect, like a golf course, when that is not necessarily the best thing for the soil.” Chris points out a delicate purple vetch tucked under the grape vines and notes, “Having a pollen source is great; beneficial insects require pollen to feed on when there are no pests available. We tolerate pests as long as they don’t get out of control. The key is to have things balanced.”

Reducing chemical use has been a goal for Chris for quite some time. The only pesticide spray they have used in the past three years was a fungicide spray for powdery mildew. And Chris explains that where they once used two to three under row herbicides a year, now they use just one in the early spring, relying on mechanical and hand weeding beyond that.”

Other techniques Chris is employing to improve soil biology involve reducing bare soil. He explains, “We have recently bought a side discharge mower to blow grass into the berm row to get organic matter there.” When there is enough rainfall, Chris will plant grass or clover as a cover crop between the rows. Chris has also planted lavender and wild roses in places that are not in grape production. He explains, “We used to spray fence rows to keep the weeds down. Why not plant a beneficial there that you don’t have to spray? It covers the ground and chokes the weeds out; you get a benefit from it and you lower your chemical and labor costs. It’s a no-brainer, but until you do it and it works, you really don’t think about it.” Now when Chris plants a vineyard, he intentionally leaves an area out of production to foster biology and provide some species diversity. “With a monoculture you have much wilder swings in your pest populations,” he reports.

Drip irrigation is another tool that Chris feels is well worth the cost, particularly in this dry region. “It is the only way to go out here,” he explains. “It allows us to conserve a lot of water and to have complete control. We can really shut down vines when we want to, and then we can spoon feed them until harvest which increases intensity and flavors in the grapes without growing big berries.”

Chris has noticed a marked improvement in the soil’s ability to absorb water since he has focused on building soil. “When we first started farming this piece of ground that had been farmed conventionally, we couldn’t run drip irrigation for 12 hours. The ground couldn’t absorb the water. It would just start running off. Since we have gotten the organic matter up, we can now run water for 24 to 36 hours — a vast improvement.”

Chris’s interest in conservation starts with the soil, but it doesn’t end there. Leonetti Cellars recently moved away from styrofoam packaging to recycled cardboard. After a few years of use, their oak barrels are cut in half and sold as planters. Chris is eyeing some of the vineyard’s ridges in this windy valley for the possibility of locating energy-generating turbines. And an on-site compost operation is in the works that could accept the crushed skin and seeds from the thirty-some winemakers that have now joined Leonetti in the Walla Walla Valley.

Chris has been active with a group of local growers creating local sustainable viticulture standards for Walla Walla Valley, under the name Vinea. Explains Chris, “We have always wanted to be green and light, but we never wanted to push organics because we don’t have that marketing need and we don’t want to be pigeonholed into that.” Under the Vinea program, vineyards can only use chemicals with a maximum half-life of 90 days. Chris says, “I think if we can set an example – have it be economically feasible and have quality make a leap forward – there is no way people won’t get on board. Furthermore, the Vinea program employs a framework which recognizes that every vineyard has different issues and challenges: soils, rain, cover cropping capabilities, neighbors. It is not a one-size fits all program.”

The growth of the wine industry in the Walla Walla Valley has been staggering since 1977 when Leonetti Cellar opened the valley’s first winery. “Wineries are changing the face of agriculture in this valley,” says Chris. “It used to be ‘wheat is king’ around here. Now, wine is becoming the premier crop, along with sweet onions. It’s neat to have the diversity and the value added; that is what it is going to take in the global economy.”

Chris notes that while he is the one bringing in the changes, his dad is all for it. He says, “My dad has always has been on the green side of things. We are in a unique position compared to other kinds of agriculture because with vertical integration we can pass on any added costs.” In the long term, Chris doesn’t think farming sustainably will be more expensive, in fact, he thinks it will be less so. He comments, “It falls in so well with how we operate. We are second generation, full-time winegrowers. Everything we do is not for us or for quick profit: it is to be long-term, stable, and generational in our business, in our soils, in everything.”

Contact
Leonetti Cellar LLC
Chris Figgins
1875 Foothills Lane
Walla Walla, WA 99362
Tel: 509-525-1428
www.leonetticellar.com