JIM STOLLBERG ANSWERS TEN QUESTIONS
SLO City News • January 21 –27, 2010
Ten Questions with Lynn Diehl
Jim Stollberg—Maverick Farming Company
Santa Maria Valley native Jim Stollberg
owns Maverick Farming Company
(www.maverickfarming.com) and man-
ages more than four hundred acres of local
vineyards. Jim answered Ten Questions with
Lynn Diehl this week.
Did you make any New Year’s resolutions?
If so, what are they?
This year I decided to get healthier and spend
more time with my twin boys, now 3 ½ years
old. The great thing about growing wine
grapes is the flexible schedule, but for the last
few years, flexible changed to long work days.
This year I have focused my management on
fewer, but more quality oriented vineyards
which will maximize my work efficiency and
gets me to the gym and home earlier at night.
What work takes place in the vineyards in
January?
We began pruning on the 4th and are control-
ling weeds under the vines. Pruning is our
most important operation during the year
because we manipulate how the vines will
grow and how many clusters each vine will
produce. Attention to detail and good deci-
sions can make the upcoming season much
easier if the vines are pruned correctly.
How many acres do you manage?
I manage 440 acres between 4 ranches in the
Santa Maria Valley.
How are the vineyards different? Or do
they share some of the same characteris-
tics given their proximity?
Every vineyard is different because of vari-
eties/clones, row spacing, and trellis systems.
I could go on and on. In my case working
specifically in the Santa Maria Valley, I have
similar weather across all of my acreage.
What is the best part of your job?
I love being able to directly influence how
and what attributes the wines have from the
grapes I produce. Every winemaker is look-
ing for something different in their wines
and being able to discuss what I see in the
grapes, which may get them to their goal, is
a lot of fun. On the business side, I enjoy
striving for very efficient vineyard opera-
tions and getting my guys in the field to
buy into their important role in the whole
process.
How do you foster a working relation-
ship with winemakers so that the grapes
reach their potential as wine? Do you
have a favorite vintage/varietal/label so
far in your career?
I try to understand what the winemakers are
looking for. The interesting thing is some
winemakers are in the field at pruning and
some show up the day of harvest. Both
approaches can be successful as long as there
is trust and knowledge between the grower
and winemaker.
I have been most involved in Riverbench
Vineyard’s (www.riverbench.com) winemak-
ing thus far in my career and enjoy the 2006
Estate Pinot Noir. The vineyard produces
fruit forward, multi-layered Pinot Noir
grapes from 35-year-old vines and the
resulting wine is fun to drink.
You went to UC Davis – which is a ter-
rific place for viticulture education –
what didn’t your degree prepare you for?
Everyday labor manage-
ment was something I
learned in the field follow-
ing college. I knew the
legal and logistical man-
agement of people, but the
intangible relationship
building and trust between
management and the peo-
ple who actually complete
the many tasks was a sur-
prise to me. I have learned
that building these rela-
tionships and treating peo-
ple with respect, whether
they be in a suckering crew
or a ranch foreman, makes
everything we do more suc-
cessful.
Do you taste the wine in
barrels? I’m just wonder-
ing what you thought of
this year’s grapes. I have
tasted various Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
barrels from the vineyards I manage and
think, at this point, the Chardonnay may be
a great one. The Pinot Noir was a little beat
up during harvest with the strange weather
and I think will begin to show its character
better later this spring.
Do you make wine yourself?
I have tinkered with various varieties on
small scales, but more for learning and fun
than to produce a wine for sale.
What advice would you give someone
who wants to go into vineyard manage-
ment?
Be prepared to get your hands dirty because
good management is being in the field see-
ing, touching, and smelling what is going
on. My mentors are men who worked their
way up from hands on experience. They put
me through the same rigors and I am better
for it. The second important piece of advice
would be to expect to work every day.
Farming and ranch management doesn’t
take too many weekends off, but the flexi-
bility and results can be very rewarding.
Lynn Diehl is the
owner and host of Wine
Region News Weekend
TV.
The print version of
“Ten Questions” may be
edited for space consid-
erations.