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DEPARTMENT HEADER july 2017 / the tasting panel / 63 wines, Steve Peck, as we taste the 2015 J. Lohr Estates Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon. "We want to remind people that this is still estate. We control quality at every stage of winegrowing and winemaking." Often when wineries scale up, there's a need to cut corners to meet necessary budget targets. Not so with J. Lohr. "We're doing the same thing we were doing 20 years ago, but we're just doing more of it and always improving quality, vintage after vintage," says Peck. A Constant Drive for Quality We spend two days touring J. Lohr's vineyards in the Estrella District, San Miguel District, El Pomar District and Adelaide District (all sub-AVAs of the greater Paso Robles AVA). The first stop is the Hilltop Vineyard, where we joins Peck along with vineyard manager Johnny Pierini and viticulturist Anji Perry. After a walk through the prop- erty, we took a seat at the picnic table in the "pollinator habitat." There, we taste the Hilltop Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 and 2013, while seated at the site that inspired the bottling. While Hilltop is still one of J. Lohr's premier Paso vineyards, it's no longer the exclusive source for this bottling. The property has expanded dramatically into newer plantings on higher grounds, with newer clones and tighter spacing. 2010 was an important vintage for farming at J. Lohr. After attending an industry conference, the team was inspired by a lecture from a renowned French viticulturist regarding irriga- tion. They decided to test the expert's theory at J. Lohr. The concept was to supplement spring rains with irriga- tion up through June 1, followed by a complete cessation or "dry down." The idea parallels the reasoning behind dry- farming: forcing the roots to dig deeper into the ground in search of resources. This ultimately allows the vines to be less susceptible to environmental pressures above ground. The vines are closely monitored each week following the "dry down" by Perry and her team using a variety of methods that include measuring the stem-water potential and providing supplemental water if the stress is too great. Since then, their vineyards have thrived despite a six-year drought. "We get asked all the time, 'Do you fertilize?'" says Pierini, who manages both the Home Ranch and Gene Ranch in the Adelaide District. "We're even able to get away with not adding nitrogen fertilizer." Next, we drive 30 minutes west to Gene Ranch, a 50-acre vineyard that sits at the northwesternmost boundary of the Adelaide District. Pierini explains that here they see the greatest diurnal temperature swings. Just the day before, the low was 45° and the high was 98°. The greatest concern at this site is frost. Yet the unique soil types, elevation and climate make it worth the effort, as the result is tiny, intense Potential MONTEREY PIONEER J. LOHR VINEYARDS & WINES LOOKS SOUTH TO PASO ROBLES FOR CABERNET SAUVIGNON by Michelle Ball / photos by Jeremy Ball