Bye-bye, Berlenbach Vineyards.

The end of an era.  Today, Far Niente Winery, who lease quite a bit of land in the Coombsville AVA, bulldozed out the aged Chardonnay vines at Berlenbach Vineyards.  (This is the vineyard that UC Davis were not interested in owning.)  I climbed up to the top of Vinoland and watched as a Caterpillar D6 uprooted the vines and pushed them into huge, gnarled heaps.  Always sad to see.
Later in the afternoon, when the dust had all settled, Vinodog 2 and I took a stroll up to the vineyard to have a peep at what was going on.  It's a fabulous site, the soil seems to be of great quality - a gravelly loam (no tuff, like Vinoland), with wonderful western sun exposure.  Far Niente have already had the new Chardonnay vines delivered for the replanting.  In a fenced enclosure, with shade cloth for roofing, I'd estimate that 10,000+ green-growing bench-grafts await their moment in the sun.  Vinodog 2 and I introduced ourselves - after all, we will soon be watching their development, from Vinoland, on a daily basis.