GROWER
Sebastapol, California, North America

Bob Nellessen’s best memories from childhood took place on his grandparents’ farm. Perhaps it was nostalgia, along with a yearning for his own tractor and having a friend who inherited some land and planted vines, that inspired him. He took some viticulture classes at the local junior college, found his piece of paradise, built a house and planted some vines. But, typical of Bob, he did not plant the usual Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that grow so well in this cool-climate region. Bob recalls, “I really enjoy my memories of the Rhône Valley, and there was a crazy Italian guy to the west of me growing Syrah, and I decided I would too.”

Bob is master of his universe, even if it is only eight acres. His favorite part of the day is coming home from the office and spending time with his three dogs — Lucy, “the alpha female”; Daisy; and Wolf — in his vineyards. He farms biodynamically with a combination of instinct, study and invention. “I was always a scientist, so the botany and chemistry are easy for me,” he says. Not that taking care of the vineyards is always easy; according to Bob his sandy loam soils are “goo in the winter and cement in the summer” and are quite fertile, so he has to keep close watch on the vigor (the fewer grapes there are, the more flavor they have). 

He harvested his first crop in 2003. After custom crushing the grapes and bottling the wine, on a whim he entered it in the 2005 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. His wine won the Schott Zwiesel Double Gold, Best of Class. But retail was not for him, so he sold his grapes in bulk until Pax Mahle approached him in 2006. Pax, a big fan of cool-climate grapes, likes the freshness they give to his wines. Pax has been making the single-vineyard Nellessen Syrah ever since. It is a symbiotic relationship based on shared respect for viticulture, winemaking and each other. And Bob likes the wine Pax makes from his grapes!

When you ask farmers how they are, they answer you in very different terms than most people. Bob will respond with something like “The ground is so dry that the recent rain was immediately absorbed” or “The grapes are at the jungle stage” or “My youngest [vines] are enjoying the cooler, wetter weather.” It seems the Old World is no different from the New World when it comes to the relationship between a farmer who farms organically and his vines.

Bob’s Syrah distinctly possesses a classic Rhône white pepper aroma, and I wondered if it comes from his soil. He says, “Varietal character comes not only from the scion genes, weather and soil chemistry, but also from the bacterial and fungal composition, the micro-fauna and -flora. After all, bacteria and fungus have been fighting for supremacy on this earth for two billion years!” Whatever the reason, what matters most is that the man and his grapes are happy and it shows in the wines.