Premium winegrowing is highly labor intensive. With the availability of a well trained labor force employed in the vegetable farming operation, all functions in the vineyard are performed by full-time, year round employees. One extremely labor intensive vineyard practice that is used to enhance fruit quality is leaf removal. Leaf pulling is employed throughout the vineyards to expose the grapes to more air and sunlight. This prevents powdery mildew, a common problem in the cool foggy conditions typical in the coastal area, while promoting more even ripening of the fruit.
Harvest is also very labor intensive.
Talley Vineyards is in a unique position to control this important operation because of the availability of an experienced labor crew employed by Talley Farms. The harvesting crew is mobilized at the moment that the grapes reach optimum maturity. The grapes are carefully hand harvested and sorted before being taken a short distance to the winery where they are immediately crushed. Talley Vineyards seeks to create wines which consistently reflect the unique character of the vineyard, the terroir, rather than changing trends in winemaking fashion. For this reason, they produce wines in the traditional Burgundian manner.