Vineyard Day Photography for Levo Wine
MAY 2019 / / LEVO WINE / / SAN LUIS OBISPO – SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
Sharing a look into a spring day spent traveling down the coast for vineyard checks with Bret, Alex, and Sabreena of Levo Wine. Nothing beats working alongside such truly passionate people to document their process, all while learning more about the details that go into winemaking. After meeting at Scout Coffee in San Luis Obispo, we headed out to our 1st stop of the day – a vineyard site in Edna Valley. With coffee and camera in hand, we wandered through the vineyard block. It was a cool morning, with grey skies dotted by clouds overhead. Bret and Alex meticulously leafed through, row by row, making note of shoot growth and the health/quality of the vines, while pruning along the way. We found vibrant colors on the vines, especially the coral splashed edges of the newly blossomed leaves.
We then headed out of San Luis Obispo county, eventually making our way as far south as Santa Barbara. Along the way, we visited an array of vineyard sites and found a wealth of diversity at each one. Each site had its own fingerprint, unique to its microclimate, age, vine training methods, and naturally occurring soil type. We walked through chalky, calcareous soil that felt as finely milled as sand at one site, to then find warm-toned, clay-based, rocky soil at the next. Braving the occasional snake and unrelenting seasonal allergies, we enjoyed a sun-soaked afternoon of blue skies, with turkey vultures soaring overhead and Yerba Mate on deck.
At the last vineyard site of the day, grey skies reminiscent of our morning returned, looking close to rain before we headed back up North. Throughout the rest of spring and summer, they continued to check the sites in preparation for Harvest.
“Hour by hour, green is beginning,
the essential season, leaf by leaf,
until, by spring’s name, we are summoned
to take part in its joy.”
– From “Dazzle of Day” by Pablo Neruda
