Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1037369
{ SOMMjournal.com } 97 Abreu may have made his mark in the vineyards, but Lede's love for art and music is equally apparent here. The vine- yard blocks are named after classic rock songs; the "Stairway to Heaven" block, for example, leads up to the Poetry Vineyard and a posh ve-room hotel (the only ac- commodations in the SLD). Cohen, joined by Russ Weis of Silverado Vineyards and Clos Du Val Director of Operations Jon-Mark Chappellet, challenged the somms to a game of sustainable-centric Jeopardy as they sipped their wines. (Pro tip: Make sure Mastro's sommelier Julie Dalton is on your team. She takes notes.) All three winemakers emphasized the collective approach of protecting the environmental features of the SLD, from the rehabilitation of the Napa River to the efforts focused on balancing vineyards' natural ecosystems through the use of cover crops, preventa - tive powdery mildew techniques, native plant "insectaries," and other methods. Lede Family Wines, for example, is Napa Green–certied, implementing sustainable practices like solar power, water recycling, LED lighting, and steam-cleaning barrels. Sharing a poll he took of winemakers throughout the SLD, Chappellet revealed that almost all producers there feel they can be described as sustainable. The challenge when using the term "sustain - able," as Chappellet pointed out, is "that it's poorly dened and poorly regulated." "We have Napa Green, Napa Green Vineyards, and Napa Green Wineries, and those are our local attempt to put some consistency and meaning toward what we mean when we say we are sustain - able," he explained. "Those designations actually help a lot—without that, anybody could make that claim." Before the charming Weis ran down an exhaustive list of Silverado Vineyards' own environmentally focused efforts (its 350 acres are also 100 percent Napa Green–certied) he said the "rst thing [he] wanted to say about sustainability here in the SLD is that it's personal." "We can get excited about the technology and the ideas we're embracing, but the reason we're doing that is because we're living in the middle of it," he added. "There's a lot of little families here and their kids are running around in the vineyards." The New Kids on the Intergalactic Block Lunch atop a hill in front of Lede Family Wines post-Jeopardy made way for the millennial generation, as the somms were joined by the next generation of SLD proprietors. Alicia Regusci of Regusci Win - ery, Michael Baldacci of Baldacci Family Vineyards, Danielle Taylor Coker of Taylor Family Vineyards, and host Jason Lede of Lede Family Wines shared their respective wines and fresh perspectives regarding their families' estates. The young royalty of the SLD seemed to accept their destiny with open arms, but none perhaps more eagerly than the outspoken Lede. Growing up with a Bordeaux-loving father, Lede did not enjoy the small sips he was allowed, even when it came to the First Growths. But "as cheesy as it sounds," he says, it was his rst sip of Poetry that prompted him to fall hopelessly in love. In the years following, Lede would work hard to prove worthy of a position at the family winery, earning an MBA in Canada and spending time at Mollydooker Wines in Australia. Lede earned a Sales Manager title upon his return, with Cliff Lede—after much coaxing—even allowing him to name his own vineyard block. "I'm a huge Beastie Boys fan, so that little strip over there, that's the 'Intergalactic' block. Hopefully one day soon we can sit around and drink some Intergalactic Cabernet," he told the somms. Alicia Regusci, Danielle Taylor Coker, Jason Lede, and Michael Baldacci represent the latest generation of family vintners in the SLD.