Alan Busacca

Alan Busacca is the founder of Vinitas Vineyard Consultants. A superhero for vintners, he saves the day by traveling the globe to help wine growers produce the best grapes possible.

WINO: Alan, you’ve got a wall covered in diplomas including a Ph.D. from UC Davis, and a résumé the length of my arm including professorships and research at WSU. Most recently, you’ve started a company called Vinitas. Could you tell us a little about what that’s all about?

Alan: Vinitas is my consulting company focusing on vineyard site evaluation and development. I created Vinitas to share my experience and insights about soils, climates, and geology—that is, terroir—with people who would like to find the perfect piece of land to build their dream vineyard. In the past two years I have helped families find parcels as small as twelve acres and helped larger companies find, evaluate, and buy ranches as large as 4,000 acres! So far, projects for Vinitas have taken me all over Oregon and Washington, as well as Argentina and Chile!

WINO: What made you decide to leave your career in education and research to start a consulting business?

Alan: [Laughs] Do you really want to know? Truthfully, after many years of teaching and research, I was really ready for a whole new set of challenges in my life. Fortunately, through my university research, I had become very close to a number of wonderful grape-growers and winemakers and I thought “I’d love to be a part of this great community of people and try my hand at some aspect of the wine business.”

WINO: There are those who argue that terroir doesn’t matter as much good winemaking techniques. You would obviously stress the importance of terroir. What kinds of effects does terroir have on grapes and wine, and what would you tell the dissenters out there?

Alan: Even if we set the mysticism about terroir aside, different vineyard sites produce dramatically different flavors in the same variety of wine grapes. For example, wine made from Syrah grapes in cooler sites of the Yakima Valley has a wonderful, subtle spicy character, whereas the same grape grown on Red Mountain produces a lush, beautifully intense berry-driven wine.

WINO: When we first talked a few months ago, you spoke of your involvement in seven AVAs in Washington State including Wahluke Slope, Walla Walla Valley, Red Mountain, Horse Heaven Hills, Rattlesnake Hills, Lake Chelan and the Columbia Gorge. What was your involvement in these, and what’s the benefit of AVA designations?

Alan: In some cases, such as the Walla Walla Valley and Red Mountain, I researched the terroirs and wrote research journal articles; in others, such as the Wahluke Slope and Lake Chelan, I wrote the formal petitions to the TTB (Feds) to have these areas formally designated as new AVAs in the state. AVA designations give a sense of identity and individuality to the different wine-growing regions in the state. Knowing consumers can use the AVA designation on a wine label to find new wines from favorite areas such as the Horse Heaven Hills. Of course, the question is often asked, “How many AVAs can we have in the state before there are too many to remember?” So, it is an ongoing conversation.

WINO: Seems like there are a growing number of AVA petitions in Washington. Who’s next?

Alan: Snipes Mountain AVA in the center of the Yakima Valley near Granger and the Lake Chelan AVA along the shores of the largest natural lake in Washington are next and may be formally approved in late 2008 or early 2009.

WINO: There are new rules being proposed to deal with the crossover between AVA designations and winery names on labels. The TTB feels that it’s confusing for consumers if a winery’s name sounds like an AVA, but sources grapes from a different region, so they’re considering making it more difficult to gain AVA status if it would force wineries to change their names. What are your thoughts on this whole thing?

Alan: Whew, it’s a complicated situation and good arguments are made on both sides of that issue. If a winery has “ Napa” or “ Napa Valley” in its name, but gets its grapes from another area, are consumers mislead by that? Maybe so.

WINO: You have a vineyard in the Columbia Gorge, and I understand you’re going to be releasing some wines in the near future, but with a unique concept. Tell us a bit about what you’re up to?

Alan: Yes, back to my big life changes and trying my hand in business, I have two other projects in addition to my consulting: I am planting a vineyard on the Oregon side of the Columbia Gorge AVA, and I am launching a new wine brand in partnership with a winery in the Yakima Valley. My vineyard is in partnership with long-time grape grower Lonnie Wright. We are planting Zinfandel, Syrah, Malbec, and Pinot Noir on a steep, oak-studded canyon site near The Dalles that has views of Mount Hood and Mount Adams.

My new wine brand is called “AlmaTerra,” which means “spirit of the Earth” or “Earth soul.” The concept is to make wines that reflect the terroirs of the vineyards we source the fruit from. My winemaker partner is Robert Smasne, one of the rising young stars of Northwest wines. Our first release next spring will be a boxed set of four Syrah wines from three of the premier vineyards in Washington State (the fourth wine is the best blend of the three). The wines are made with identical winemaking techniques so that they feature the character of the grapes and wine. The three wines are gorgeous, yet are very different from one another because of vineyard terroirs.

WINO: [Laughs] Sounds like this will be proof-positive for terroir to all those naysayers, and I can’t wait to try it. You know, as research.