Julie Golden

Owner of the Heart Arrow and Fairbairn Ranches, Julie Golden talks to MWG about the virtues of Biodynamic farming, raising kids in Mendocino County, and why she is determined not to play favorites when it comes to winemakers.

I’ve read that after working internationally for several years, you were called back to Mendocino County. What is so special about Mendocino County for you?

I was born and raised her in Mendocino County. I grew up on a vineyard ten minutes south of here. I come from a long line of farmers and my kids represent the fourth generation farming this special place.

We’ve lived and worked in Europe; Germany, France, Switzerland, and the UK, but our “anchor” has always been the Heart Arrow and Mendocino County. In 2005 we decided it was time to relocate back home…

Coming to Mendocino is like traveling back in time. Small town rural America and values.

What inspires you about Biodynamic farming? Why is it important?

Biodynamic farming principles are based on a series of lectures given by Rudolf Steiner, the founder of the Waldorf Schools, in the 1920’s. The essential idea is to farm in a natural, sustainable fashion free of chemicals and pesticides and, over time, to heal the earth as more farms adopt these principles.

We treat the ranch as a closed system, making all our preparations, fertilizers and composts from the plant material and animal residents on the farm. We rotate chickens throughout the vineyards. We use organic steer manure from the Heart Arrow. We have Barbados sheep for mowing our cover crops – they are our eco-lawn mowers. We are part of the UC Davis program to train them on which crops to eat and which to leave alone. We have quite a kennel program to protect them – the Heart Arrow is home to native populations of mountain lion, bobcat, coyote, and bear – and our Maremma Abruzzi, Leondardo Da Vinci, lives with the sheep and barks the predators away. We even have a McNab shepherd named Finn who moves them around for us.

My husband is an engineer by training and often remarks it’s one of the most challenging problems he’s faced.
Most importantly we’re part of a movement: to spread these sustainable practices. I am a co-founder of the Demeter Biodynamic Trade Association and I have been its Secretary since 2005. We actively promote Biodynamic education and from the beginning Joe and I have assisted others in converting their traditional farming practices to Biodynamic ones. We often ask Jerry Yates to assist other vineyards. It’s about more acreage farmed sustainably, not about exclusivity.

What is so special about the Heart Arrow Ranch for you and your family?

We knew from the moment we first stepped on the Heart Arrow that this is where we would raise our children. We have four children – two boys and two girls ages 10, 8, 6, and 4. We knew we wanted to farm organically for their sakes as well as for the earth. The spring that gives us our drinking water emerges from under our Cab Block A; we knew it would never put anything harmful in the vineyards from the beginning. It was an easy decision, actually.

We wanted to protect this piece of paradise; we consider ourselves stewards of the land. We sustainably farm less than 60 acres and protect over a thousand acres of pristine Mendocino County wilderness. Here at the Heart Arrow we have olives, vineyards, and a Biodynamic CSA vegetable farm that provides winter vegetable to over 175 families.

Our vineyards are special: we have approximately 40 acres of well-drained mountain vineyards planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, and Zinfandel. Our Bear prefers the Petite Sirah (laugh); she’ll walk through the Cab and Zin and plop down between the rows in the Pet. She leaves “bowls” where she pivots back and forth (laugh). We’re 23 miles from the sea and get a cooling marine influence that helps balance the sugar and acid development. We have exceedingly long hangtime for phenolic ripening.

Describe the history of the Heart Arrow and Fairbairn Ranches with respect to the Fetzers and Goldens.

I grew up with the Fetzers, or rather the middle part of the 11-child family. Richard Fetzer and I were born on the same day in Ukiah. We have neighboring ranches now. When Joe and I talked about planting vineyards on the Heart Arrow, we knew we wanted the help of Bobby Fetzer and Jerry Yates who, together, had been responsible for the over 1200 acres of Fetzer vineyards. We hired them to consult on the Heart Arrow plantings.

We were living in England at the time and got a call from Bobby that Jerry was leaving to head viticulture at a neighboring vineyard.

Joe literally flew 5,000 miles to convince Jerry to stay on with us and we literally bought the Fairbairn Ranch where Jerry was living to get him. There’s no one on this planet with more organic and Biodynamic vineyard knowledge than Jerry Yates. We also got some damn fine Syrah to boot!

It must be interesting to work with many different winemakers. What are some of your favorite wines that have come off the different ranches?

(Laugh). Working with multiple winemakers is indeed interesting! They are first and foremost artists and come with all the passions and emotions that go with it. It’s like working with the Impressionists!

We see it as our job to provide the winemakers with the best fruit possible: if wine is an expression of place, of terroir, we can produce a true expression of the Heart Arrow or Fairbairn best through our Biodynamic farming practices. With the best fruit, each individual winemaker adds his or her touch to the wine.

Special grapes: Heliotrope nose of the Syrah from Fairbairn; the great structure of the Heart Arrow Cab mountain tannins; the wonderful balance of fruit and ______ of the Heart Arrow Petite Sirah.

We love all our winemakers, it’s like asking me to choose between my children! We do love the Mendocino Farms rendition of our Cabernet and the Redvine Series Cab blend (with Syrah and Petite Sirah). The ’05 Cab was the selection for our Christmas Fruit Basket we sent to all our family and friends.