Independent Lens

- Every time I close my eyes, I'll just see clusters and clusters of grapes.

female announcer: Filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz explores the workers, owners, and winemakers of Napa Valley.

- My family's four generations that we've worked the vineyards.

It's something I've done my entire life.

- When I share my wines with friends, they know that there's no trick.

There's no gimmick.

It's just truth.

[kisses] announcer: In 2018, fires swept through and destroyed thousands of acres of land, homes, and vineyards in Napa County.

- In 41 years of making wine, I've never seen anything like this.

- These plants, unfortunately, are sick.

[crying] Something that my dad would always tell us, how our family's gonna survive, failure was never an option.

announcer: "Harvest Season," now only on "Independent Lens."

[upbeat music] [dramatic music] [indistinct shouting] - Every time I close my eyes, I'll just see clusters and clusters of grapes everywhere.

It's something that was part of--part of me.

It's something I've done my entire life.

[engine revving] I think we all have that.

I think we all have something within us.

We either choose to listen to it or we don't.

[all speaking foreign language] [indistinct chatter] [blowtorch hissing] - My great-grandfather.

I was raised in a family of farm workers.

It's my great-grandfather who with my grandfather who started working in the vineyards.

Many generations in Mexico, that's all they did in their small pueblo, was work with the land.

When they came here in the 1940s, they were brought in during World War II.

It was a program called Los Braceros, and they settled in labor camps.

And they began farming vineyards at that time.

[dramatic music] Most of the men in my family worked in the vineyards.

So that's all they did.

That's all they knew.

Being able to farm, that was something that my dad would always tell us, you know, this is how our family's gonna survive.

And it's our future.

- [speaking Spanish] [radio switching stations] [keys jingling] [dramatic music] - In the time that I've lived in the valley, growing up here, you know, Napa Valley has changed a lot.

There's quite a few up- and-coming Latino winemakers.

They're not out there announcing themselves loudly, but they're here.

I'm here, and I've been doing it for 40 years.

- Mike, how's it going?

All right.

These guys are working pretty good.

Pretty fast.

I think all winemakers should be able to offer something about the grape that is hidden.

- [indistinct speech] - Mm-hmm.

[dramatic music] - Pruning is personal.

When I walk vineyard rows, what I'm looking for is the judgment from that pruner.

Whether I need to go to him and ask him why you selected this spur versus the one you removed.

It's a balance of many things.

I trust that individual to give me his best judgment and his skill to form that vine so that the wine can give back at the time of harvest.

Following the pruning process, the vine takes on its growing phase.

So that period of time is just a waiting period.

So what I do is I come back to the winery, because I have wines from last season or two seasons ago.

They start to wake up and I continue their maturation phases.

The wine has been waiting for me to give them some kind of orientation or some kind of characteristic of the tannins or the mouth flavors or the acid levels and alcohol levels.

So that becomes paramount.

All right.

[dramatic music] It's a little thin, but it's, uh-- I'll get some layers in it.

My passion is for chardonnay.

Love making chardonnay.

That's the queen.

And I also love making cabernets because they're the king.

And each varietal that I make, I have to find the heart of the grape.

And each year is different.

When I share my wines with friends and customers, they know that there's no trick.

There's no gimmick.

It's just truth.

This is what I got.

This is how I'm bringing it to you.

So that's what I'm working for.

- [indistinct speech] [distant speaking] [knocking] [knocking] [keys jingling] [door unlocking] - Okay, please.

[dramatic music] - [speaking Spanish] - Ah, what a beautiful day.

You see on here, Joce?

- They're buds, no?

- Um, these are flowers.

- [speaking Spanish] - Flowers.

- Yeah, so this blooms into the grape clusters.

- [speaking Spanish.

- Look, come here, Joce.

These are the buds.

See?

- Oh, my gosh.

- My earliest childhood memories connected to wine would definitely be walking the vineyards with my grandpa, Papa Lalo.

He would always tell me cuentos.

He would tell me about the vines and how special they were.

What he taught me I think is the reason I have so much love and passion for what I do.

Doesn't it feel good to be out here?

- Mm-hmm.

It was during my teenage years when I became translator to my dad.

You know, in every business meeting I would be there translating with him, whether they were big deals or small deals.

And so, for me, that was an important connection with my father, but also I knew that I was there to make sure that I learned something.

- Hello.

- Good morning.

- Hi, I just want to introduce myself.

- Hi, Paula.

- Vanessa.

- Nice to meet you.

- Amy.

- Hi, welcome.

- Thank you.

- Well, we hope that you enjoy the wines and I just wanted to tell you a little bit about it.

So, uh, my family's four generations that we've worked, um, in the vineyards and worked our way up to owning land here in Napa and Sonoma.

And, uh, they grew from, uh, 200 cases of wine to 10,000 cases today.

- Yeah, that's great.

- Yeah.

When I started working in the wine industry, I'd go into these meetings, and they were all winery owners, vineyard owners, and here is Vanessa.

But I knew they knew more than I did.

So I'd say, "If you have any suggestions," you know, and I started picking up mentors that way.

[distant chatter] Our family didn't come from a lot of money, and failure was never an option.

And my dad would tell me that.

I understood it.

I picked it up really quickly.

I wanted to challenge myself, and I wanted to grow.

Hi, can I speak to Elena, please?

[dramatic music] - Hola, Elena.

Bien, y tu?

Okay, um, de donde eres?

men: Where are you from?

- Where are you from?

Soy de New Jersey.

men: I'm from New Jersey.

- Me gusta quiero necesito.

- I like it?

- I want it.

- I like.

men: I like.

- I want.

men: I want.

- I need.

men: I need.

- Now we'll do past tense, right?

men: Danced.

- Danced.

Very good.

men: Jumped.

- Jumped.

men: Jumped.

- Good.

[all laughing] men: Play.

- Played.

men: Played.

- Okay, voy a trabajar.

men: I'm going to work.

- I'm going to work.

- I'm going to work.

[dramatic music] - [chuckles] - My mom grew up extremely traditional.

And she married by 16 years old.

- Almost 40 years of marriage.

She sacrificed her whole life for her nine children and did everything for my father.

[oil sizzling] - Mmm.

- [speaking Spanish] - There are certain cultural things that became kind of challenging for me to constantly be hitting a wall in my family.

- Okay.

- When my mom divorced my dad, even though by that time I was in my 30s, it changed me a lot because I had never seen my mother stand up for herself that way.

For her to stand up for herself for the first time in her life, it made me see things differently.

[dramatic music] I was running the family winery, but at that time, my father was also telling me that my older brother now wanted to run the company.

As a female in the family, I knew what my place was.

And I didn't agree with it.

[rain pattering] I did not want to hurt my father, but I thought it was important that I moved on.

My father said, "If you leave, you lose everything."

I told my father, "If that's what you decide, I respect it."

So I had to leave.

[engine turning over] [indistinct chatter] [cork popping] - Would you like a glass of wine, Nicole, or--a red or a white?

- For those of us that are here... - Cheers, Mom.

- Yes.

- Okay.

- Cheers.

- Are these grapes from the valley, or are they... - This is the, uh-- the Coombsville, the Atlas Peak, and the Rutherford areas that he's combined into one bottle.

My dad's palate is much more sophisticated than mine, but he says you can kind of taste the journey as you're going up the valley, so he's saying that the-- the fruit is coming from the Coombsville area, correct?

The mid-palate tannins are coming from the Atlas Peak area, and then ending with the infamous Rutherford dust.

[indistinct chatter] Well-- [laughs] My palate, I can't do that.

But that's what he says you can do.

- So this was the, um-- this lot was like the way I build them, like, they're very-- like right out of the barrel.

It's rough and it's, like, unfiltered, you know?

Untamed.

- Right.

Uh, like, wild.

And, um, so--but I liked where it was.

And I decided to bottle, like, five cases just for myself.

- Yum!

[all speaking at once] [Spanish music playing] - I was born in a town called San Clemente in Mexico.

My father was up here in California.

He came up to find some employment and also housing with my mom and my brothers still in Mexico.

And once he located the both, he went back down to Mexico and, um, picked us up and brought us into the Red Napa Valley.

And I've been here in Napa Valley since '56.

Oh, you.

When are you gonna tell me what color your heart is?

How long is that gonna take?

- Pink.

That's pink.

- Oh, it's pink.

Okay.

[all speaking at once] It's--It's pink.

- Ailee, hold onto Grandpa.

Hold onto Grandpa.

- My mom goes to Mexico every year.

She feels that is a very important part of who she is.

And she's been doing this for years.

[all speaking at once] One of the reasons I don't go back to Mexico to visit my uncles, uh, is because, you know, being away for a long time, they have a different, uh, attitude now towards individuals coming from America to visit their own hometown.

It's a sense of not being accepted.

I think I'd like to go back to Mexico but, uh, I'd like to make the trip with my mom.

Something that I always felt I should do for her.

And perhaps--perhaps she's waiting as well.

Um, she's not that kind of person who will say, "When are you going to go back?

- Their brand?

- Yeah.

- Are you all done?

- Um, but it-- - Oh, that's nice.

That's very nice.

- Oh, my dad was there.

- Oh, okay.

- He--He kinda scoped it out.

- Let me put this in the kitchen.

- What appellation is that?

- Coombsville.

[car door beeping] - We're taking samples of the grapes because it tells us when it's time to harvest.

There's people that can walk through the vineyards and just by taste alone, they know, "Okay, my grapes are ready to harvest."

[speaking Spanish] - Mm-hmm.

[dramatic music] - [laughing] Okay.

- [laughing] [both laughing] - [speaking Spanish] [all speaking Spanish] [water running] - The deers are hungry.

Here in the valley, we can get hot winds coming from over the hills.

They can, uh, dehydrate the leaves much faster than we can get, uh, water applied to it.

And so that's--that's my concern, that it'll impact the overall flavor that we've been maintaining on the berries.

It'll--It'll be like starting all over.

At that point, that's the worst case scenario.

These are a lot better than last year.

Flavors are not quite there yet.

Hope the acid levels are-- are good.

It's encouraging.

We got a lot of d--a lot of deer in here, huh?

- Yeah.

- I think at this row down-- down to center, there's, uh--there's a cluster that are just without the berries.

- Yeah.

- And we're kinda leaving-- you're leafing a little bit too high on the fruit.

Uh, they're gonna burn.

- I'll mention it to Brennan, then, about that.

- About what?

- About for making sure that sun damage-- - It's too late.

- So, okay.

Well, we'll just have to see how water does-- - Next year.

- Okay.

- Hope it doesn't raisin, that's all.

Otherwise, it looks pretty healthy.

Better than last year.

- Yeah.

- I'll see you later.

- All right, Gus.

Thank you.

- Thank you.

You know, this is--this is crunch time for a lot of us.

If you have five minutes of your day that you thought you would be able to go to the post office, no way.

This is it.

This is gonna make you or break you.

[motors running] - We are really happy to finally start the harvest.

We weren't sure it was gonna happen with the weather.

It was delaying everything.

But there's a lot of grapes on the vines.

[dramatic music] - Right now because of the uncertainties of what's going on in our country, there's a lot of talk of bringing in machinery and eliminating labor.

And it is very different to have the mass production versus small family vineyards.

But when you're a small company, you do have that luxury to be able to be more hands on with the vineyards, so I'm getting the best flavors possible.

[all shouting] - Harvest is what we live for.

It's--For us as farmers, it's bringing in something that we've worked all year long for.

There has not been a year that I've missed a harvest ever.

And I know for my mom, it's--it's a huge deal because these are her vines.

This is a woman-run vineyard.

And it's very important for her that we do a really good job.

- Bye.

I love you.

[all speaking at once] [both laughing] - Okay.

[cash registers beeping] - [speaking Spanish] [Latin music playing] - [speaking Spanish] Gracias.

[all speaking at once] [trombone playing] [band warming up] [both laughing] [upbeat music] - Wineries often focus a majority of their attention on new wines that sometimes, uh, it's--you know, you forget about wines already aging and those also are looking for attention.

They have personalities.

And I can--I can identify many of them based on my children's personalities, you know?

Some of them are low-key.

And those are--I know are in good shape And there are others that are, you know, demanding.

Um, they're the ones that I worry more about.

[dramatic music] My father would work long hours and would not come home for lunch or dinner.

And when I got off school, I would run over and drop off dinner for him.

At that time he was saying, let me show you a hard worker from a lazy worker.

And sure enough, working here by myself in a small, uh, winery, you can't wait for individuals to do it for you.

You are--you're on your own.

You do your work for yourself and be prepared to do more.

He was only educated till third grade.

But I learned a tremendous amount from my father, so I hope my father would appreciate and respect what I do.

[cell phone trilling] - Ah, bien.

- [speaking Spanish] - Mmm, ah, okay.

- [speaking Spanish] - Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

[distant TV playing] - They ask me, "What about race relations in the United States?"

And I said, "Well, I think jobs can have a very big and positive impact."

And then they say, "Is he a racist?

Is he a racist?"

And I said, "All people-- I love all people."

Everything, right?

And they all say what a bad guy I am.

We will work together so that every citizen in this blessed land is free to follow their dreams in their hearts and to express the love and joy in their soul.

[cheers and applause] - Uh-huh.

[dramatic music] [kisses] [dog barking] [kisses] - [laughing] [birds chirping] [beeping] - Fire medical dispatch.

Yvonne.

- Sandra McKenny with a transfer for fire.

- Thank you.

- Go ahead, ma'am.

- Hi.

- I'm on Adobe Canyon Road in Kenwood.

- Mm-hmm.

- And when I looked up, uh, towards the park, towards Sugarloaf State Park-- - Uh-huh.

- I'm seeing some weird lights.

That could be sparks.

I'm not sure if there's a fire or not.

- Um, there's a fire outside our house.

We're in the hills with a lot of trees.

And it's getting close to our house.

- How close to your house?

- The trees.

- Okay.

- The trees are on fire.

- Okay, I need you to--is there a way for you to evacuate your house?

Uh... - Yeah, we're actually l-- - Okay.

- Okay.

- Yes, we're leaving.

- Live for us in Napa County right now as we continue our coverage of these fires burning in Napa and Sonoma Counties.

At least five fires that broke out at around 10: 00 p.m. and have forced hundreds of people to evacuate.

- Hello, ma'am?

- Yes.

- What--give me your address one more time, okay?

I don't ha--I don't know.

It's a house rental.

Okay, are--you're trapped?

- We're--we're-- Yes, we're trapped!

- Okay.

Where--what--can you make it down Whistle Drive at all?

- I can't!

Oh, no!

- Ma'am, what's--I need you-- okay, I have help coming.

So listen to me.

- What's around here?

- Okay, I have help coming.

Look at the address next to you.

Tell me the best address where you can see.

- I can't!

There's--I-- I'm driving with embers over the road.

I'm driving through fire.

I can't see anything!

- Yeah.

- Can you find anybody that could come in and help us?

Anybody, anybody, anybody.

All hands on deck.

All hands on deck.

[helicopter blades chopping] - The governor has declared a state of emergency in Napa, Sonoma, and Yuba counties.

Tens of thousands of acres have burned.

About 57,000, to be exact.

[dramatic music] [horn honking] - Early this morning around, uh, 3:00, we could see the flames.

The winds were extremely fierce.

Now it's calmed down, but that really carried the fire and spread it pretty--pretty quickly.

- The smoke can have an effect on the quality of the grape.

It can taint the wine.

Of course everybody's concerned about that, you know, with the smoke being on the--on the vines.

- I would like to say that certainly Napa County is a very welcoming and diverse place.

But there are some concerns about the safety of our residents at shelters.

The Department of Homeland Security today will issue the following statement-- "In considering of these distressing circumstances, "ICE will continue to suspend routine immigration "enforcement operations in the areas affected by the fires in Northern California."

Regardless of immigration status, you are welcome in our shelters.

We want you to come in.

- In 41 years of making wines of 41 vintages, I've never seen anything like this.

I think--I think the valley will never forget this year or this episode.

Then what happened last fall, you know... Customers don't know about it.

They don't--they don't know about its impact.

69% of lost revenue.

That's--That's just like-- that was 2/3 of my income.

The vineyards that were impacted by the fires were the ones that I thought were the best that I had.

So I lost 800 cases of cabernet.

Some of my clients were able to get cabernet grapes from outside the area.

One client, he knew my predicament.

And he was sympathetic, and he helped me out.

I'm testing a Oakville cabernet, 2017.

They were harvested and actually-- [laughing] They were a week before the fire.

My client had excess for himself.

And so this is I guess, you know, repaying me for winemaking by offering one barrel if I like it.

The numbers on here, pretty solid.

They're-- [laughs] I'm happy with them.

[laughs] [dramatic music] I--I don't know.

It's just-- Winemaking teases me every day.

And when I get those teases, it just makes me want to explore.

I think until I, uh-- [laughing] As long as I--as long as I'm, um, challenged, uh, I don't see that I will stop.

- These plants, unfortunately, they are sick.

And we're gonna be replanting the entire vineyard.

We knew from experience something was very wrong.

But it wasn't the fire at all.

- They found out that it was a virus.

Certain programs came out about it.

And here's one I was gonna show you.

It's called Farm Service Agency Tree Assistant Program.

"This program provides funds to help growers replant "or rehabilitate trees or vines that have died or been damaged "by natural disaster or disease.

Mortality loss or damage must exceed 15%," which yours does.

"Maximum amount for the program is not more than $125,000 total annual payments."

I don't really know too many real case scenarios on how it's ended up in the end.

But it's the only program that I really know of.

- These vines are dying.

And it's a disease where the vines progressively get sick.

Okay.

[dramatic music] So, Joce, this is all the vineyards that were pulled.

It's like they produced so much for us.

- We grew up with them.

- I know.

[bird cawing] - To the naked eye you can't tell that the virus is there.

But you take it into the lab and you do analysis on it and we realized that we had to pull it out.

We had really no choice.

I knew it was true.

I knew we needed to do it.

But I didn't wanna do it.

It was just really hard to see something that you're so close to gone.

Um, so it was really hard for me.

[crying] I did a lot of things in my life based on proving myself because I've always felt that I've had to be independent.

But now I'm starting to think that it's okay to be vulnerable.

Yes, I'm all of these things connected to the land and connected to the vineyards and the passion that I have as an entrepreneur.

But I believe that what happens in the vineyards is a cycle.

- [speaking Spanish] [tense music] [fire crackling] [dramatic music] [upbeat music] PBS Your Home for Independent Film