About Post & Trellis

Key Principal
Ken Wornick has been in the grape growing and winemaking industry since 1989. By 2002, the company had over 20 vineyards under management. In 2003 the company acquired and converted a 10,000 square foot building in Redwood City into a new winery. With a production capacity of several thousand cases per year, we are now equipped to accept large quantities of client fruit from throughout the Peninsula. Ken has apprenticed at wineries in the Napa Valley, sold fruit to noted wineries in Napa, and has a working knowledge of the key vineyards, wineries, and vendors in the California fine wine industry. Ken has also completed professional study courses with the Viticulture and Enology department at UC Davis.

Before entering the wine business, Ken began his career with a degree in geology in 1980, followed by five years of fieldwork around the world for the Bechtel Corporation. He received his MBA in 1986 and worked in product development in several industries, all the while growing grapes and making wine.

A brief note on vineyard development
Nearly all of the age-old assumptions of vineyard installation and management under review by those at the cutting edge of the wine industry. Examples include moving away from heavy row tillage and plowing, and moving toward cover crops and a no-till management philosophy; moving away from synthetic fertilizers towards organic and bio-intense approaches such as worm castings, sea kelp, foliar sprays, and composting. When it comes to grape quality in the pursuit of fine wine, there are many alternative canopy and training regimens to consider. A strong argument can be mounted for moving toward specialized clones, low vigor rootstocks, tighter row and plant spacing, and aggressive shoot thinning - all with the objective of a more intense yet balanced wine.

One current industry debate concerns varietal options. If one were to 'wipe the slate clean' and look out into the world for weather, soil, and geographical features that are similar to California, we might not look to France, as has been the historical tradition, but rather to Italy and Spain. Whereas France's Bordeaux and Burgundy regions often have mid- and late-season rain and generally more cloudy summer weather and flatter topography, Italy and Spain enjoy hotter days and bluer skies during harvest, and are generally more arid and mountainous, as with Northern California. We believe that there exists a stronger analogy to Italian and Spanish weather and soil, and thus grape varieties and management techniques, which in turn have the possibility of outperforming some of the traditional varietals now popular in California. While we do not forecast that Cabernet will lose its title as the 'king of varietals', we do believe an opportunity exists for new vineyards and wineries to set themselves apart by pursuing creative Old World varietal opportunities.

Favorable Press
Post & Trellis has been featured in the national edition of Forbes Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Portola Valley Almanac, and vineyard and wine industry press throughout the western U.S.

Links of interest

• Contra Costa County residents can contact our friend Tom at Diablo Vineyard Planting & Management (www.backyardbacchus.com)
• Steve Maller Photography (www.stevemaller.com)