Jim Spinetta poses with a pressure relief filter, used for filtering wine. The machine can filter up to 1,500 gallons per hour and Spinetta describes operating it as "just like driving a car." Spinetta (center) holds his recently-awarded Young Farmers and Ranchers Achievement Award, alongside his mother, Laura, and his father, Charles. Charles Spinetta pours a glass of red wine for his son, Jim, at the winery's tasting bar. The Charles Spinetta winery, located in Plymouth, contains 72 acres of planted land.

"Most of the people involved in agriculture are in their 50s or 60s," Jim Spinetta said as he walked slowly down a hill toward acres of grapevines. He paused for a moment to take in the scenery, then said, "We need to encourage the next generation to come up. There's a new American consumer and we need to be able to adjust to that."

Spinetta, a fifth-generation grape grower with the Charles Spinetta Winery in Plymouth, was recently awarded the Young Farmers & Ranchers (YF&R) Achievement Award for his agricultural prowess. The YF&R is a division of the California Farm Bureau Federation (CFBF) and consists of members between the ages of 18 and 35. Spinetta is the president of the Amador/Sacramento chapter of the YF&R and also serves as vice president of the Amador County Farm Bureau. He graduated from Sierra College with an associate's degree in Landscape and Horticulture, then earned a bachelor's degree from Fresno State University after majoring in Plant Sciences with an emphasis on oenology and viticulture.

"It's based on creativity, your dedication, efficiency and leadership within your community, within Farm Bureau and within your production agriculture operations," Spinetta said of the prestigious award. "They're looking at how involved you are within your community. If you are involved in activities, you're also a good leader with projects and everything. You can't just focus on agriculture."

The annual achievement award is based on farm management skills, leadership qualities and service to the Farm Bureau and to the community. Spinetta will represent California in the American Farm Bureau Federation's annual nation-wide competition Jan. 10 in Charlotte, N.C. In addition, Spinetta won numerous cash prizes, including $1,000 from the CFBF; $1,000 from Bank of America; $500 from Dodge Trucks; $500 from Allied/Nationwide Insurance; $500 from the California Farm Credit Association and a $250 State Compensation Insurance Fund Award of Distinction. He also received use of a Kubota tractor for one year and $500 worth of products from Syngenta Crop Protection.

Spinetta said the job of an agriculturist doesn't stop at just tending to the land. "Agriculturists have to be stewards of the environment, a political leader, you have to be involved with the children, to educate them," he said. "I think the three keys to agriculture are agri-tourism, agri-entertainment and agri-education. That's the future of agriculture."

Walking amidst remains of old-fashioned winemaking equipment used by generations before him, Spinetta points out the needs in technological advances. "When my grandfather was making wine, they used wooden equipment, antique stuff by today's standards," he said while pointing to a collection of old winemaking paraphernalia stacked above an office in the corner. "Nowadays in the winemaking industry, you have to be innovative. You have to have new equipment."

Spinetta illustrates this point with an ozone cleaning machine. "We have to be stewards of the land, stewards of the environment," he said. "This machine actually injects ozone into water to clean the tanks. It can sterilize a 1,000 gallon tank in one minute - not just sanitize it, but actually sterilize it - and it's actually returning ozone to the environment. There's no residual chemical and the ozone only has a half-life of 15 minutes, so we clean the tanks at night and come back in the morning to find them completely sterilized and the only discharge is filtered water."

Spinetta walks over to another machine, a wine filtering device and illustrates his point further. "This is called a pressure relief filter, but I just call it a 21-valve filter. That way I can understand it better," he jokes. "I can pump about 1,500 gallons an hour through here. It looks like a lot of valves and everything, but once you get down to it, it's just like driving a car. You can go as slow or as fast as you want, but you usually want to do the speed limit. That way the wine comes out just right."

The Charles Spinetta Winery has been running since 1975, though the Spinetta family has been involved in the winemaking business for five generations. The winery contains 72 planted acres and hosts a wine tasting room and art gallery. The winery produces roughly 400 tons of wine each year; the wines are sold exclusively in Amador County.

"People enjoy the quality of wine we make up here, so we don't have to produce a great quantity of it," Spinetta said. "We're not looking for quantity, we're looking for a quality-grown grape. Down in the valley, they can get up to 10 tons per acre. Up here, we average about 3 tons per acre. We don't go after the quantity, so we end up with a quality grape. That's what we're going for."

Truly a family business, the Spinettas are all involved in the wine making process. Except for winemaker Adam DeLange - who has been with the winery since the 1980s; Spinetta said, "we consider him family too, he's been here so long" - there are no full-time workers that aren't part of the family.

"The whole family is involved. My dad is the one that oversees everything and is kind of in charge of everything," Spinetta said. "I'm the one that's in charge of the production agriculture. So I'm always out in the field, from picking to harvesting. My older brother Tony is in charge of the marketing, wholesale, the computer promotions. My brother Michael is in charge of the art gallery, but he'll help out a lot with the office procedures. We'll all help out with the harvest, though. When it's time to harvest, we'll all put on our harvest hats. We'll go out in the vineyards or in the tasting room or wherever we're needed; everyone helps each other out."

The winery currently sells 10 varieties of wine including Zinfandel, Orange and Black Muscats, Barbera and Heritage Red. Spinetta said, "I think the best wine we grow is our Primitivo. It's a really rich dark wine, from really small berries. We get really intense color out of them. The grapes are rare around here and it sure grows a nice wine.

"We also have our flagship wine, which we call our 'fun and yummy,' and that's our Chenin Blanc," he said. "We also have our Zinetta, which is our 'fun and yummy' red. That one is really light and tastes almost like black cherry."

Spinetta said that the 2004 wines are some of the best they've seen in years and that customers should look forward to this year's selection. "I really think 2004 was a really good year for us," he said. "There wasn't much rain, it was a very long, cool summer, so I think for quality, it's one of those years. You get one of these years once a decade or so; this might even be one in two decades, it's that good."

The Wildlife Art Gallery at the winery contains over 600 framed pieces from many artists, including Joe Garcia and Sherrie Russell Meline's depictions of wildlife that are used as labels on the wine bottles. The gallery also offers custom framing of any of the pieces by Laura Spinetta.

Jim Spinetta says that winemaking changes from year to year. "We let the people be the judge," he said. "We're making wine for the consumer, so we listen to what they have to say." Spinetta compared the process to that of a baker. "It's like making a loaf of bread," he said. "You gather the ingredients, you put them together and you make your product. It's a very cyclical process."

The Charles Spinetta Winery and Wildlife Gallery is located at 12557 Steiner Road in Plymouth and can be reached at 245-3384. For more information, visit www.charlesspinettawinery.com.