Mythology has it, ‘inexperienced sailors were defeated by enemy ships as a result of firing cannonballs that missed their targets. Such defeats could have been avoided if the trajectory of the cannonball was calculated prior to being fired. Experienced sailors did this by firing bullets first. While a single bullet could never sink an enemy’s ship, it allowed for the precise calculation of how high and wide the cannonball should be shot…….to ensure a fatal hit occurred’

Ricca Terra Farms has taken the ‘fire bullets before cannonballs’ philosophy when it comes to planting new grape varieties. Rather than mass planting a new grape variety and then learning how it behaves as a vine and as a wine, Ricca Terra Farms’ approach has been to plant small plots of a new grape variety; then watch, wait and learn (firing bullets). When the right bullet is identified, the cannonball is loaded and fire… meaning the grape variety is introduced into Ricca Terra Farms’ grape variety portfolio.