By Kathleen Willcox
For insiders in California’s wine business, Kirk Lokka has been a beloved figure for decades, but the detail-oriented, low-key and community-minded vineyard manager has managed to maintain anonymity just about everywhere else.
Except in Sonoma County, where his work planning, planting and nourishing Emeritus Vineyards for decades, his open-handed generosity in mentoring the next generation of wine growers, and his work in the community at-large is impossible to ignore. Born and raised in the town of Sonoma, he decided he wanted to become a farmer at age 8.
“Kirk is a living legend,” says Emeritus Vineyards’ director of sales and marketing Hilary Berkey of the vineyard manager, vigneron and partner. “Over the past 50 years, Kirk has been engaged in building a better Sonoma agricultural community. He spent more than 23 years at Sonoma-Cutrer as its vineyard foreman, where he oversaw more than 1,200 acres of estate vineyards.”
While Lokka was there, he helped found the Russian River Valley Winegrowers Association, and served two terms as its president.
In 1999, he teamed up with Brice Cutrer Jones to found Emeritus Vineyards. Together, they developed the 120-acre Hallberg Ranch vineyard, which they eventually transformed into the largest dry-farmed Pinot Noir estate in Sonoma County. In 2008, Lokka began planting another dry farmed vineyard, the 20-acre Pinot Hill.
It starts with farming
Lokka, in his trademark way, puts into clear words and actions what many in the wine industry perhaps intuit but haven’t quite managed to grasp and act on.
“A quality wine cannot be made without quality farming,” he explains of his guiding philosophy. “Vineyards shouldn’t need to be replanted until they become economically unfeasible, which is around less than two tons per acre.
“Vines are often said to have a life of 25 years,” he continues, “however, with the right rootstock, budwood and — when taken care of — vines can last till at least 40 years old. With a dry-farmed vineyard, around five to six years of age on the vine the grapes start to mature in flavor and we see the same great quality year in and year out.”
Sharing Knowledge and Giving Back
Lokka also gives back to fellow viticulturalists and would-be viticulturalists, often by going far above and beyond what others would be willing to do.
“In addition to adding to the clonal diversity of Sonoma by introducing two suitcase clones, he has readily shared his knowledge of clones and rootstocks to help the vineyard community,” Berkey says. “He helped with planting the El Molino High School vineyard and in establishing the Hopyard Santa Rosa High School Farm.”
Lokka also spent 13 years on the board of the Santa Rosa Junior College Agricultural Trust, mentored dozens of 4H students and established a charitable group called Lords & Goddesses of the Vine that has raised more than $500,000 for local charities.
“Working together makes everyone better,” Lokka says. “If you don’t share it, it will get stolen anyway. There’s a vineyard known for its Pinot Noir that has a clone that came from a vineyard manager jumping a wall in the middle of the night over in France and smuggling the budwood back to California. This is now one of the highest quality wines we make at Emeritus, based on what we call the Elite clone.”
Time for the next generation
Lokka is officially retiring this year from his daily tasks at Emeritus. But his vision and his constant work in the community will continue. He’s excited to watch as the next generation takes the reins.
“It will be up to the younger generation to come up with creative ideas to advance sustainability further,” Lokka says. “When my son, Riggs, introduced the insectary to Hallberg Ranch in 2023, it was pretty to look at, but we also saw better germination, despite the vines being self-pollinating, as well as better cluster formation in the flower blocks than we do anywhere else on the ranch.”
Lokka planted the seeds of sustainability in Sonoma, and now it’s up to everyone else to help nourish and grow the movement.
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Kathleen Willcox
Kathleen Willcox writes about wine, food and culture from her home in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. She is keenly interested in sustainability issues, and the business of making ethical drinks and food. Her work appears regularly in Wine Searcher, Wine Enthusiast, Liquor.com and many other publications. Kathleen also co-authored a book called Hudson Valley Wine: A History of Taste & Terroir, which was published in 2017. Follow her wine explorations on Instagram at @kathleenwillcox
