Temecula Valley Wine Society

When we were preparing the ground to plant a vineyard, we decided we wanted to put in a small lake, actually a really a large pond. It would be across the driveway from our home. We decided to place it on top of the hill for several reasons. It would be a good place for a picnic area for the winery. If we had water shortages, we could use the water to sprinkle the vines and have gravity carry the water to the vines below. Also, if there were a fire, the pond would become a source of needed water to douse the flames.
For several years the acre size large hole stood empty. We were busy planting another vineyard and simply didn’t have the money needed to line the hole with clay. The clay would prevent the water from seeping out of the pond. Finally we bought 22 tons of clay and dumped it in the bottom of the empty pond.

Vince used a big tractor to spread the clay about 3 inches thick all over the bottom and up the sides of the big hole. When all the clay was properly distributed, we very slowly started to fill the pond. It took several weeks, but soon we had a beautiful lake about one acre in size. We were so proud ! Vince had built a sturdy dock about 20 feet out into the water. Some wild ducks flew in and decided to stay awhile. We bought a row boat and oars and had our very own resort. After a week or so, we noticed the water level in the pond was dropping rather rapidly. We felt that possibly the soil absorbed a lot of the water in the beginning. Alas, one morning we looked down the hill at our Petite Syrah vineyard and saw that half the vineyard was covered with a thin layer of water. Our new beautiful lake was leaking down into the vineyard ! BUT WHY?

Vince had been so careful to layer 3 inches of clay all over the pond and bank. Finally after much study, we discovered that the clay on the sides had slid down onto the bottom of the lake as the water was pumped into it and the water level rose. What to do? We ordered another 10 tons of clay from Dan’s Feed and Seed store in Perris. In those days, Dan’s was the only feed store around.

Vinnie and Chenin were out of school for the summer, so every morning, the whole family took coffee cans of clay and sprinkled a thick layer of clay along the water line. Then we would gently raise the water level an inch or so. The next day, we would sprinkle more clay along the edge, then raise the water level again. This way the clay did not get washed away and became compacted on the bank. It took us almost all summer working a couple of hours every day to make sure the clay was compacted on the sides of the pond.

Once we were done, we never had trouble again. Twenty years later when we sold our winery, the water level was still holding and we only added water due to evaporation losses. Later we bought some paddle boats and let our customers have fun paddling all over the pond. We bought fish and planted them in the lake. Every year I would drive into Riverside and fill all our buckets with mosquito fish that we purchased from the Mosquito Abatement Dept. in Riverside. The water would slosh out all over the floor of the old van and it was a race with time to get the fish out of buckets of water and into the pond before they died. The mosquito fish ate any mosquito larvae and were food for the larger fish.

One year there was a huge fire out near Vail Lake and the helicopters took water from our pond to fight the fire. The firefighters came back to fill their buckets every three minutes. After the fire was out, we stood on our little dock and saw the water level had dropped about two feet. Chenin turned to Vince and asked, “Dad, are we going to charge them for the water? Vince laughed and said, “No, we are grateful they put out the fire!” Later the trees we planted all around the lake grew so tall that the helicopters stopped taking water out of the lake for fire fighting. Maybe it was too hard to get in between the trees or possibly they found another source of water.

As a family, we think we had some unique and wonderful experiences. That is probably one reason why we feel that Temecula is one of the SPECIAL places in California.