MEET OUR PEOPLE

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Phil Abba

Abba Vineyards / Owner & Grower

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HOW MANY YEARS HAVE YOU BEEN FARMING? 
I have been farming for 50+ years. Our family has been farming for 94 years.

I FARM BECAUSE...
I was born into it, it is me, and it is what I do. There is a feeling of great accomplishment which comes from making it through the long growing season filled with work and challenges to produce a winegrape crop of high quality that is well received by wine buyers and – in some years – make a little money doing it.

HOW HAS THE LODI WINE REGION CHANGED OVER THE YEARS OR SINCE YOU’VE BEEN HERE?
The basics of how we grow winegrapes has not changed over all these years but the methods we use to grow the grapes has changed drastically. Some examples include: furrow irrigation to drip irrigation; simple, head trained vines to elaborate trellis systems; primarily hand-picking to primarily machine harvesting.

WHO HAS BEEN THE MOST INFLUENTIAL MENTOR IN YOUR CAREER?
My dad, Louis Abba. He taught me how to grow winegrapes from pruning to harvest.

WHAT CHORE DO YOU ABSOLUTELY HATE DOING?
I am not a big fan of sitting in the office completing all the documentation that is required to run a farming business.