Bikes, Vines, Fish and Wine: Restoring California Coho

This Saturday, August 25, Martorana Family Winery in Healdsburg, California, will be celebrating its harvest of great organic grapes, its creation of wonderful wines, and its ongoing efforts to protect and restore native coho salmon and steelhead.

"Martorana Family Winery has been a great and important partner in our efforts to restore and protect coho salmon and steelhead in the Russian River watershed,” says Mary Ann King, Chair of the Russian River Coho Water Resources Partnership and manager of Trout Unlimited’s Water and Wine program. “Martorana Family Winery has demonstrated how, by working together, it’s possible to restore, protect and sustain our wild, native fisheries while producing exceptional grapes and wine.”

Saturday's  “Bikes, Vines and Wine” event begins at 10:00 a.m. with a seven mile bike ride from the winery to the Lake Sonoma fish hatchery, where people can learn about cooperative efforts to restore and sustain coho in Grape Creek and other tributaries to the Russian River. After the tour, participants will head back to the winery for an old fashion pig roast – a meal that will be served, of course, with classic Dry Creek wines. The event ends at 2:30 p.m.

The Martorana family has been growing grapes in the Dry Creek Valley for more than 25 years and has produced some of the finest grapes for several well known wineries in the area. Part of the vineyard along Grape Creek is listed on the historical record as having been a Native American fishing village originally occupied by the Southern Pomo Indians, who were once sustained by the abundance of coho salmon that once thrived throughout the Russian River watershed.  Coho salmon have since experienced a precipitous decline in the area, but efforts are underway to restore, protect and sustain the fisheries.

With help from the Russian River Coho Water Resources Partnership, of which TU is an integral part, Martorana Family Winery has worked to improve streamflows and restore critical fish habitat in Grape Creek.  Formed in 2009, the Coho Partnership is working to ensure that there is enough water for people and fish through sound science and careful planning and water supply management.

The event will be held at the Martorana Family Winery, 5956 West Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg.

For more information, and to RSVP, you can call the winery at: 707-433-1909, or email at: info@martoranafamilywinery.com, or check out the following website:  http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/1146205/eb284bfdd1/1471567701/012c8988e3/

For more information about TU's Water and Wine program, click here: http://www.tu.org/conservation/california/reconnect-stream-flows-for-salmon-and-trout/water-wine

To learn more about the Russian River Coho Resources Partnership, click here: http://cohopartnership.org/