Who Won Sonoma County’s 2024 Pruning Contest

The results are in for the 25th annual countywide grapevine pruning contest, which was held last Wednesday at Ferrari-Carano Vineyards in Healdsburg — and the takeaway seems to be that Geyserville pruners just do it better. Miguel Galvan, who works for VinePro Vineyard Management in Geyserville, came in first out of 50 male vineyard employees who competed in this year’s Sonoma County Pruning Championship. And the winner of the women’s division was Andrea Silva from Atlas Vineyard Management in Geyserville, out of 15 competitors. “Unpruned sangiovese vines set the stage for the contestants’ handiwork,” the North Bay Business Journal reports, “with employees from 28 businesses competing for a total of $30,000 in cash and prizes.” The paper writes that “Galvan and Silva walked away with a total of $3,000 in cash and equipment, including gold-plated secateurs, a leaf blower, custom belt buckle, pruning goodie basket and more. As overall champion, Galvan also received a magnum of Balletto 2020 pinot noir, from the Russian River Valley.” A rep for VinePro says the company threw another $1,250 to Galvan as well, to match his cash winnings in the competition. “It’s an honor to be able to showcase vineyard employees whose skills are at the highest level,” a competition organizer tells the PD. “Their work is so important because it helps set us up for an amazing vintage to follow.” And speaking of Geyserville vine whisperers: Yolanda Cruz, the first-ever female foreman at Geyserville’s Redwood Empire Vineyard Management, just also became the first woman to receive the “Vineyard Employee of the Year” award from the Fundación de la Voz de los Viñedos (formerly known as the Sonoma County Grape Growers Foundation). “Pioneers like Yolanda Cruz are inspiring and important role models,” the head of the org says in an interview with the PD. “She’s paved the way for other women by showing initiative, innovation and leadership, which has drawn more women into the vineyard.” (Source: North Bay Business Journal & Press Democrat; paywall)