Cannabis in Humboldt: Climate is Terroir

Climate originally means a place’s slope or inclination in relation to the sun. In Burgundy, France, the “Climats” are vineyard plots and in 2015, the “Burgundy Climats” won recognition as a Unesco World Heritage site.

Why does it matter? Because it’s about the whole environment of a micro-climate. Every place is infinitely unique, infinitely diverse. And people are not independent of this. Their practices shape the environment in which the products grow. In successful terroir economies (think Colombian coffee, Argan oil, Burgundy wine) producers reinvest into their local environment both physical and cultural. Always invest in the place, the ‘climat’, because the quality of the product comes from the place.

Humboldt: Where Cannabis Terroir Is Resistance

After World War II, formed by the power of the Resistance, French cheese makers began to organize themselves to protect and sustain small craft cheese production in rural regions of the country. They formed syndicats, promoted the quality of their product for export and tourism, and mobilized locally to establish new cheese appellations. They resisted agro-industrial production.

Today, cannabis farmers in Humboldt, hundreds of them, want to sustain themselves and their communities by continuing to produce high quality small batch cannabis grown with regenerative practices. They resist in these three ways:

1. NO TO COMMODITIZATION

Craft cannabis grown in Humboldt yields a distinctive taste. It expresses the soil, the people, and the growing practices. It’s not a standard commodity, it’s a long-term relationship with the environment.

2. NO TO CONSOLIDATION

In Humboldt, hundreds of small farmers and extractors live near their work. They’re not workers for big agriculture, they’re a community of independent, skilled producers.

3. NO TO SEPARATION

Humboldt cannabis farmers work together to produce quality over quantity. Résistance and cannabis terroir arise from the same foundation: COLLECTIVE ORGANIZING.

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Nicole Riggs is the founder of Manifesto Synergies, an agency providing communication services to the cannabis industry in Humboldt.

How to pair wine and Humboldt cannabis

There are two glasses in front of you. One is filled with wine, the other with cannabis flower from Humboldt, the world’s mecca for top-tier pot. You smell each, and the aromas envelop you in a harmonious pairing. You’re enticed by the promise of flavors, textures and taste intensities. If you want to appreciate a pairing of wine and Humboldt cannabis, follow these steps.

1. Know what your intention is. “Seek balance,” says Jamie Evans of The Herb Somm, a cannabis blog and lifestyle brand that focuses on the gourmet side of the cannabis industry. A lighter cannabis strain with uplifting effects, say Lemon Sour Diesel, will be served with a refreshing white wine like a Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnary, or Albariño. However, if you aim for deep relaxation, pair the more earthy flavors of a calming cannabis strain such as White Tahoe Cookies with a well-structured and savoury wine like a Cabernet.

Lemon Sour Diesel by Above, Humboldt County

2. Learn about aromas. If you’re new to cannabis, study terpenes--more than 100 vibrant aromatic compounds found in cannabis--and focus on the dominant terpene of a cannabis strain, which is often Myrcene, Limonene, or Pinene. Once you’ve developed a palate and you start to know what you like, learn about the minor terpenes of the strain as well, because they play a subtle and important role. “The terpene complexity of cannabis is unparalleled,” says Kevin Jodrey, one of Humboldt County (and the world)’s finest cultivation experts. A good resource for terpene education is SC Labs . And if you’re new to wine, explore (at such sites as Wine Folly) the different varietals grown in different regions and see what speaks to you.

White Tahoe Cookies by Aloha Humboldt

3. Explore textures. A good wine will have a pleasant entry into the palate, and a long finish. Cannabis has smoke texture too, as well as tannins due to temperature swings between day and night on the farm where it grows. Notice the weight of the wine and the cannabis as you taste them. “It’s all about the extended finish,” says Sunshine Johnston, a legacy cannabis farmer in Humboldt County with years of experience as a wine broker. She runs Sunboldt Grown Farm (all her cannabis grows in native soil, under the sun). As for Kevin, his taste runs to “a heavier, fuller cannabis that envelops me, that grabs me, and in wine, a fuller-body red with deep complexities when it bites in my mouth. I like developed richness.”

Kevin Jodrey, Humboldt County

4. Go wild. Pleasure comes from pairing wine made with as little manipulation as possible, like the natural wines that are now exploding in popularity in France, with cannabis that is cultivated with the least amount of human interference. The best winemakers don’t get in the way of the grape expressing the terroir, and the best cannabis farmers don’t inhibit the plant’s full expression of its terroir. Humboldt County is blessed by nature with diverse fertile soils, a moderate climate and intense rainfall. Humboldt cannabis farmers foster soil vitality through regenerative practices, which yields the extraordinary top-shelf cannabis that everyone wants. One of the strains at Sunshine’s farm is Wanderlust, exhibiting creamy, lemony flavors, almost like rotten oranges, which she loves to pair with a rich, mineral Chardonnay from Briceland Vineyards. For Sunshine, it’s “a sensory experience, you’re trying to build resonance.”

Sunshine Johnston, Sunboldt Grown, Humboldt County

5. Start low, go slow. Jamie advises a slow, gradual tasting and a glass of water always by your side. With wine, you can swirl it in the glass, smell it, take a small sip, and if you don’t like it, spit it out. Not so with cannabis. To make the pleasure last, don’t just consume cannabis to get high right away, but consider alternating smoking with eating raw cannabis-infused foods that reveal the rich flavors without the high. “When you eat raw cannabis-infused food, you feel good!” says Sunshine. When smoking, Jamie favors a dry flower vaporizer to enjoy the pure terpene profile while keeping the palate clean for other flavors.

Jamie Evans, The Herb Somm

6. Host a private party at home. Due to regulatory limitations, cannabis and wine pairing are best enjoyed as private events in an intimate, private home. If you have the resources, bring in both a ganjier whose passion and expertise are all about cannabis, and a sommelier obsessed with all things wine. Develop an appreciation of each on its own terms, and play with their union. Ultimately, if you enjoyed the pairing, then it was a good pairing!

Cheers!

How to Talk about Cannabis Appellations

Talking about cannabis appellations can be intimidating. You don’t have to be an expert to think about terroir, experience how cannabis expresses the character of a place, and discover your own preferences.

 Appellations exist most famously for wine (“Bordeaux, anyone?”) but also for products such Roquefort cheese, Parma Ham, and more. They indicate a place of origin with unique factors that produce distinctive agricultural products.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s CalCannabis Appellations Project (“CAP”) is working on a program that will determine how cannabis appellations are defined and protected.

 Here’s how to Talk about Cannabis Appellations:

 1. Three areas come into play: Standards, Varietals and Practices.

 2. Standards refer to the soil, light, water, and air that provide the conditions for cannabis cultivation. That’s ‘terroir,’ a French term that refers not only to soil but the overall native environment. For example, should only native soil qualify for an appellation product? To what extent do you think the soil can be optimized/altered with supplemental products and still express a region’s character? Or look at light. Is sungrown cannabis the only way to express the character of a place? Now consider water. Worldwide, clean water is an increasingly rare and valuable resource. How does water use impact your choice of cannabis?

3. Varietals is the term used in wine. In Cannabis, it’s often referred to as strains. Connoisseurs of cannabis recognize that the same strain grown with similar practices in different environments will look, taste and feel different. What strains most authentically express a region? Humboldt County is famed for strains such as Ice Cream Cake that won awards at the 2019 Emerald Cup and many others. As farmers grow and experiment, what strains should be included in appellations, and how far should farmers go with experimenting with new and hybrid strains?

4. Practices. That’s the last, but IMHO, not the least of the areas to look at. Practices refer to the human touch from planting to curing. Have you ever consumed cannabis flower that was too dry and not flavorful enough? You know, “styrofoam cannabis?” That can come from cannabis being cut too early, flush-dried, and rushed to market—the fast-food of the industry. Something to consider when you think about Appellation Cannabis is: what does it tell you about how the original plant was handled? How does that affect the taste of your cannabis product?

5. Develop your own taste. This one comes with a disclaimer: I’m a French person living in Humboldt for 20 years, I reported on the French and California wine industry for years, and I enjoy both wine and cannabis. The takeaway? Talk to others with a variety of opinions, enlarge your perspective and most importantly: explore what your personal taste is.

Humboldt Cannabis Appellations: Packaging Differentiation

Much focus is given to French wine appellations when developing a framework for California Cannabis Appellations. French wines come in different shape bottles. Although the bottle shape doesn’t impact the wine’s flavor, it is a powerful identifier of the region from where the wine is produced. The Alsace wine bottle is long and fluted, the Bordeaux bottle is straight and tall. Burgundy presents itself in a bottle with gently sloping shoulders and a slightly wider body.

Humboldt County may find it valuable to consider a required packaging for its flower products that sets it apart from cannabis produced outside the Humboldt County Appellation. The packaging would reflects the environmental consciousness that has long existed in the region, and therefore be made without plastic but with a sustainable material. In addition, the packaging should ensure the longevity of the superior product.

What are your ideas about packaging for Humboldt Cannabis products?

Humboldt Cannabis Appellations: Further Thoughts

So I’ve shared some ideas and questions about Humboldt Cannabis Appellations. Here are further thoughts, would love your feedback. We’ll advance best when we collaborate on solutions that truly meet the needs of the Humboldt County cannabis community.

Production requirements

French Wine Appellations have stringent production requirements including but not limited to grapes coming 100% from their respective regions. In addition, the manufacture of grapes into wine is highly regulated to ensure that it is produced locally and at the highest standards. In California, the law already prohibits businesses from marketing as ‘Humboldt’ any cannabis that is not grown in Humboldt. Some states have mandated vertical integration of the supply chain, but California has taken a highly regulated approach with discrete actors requiring licenses for each step of the chain. There remain several open questions regarding the requirements imposed on the supply chain downstream and how these come under an Appellation system. For example, should secondary products derived from Humboldt Cannabis be manufactured in Humboldt County to earn the Appellation designation, just as an AOC wine is produced within the Appellation?

 Enforcement

 So long as marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, states should develop their own Appellation systems, while maintaining federally-legislated bans on import/export. It may prove beneficial to have an established framework in place at both the county and state level ahead of the day when the federal prohibition is lifted. While there will undoubtedly be challenges to enforcing Appellation law if other jurisdictions do not follow, it seems likely that established Appellation frameworks will incentivize regulation at the federal level. Trade bodies such as the Humboldt County Growers Alliance (hcga.co) are instrumental in developing policy making to differentiate HC Appellation differentiation and generate market value.

 Education and Consumer Protection

 One of the significant benefits of an Appellation system based on the French AOC system is that it provides consumers with far more information than just place of origin. As the HC Appellation gets established, it will be key to clearly and consistently communicate important data to consumers, including the strain, THC/CBD levels, etc.

What are your thoughts?

Humboldt Cannabis Appellations: Lieux-dits

As of May 2019, there are over 1300 licensed cannabis cultivators in Humboldt County. The cultivators are spread across the forested, mountainous terrain of the county and speak to the tradition of cannabis growing in the various micro-climates of the region. An Appellation system that values unique micro-climate locations is more likely to benefit the long-term sustainability of small-scale cannabis farmers in Humboldt. Turning to Alsace, there are three Appellations and long a rich, long history of ‘lieu-dit’ (locales), with over 50 lieux-dits in its AOC. As an alternative to Mendocino’s system of multiple Appellations based on geography, further research into a single HC Appellation with a multiplicity of lieux-dits may prove fruitful in the establishment of Humboldt Cannabis Appellation guidelines.

Lieux-dits (pronounced liuh dee) is a French toponymic term for a smaller geographical area within the Appellation. Three possible translations for a Humboldt Cannabis lieu-dit are ‘townland’ locale’ and ‘place-name.’

What do you think of establishing ‘lieux-dits’ within the Humboldt Cannabis Appellation?

The case for Humboldt Cannabis Appellations

It’s changing before our eyes. From illegal to regulated, cannabis in California is evolving so fast that we don’t know what to feel. Scared. Greedy (you know who you are). Also excited. Going into the big unknown.

A possible guide in this adventure? Cannabis Appellations.  I’m making the case for Humboldt Cannabis Appellations. Because we have a tradition, micro climates and unique packaging potential that would set Humboldt Cannabis apart. We may not agree, but let’s start talking.

An Appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where an agricultural product comes from and how it’s produced.

In 2018, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) established the CalCannabis Appellations Project to expand on county of origin regulations and create a statewide Appellations system. It is is required to establish the process for cannabis Appellations by January 1, 2021. THE CDFA has already established in its county-of-origin regulations that to be eligible for the designation, 100 percent of the cannabis shall be produced within the designated county, as defined by finite political boundaries.

Why Humboldt Cannabis Appellations?

Humboldt County has a rich and long history of small-scale farms cultivating cannabis. A Humboldt Cannabis (HC) Appellation will benefit Humboldt County cannabis businesses in three main ways: Protection, Innovation and Sustainability.

1. Protection.
   HC Appellation could provide legal protection by:

• preventing the use of ‘Humboldt’ branding for cannabis not 100% grown in Humboldt

• promoting artisanal small-scale cultivation that focuses on sustainability, original seeds, etc.  

• reducing the risk of turning cannabis into a commodity that’s driven by price only

2. Innovation.
For Humboldt County cultivators already passionate about growing the best cannabis, an HC Appellation system will support their research and development in:

• defining bottom-up regulation standards

• exploring with hybrid strains

• enacting best practices for sustainable cultivation that have the potential to become models for other crops around the world

 3. Sustainability.
Tourism is a a key driver of economic success in Humboldt County. An HC Appellation will:

• attract more visitors who want to discover genuine cannabis cultivation and process in the place of origin

• provide long-term employment across the cannabis supply chain from growers to manufacturers, distributors, retailers and consumption spaces

• enable Humboldt County residents to stay, thrive, and give their community a bright future.

Look at Alsace as well as Champagne for Cannabis Appellations?

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Tradition: Humboldt County’s experiment with strains and hybrids

The large number of cannabis strains in Humboldt County and the potential for new ones is worth comparing to the varietals requirements in Alsace as well as Champagne.

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The number and variety of strains is deeply connected with terroir: Humboldt County growers have spent decades researching cannabis strains and genetics to find those best suited to the climate, for example strains that are highly resistant to pathogens. At the same time, experimenting continues with new hybrids. An Appellation framework that specifies strains and allows and the development of new ones after regulatory requirements is key to innovation for Humboldt County cannabis.

Lieux-dits: a strength for Humboldt County’s cannabis micro-climates

Humboldt Cannabis cultivators are spread across the forested, mountainous terrain of the county and speak to the tradition of cannabis growing in the various micro-climates of the region.

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An Appellation system that values unique micro-climate locations is more likely to benefit the long-term sustainability of small-scale cannabis farmers in Humboldt. Turning to Alsace, there are three Appellations and long a rich, long history of ‘lieu-dit’ (locales), with over 50 lieux-dits in its AOC. As an alternative to Mendocino’s system of multiple Appellations based on geography, further research into a single HC Appellation with a multiplicity of lieux-dits may prove fruitful in the establishment of Humboldt Cannabis Appellation guidelines.

Packaging differentiation

French wines come in different shape bottles. Although the bottle shape doesn’t impact the wine’s flavor, it is a powerful identifier of the region from where the wine is produced. The Alsace wine bottle, long and fluted, is immediately recognizable.

View fullsize

Photo credit: Frenchcellar.com

Humboldt County may find it valuable to consider a required packaging for its flower products that sets it apart from cannabis produced outside the HC Appellation. The packaging would reflects the environmental consciousness that has long existed in the region, and therefore be made without plastic but with a sustainable material. In addition, the packaging should ensure the longevity of the superior product.

Humboldt County: cannabis is part of who we are. In this new adventure, Humboldt Cannabis Appellations can make us strong. Let’s keep it real, let’s be smart and give our community a great future.

What do you feel are the pros and cons of Humboldt Cannabis appellations?

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Nicole Riggs is the founder of Manifesto Synergies, providing communications and brand strategies to the Humboldt County cannabis industry. You’ll find her at Moonstone Beach or the Arcata Forest when she’s not drinking (Alsace) wine with friends.