Farmed Burgundy black truffles successfully harvested in Sonoma County
Burgundy black truffles, fungus delicacies that go for $300 to $500 a pound, have been successfully harvested from a Sonoma County orchard, the first domestic harvest in the county, as well as the first scientifically cultivated in North America, according to the announcement by the American Truffle Company (ATC).
In December 2018, the firm harvested another “farmed” truffle variety for the first time, the Périgord black truffle, from the same Otellini Truffle Orchard in Sonoma County.
Based in San Mateo, the company was founded in 2007 by Robert Chang, managing director and chief truffle officer, and Paul Thomas, chief scientist. According to them, the North Bay is one of a number of climate zones around the world suitable for the practice of farming truffles by planting trees inoculated with truffle fungus in “client partner” orchards.
“Scientific truffle orchards have been established at Peju Province Winery (Napa County) and at Robert Sinskey Vineyard's Carneros truffle orchard (also in Napa), to name a few regional locations,” Chang said. “Our scientific efforts are also bringing this technology to higher latitudes to push the potential growing zone envelope to areas such as Great Britain, beyond those that have been considered as traditional truffle growing regions in Spain, Italy and France. This is important because climate change forecasts show that Spain, for example, may not be able to grow truffles 30 years from now.”
While Europe has been the primary source of nature's truffles for centuries, other countries, including the U.S., are implementing carefully designed protocols to “farm” truffles.
WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN GOLD
American Truffle founders say the industry is less than a decade away from becoming firmly established in its own right, as ATC continues to ramp up to produce truffles in commercial quantities for professional and home chef truffle enthusiasts. Different varieties of black truffles are not just one-season products but can be harvested virtually year-round.
Today Chang said the company has client partners who own 200 acres devoted to truffle farming worldwide, a number they say will be capped at 500 acres to maintain the market and the rate of return for these high-value products.
Périgord and Burgundy black truffles are in high demand and considered by many to be the “black gold” of the gourmet market, valued at a per pound price closely equivalent to the price of an ounce of 24-carat gold in some cases. They are delicacies sought by top tier restaurateurs, renowned Michelin-rated chefs and home chefs around the globe garnering.
“The two black truffle varieties produced locally are among the most highly-prized,” said Kathleen Iudice, ATC's director of public relations. “They command prices historically ranging from $1,200 per pound for winter Périgord black truffles to $500 a pound for winter Burgundy and $300 per pound for summer Burgundy truffles. Only Italian white truffles, at nearly $1,500 per pound and up - often rising to $3,000 or $4,000 a pound - are more valuable, but the white variety has not been successfully cultivated to date.”
Historically, truffles have been “hunted” using female pigs that could detect their underground presence in secret areas of forests where they foraged.
Today naturally occurring and cultivated truffles are found with the help of specially trained dogs - that won't eat truffles or bite fingers - but simply sniff out and locate aromatic truffles for their owners. Rico, a trained Lagotto Romagnolo truffle dog, found the first Burgundy black truffle in the Otellini orchard in Sonoma County.
THREE-STAGE PROCESS
American Truffle was formed to use science to develop specially-treated oak and hazelnut saplings and reproduce soil conditions necessary for growing truffles.
Saplings are inoculated with black truffle fungus and carefully managed using scientific protocols proven to deliver reliable and reproducible results.
“Truffle farming is a unique type of mono-agriculture that is symbiotic with vineyards and is yet another way to diversify local farm crops while also providing an additional revenue stream,” Iudice said.
The benefits associated with an ATC partnership are not limited to scientific ways to cultivate truffles.
“We offer partners four services that begin with the purchase of oak and hazelnut wood saplings that have been inoculated with truffle fungus spores
,” said Chang.
The typical start-up costs per acre, including all inoculated of trees, all consulting and monitoring for the life of orchard.
The second phase involves the overall scientific know-how that the company provides before, during and after trees are planted, including the selection and qualifying of the land, preparation of soil determining soil chemistry and the pH balance necessary for truffle growth, as well as the layout of tree rows and irrigation details.
