Hybrid...ization

Posted 01/25/2008 at 12:32 PM by Dirk

News Flash: Hybridization happening in Oakville . Seven affected! Nickel & Nickel winemaker adjusts to hybridization.  Far Niente winemaker soon to be hybridized too.

My grandfather was a California farmer who loved to hybridize roses and fruit trees. (He went to Davis before it was a UC!)  Of course, I didn't know what a hybrid was. Instead, I was fascinated by his apple tree that had several varieties grafted onto it.

Have you ever asked or even wondered why some of the tomato plants you buy at the nursery say F-1 on the label? (I used to always associate F-1 with Formula One Racing...that is the type of racing that gets televised each year from Monaco where Jackie Stewart shows off his perfect Scotch accent while cars flash by sounding like they are in a hurry.)  F-1 refers to the variety being... you guessed it...a hybrid...a single cross hybrid which is the first crossing of two varieties.

It gets more complicated...everything does.

Hybrids were in fiction, too. Griffins and Mermaids were hybrids. (Griffins were part lion and part eagle and Mermaids were part fish and part human.)  If you take two F-1 hybrids and cross them, it should be in a mystery novel because F-1 + F-1 is known as a "Double Cross" (and everyone will want to know "whodunnit?" (Fortunately, we don't have to think about a Griffin / Mermaid double cross!)

Plant people like this stuff.

We don't use hybrids as grape varieties but there are lots of rootstocks that have emerged from long term hybridization programs throughout the world. For instance, 3309, the famous rootstock that is resistant to phyloxera, is a cross of rupestris with riperia. It was the 3309^th cross out of "a whole lot" that were performed by Georges Couderc.

Back to the New Flash: Hybridization happening in Oakville . It doesn't have anything to do with plants.  It's about cars.  Since it was time to replace our aging Jeeps, we embraced four-wheel-drive hybrids as our next generation vehicle. They are Hybrid Toyota Highlanders to be specific. I had assumed that getting a hybrid was some sort of lifestyle, tree hugging, green, Spartan, guilt-inducing journey into the world of politically correct driving etiquette. Maybe it is...but they are not Spartan and I am unclear on who is supposed to feel guilty.

I haven't been flight tested to actually drive one of these hybrids yet. "Look, Don't Touch" may best describe the current availability I enjoy to one of these hybrids. Therefore, I looked them up online. A Hybrid combines conventional propulsion with an RESS. It would have helped if I had known what RESS meant and if it was related to the carburetor. It isn't because it doesn't have a carburetor. RESS means Rechargeable Energy Storage System. (Does that mean if I get a good night's sleep that I am an RESS?)  We haven't heard any CarTalk callers asking RESS questions yet. (I have always wanted to call them because Clik, (or is it Clak?) has a '52MGTD (with a carburetor) which is what my dad drove and once got a ticket for going too slowly but the officer couldn't understand that was ALL it could do!)

I have noticed that hybrids can move without making any noise. (It is as if someone hit the mute button). I would get confused not knowing if the car was on. Does it have to be on to move? (I had an exciting past with vehicles that included driving/ coasting down hills without the engine on; very stupid, but it seemed logical at the time. Maybe it was an early prototype test for hybrids.) It gets more complicated, you don't have to put the key in the ignition for the car to start...whether it is running or not...or making carlike noises.

It has seat warmers. (Beware, kids turn them on when you aren't looking!) It has some way to plug in video game controllers...(not for the driver). The back door opens itself...somehow. Most importantly, it has that new car smell (at least until the first drive through at In and Out Burger.)

Maybe all cars do most of those things but our hybrids are another extension of the efficiency revolution that has been touching all parts of winemaking and winegrowing around here.  However, I did just hear Darice offering to drive the samples up to ETS in St. Helena ...check the seat heater!

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