Last week I toured vineyards in the Willamette Valley (in Oregon) and the Walla Walla Valley (in Oregon and Washington) to get an introduction to the green producers of the Northwest.
It’s easy to think of the Oregon countryside west of the Cascades as being ‘green.’ It’s a pretty green place after all, with its rose gardens and berry patches, its tall pines blanketing rain-soaked hillsides and framing gorgeous, fecund valleys. It’s harder to imagine the same quality east of the Cascades; much of it’s desert after all, and the color green is hard to come by most of the year, except in irrigated fields.
But both areas, it turns out, are at the forefront of green viticulture, and it’s clear that the regions’ wines and reputations are reaping the benefit. Both places have an active community of growers who practice vineyard management that avoids or forswears synthetic chemical additives, like fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides, or fungicides, in favor of natural inputs or deterrents.
Instead they seek to head off bugs, weeds and fungi before they become problems, or if such problems do flare up, the growers will combat them with natural means. The idea is to encourage biodiversity, the collection of organisms on the farm; rather than regulating them by obliteration, they seek to have them exist in a kind of balance, a managed agricultural system that resembles an unmanaged natural ecosystem. This, in essence, is the nature of green farming, which includes sustainable, organic, and biodynamic practices.
Of the three, sustainable viticulture is the most widespread, and the easiest to attain. Sustainable is a multi-faceted concept, referring to the farm’s overall health (that of its soil, its flora, fauna, and of the people working there), and it refers to the farm’s sustained economic health as well. Sustainable advocates quite sensibly believe that if your practices can’t keep you afloat financially, then it hardly matters how high-minded your decisions are. What separates sustainable from the other practices is that it will allow for the use of chemical intervention if the farmer deems them absolutely necessary.
In the Northwest, two agencies – Vinea in the Walla Walla Valley and LIVE (Low Input Viticulture & Enology) in Oregon – facilitate vineyard conversions and act as certifying bodies for sustainable agriculture. Both use a scorecard of practices in which wineries earn points for positive steps. (For instance, you get points for returning grape pomace and other organic material back to the soil – extra points for manure and other beneficial inputs. Zero points for a bag of fertilizer, needless to say.) What is remarkable is how widespread the practice is here: in the Walla Walla Valley no less than 80% of the vineyards are certified; and in Oregon, statewide, 3500 acres of vines are LIVE certified – amounting to nearly 40% of all vineyard land.
Organic picks up where sustainable leaves off. It forbids all synthetic chemicals; whatever you use to keep your plants healthy must be organic itself. Organic compliance is a much more complicated matter since the U.S. Congress passed an Organic Standards Act in 2002. ‘It is hell to get,’ said Susan Sokol Blosser, who was certified organic in 2004. ‘LIVE takes a positive approach, telling you what you can do, but Organic standards only say what you can’t do, and you have to figure out how to farm without doing those things.’ ‘But,’ she adds, ‘it has made us better farmers.’
Certification, in fact, is something the state of Oregon has excelled in; one of the world’s most successful certifying bodies for organic agriculture was founded here. It’s called Oregon Tilth, and its officers verify organic enterprises all over the world.
It’s important to make a distinction here. ‘Organic wine’ and wine made with organically grown grapes are two very different products these days. Many wine lovers have had bad experiences with so-called organic wine, and are understandably gun-shy about buying a bottle. Like organic food, which used to connote ‘wormy’ or ‘spoiled’ or ‘tasteless,’ organic wine has usually meant one made without the use of sulfur as a preservative, often resulting in spectacularly flawed wines, either riddled with microbes of or badly oxidized.
Some wines are still made in this way (admittedly, with much more success than in decades past), and these are still known as ‘organic wine;’ wines made from organic fruit, and which employ sulfur, are labeled ‘made with organically-grown grapes.’ Not only are these more reliable than non-sulfured wines, they can be marvelous.
That leaves the thorny – some would say horny – topic of biodynamics. This wholistic, ultra-organic growing practice, developed by the philosopher Rudolf Steiner, is the most misunderstood in all of alternative agriculture. It is lampooned for its peculiar rituals and seemingly kooky methods of soil enrichment, which involve preparations like spreading a manure concoction that has been ‘treated’ by spending several months buried in a cow horn. But such lurid snapshots of biodynamics tend to distort its simple message and the elegant nature of its practice.
Biodynamics takes organic practices and essentially links the farm to the universe in which it resides, a cosmological component that is less strange than it first seems. It uses the phases of the moon, for example, to maximize the plant’s ability to draw in nutrients, reasoning that the lunar cycle is liable to have an influence on plant circulation just as it does on the world’s oceans.
Like the tides, much of biodynamics falls within the realm of things not seen. Given this, perhaps the best way to understand biodynamics is by comparison to another practice that’s hard to comprehend, namely, homeopathy. One of homeopathy’s fundamental tenets is that small amounts of potent agents can provide great benefits to health. Biodynamic preparations are similarly applied: the medicinal properties of plants such as horsetail, chamomile, stinging nettle and valerian root are extracted, concentrated, and spread in minute quantities in the vineyard.
Does it work? There are those who taste biodynamic wines and swear there is an added vibrancy to them, a life-force, if you will, that courses through them. Myself, I’ve looked for such evidence for years, and sometimes I believe it’s there, sometimes I don’t, or sometimes it’s masked by oak, extraction, overcropping – by less-than-cosmically-inspired winemaking, in other words. I can say that the five biodynamic wines I tried last week were remarkable, but I’m not confident enough to say why. Perhaps when I have a better sense of my own place in the cosmos, I’ll know. But I do know that careful farming of the sort that produces wines like these is rapidly coming to define Northwest viticulture, and it is turning up in the glass.
The following are notes on biodynamic, organic and sustainable wines from the ‘Growing Green Media Tour,’ held during the second week of September, 2006:
Biodynamic Wines:
I tasted five biodynamic wines; one from Walla Walla, the rest from Oregon. While they may have been filled with a luminous, wholistic quality, I must say that when confronted with a table of biodynamic wines, when you’re looking hard for a vibe, you tend to find it. This tendency toward self-fulfilling prophecy tends to distort the results, but I can say with certainty that these five wines were farmed impeccably, with the discipline biodynamics forces upon the farmer, and that has certainly led to some fine efforts in the glass.
Bergstrom Winery, Willamette Valley (Oregon) Bergstrom Vineyard Pinot Noir 2004 ($60): Josh Bergstrom makes wines from several single vineyard wines from some of Oregon’s most important vineyards, including Shea and Nysa. This one, however, is his own, and biodynamically farmed. A powerfully-constructed wine with plush textures, like black cherry fruit baked in a pie, and lavished with rich oak, this is the broad-shouldered sort of pinot that catches attention on the wine bulletin boards. But it should garner attention for its purity of fruit, a chocolatey black cherry, and its taut core and lively tannins. A little over the top, stylistically, but stylish nevertheless. 91
Sineann Cellars, Willamette Valley (Oregon) Resonance Vineyard Pinot Noir 2005 ($48): As placid as a calm lake, this pretty, youthful wine from a biodynamic vineyard in the Yamhill-Carlton district, and made by Sineann’s Peter Rosbeck, is as fresh as a bowl of summer cherries in the glass, with a brightness and vibrancy that carries through to the palate. Texturally it’s fresh and broad, texturally lifted and bright. While not particularly complex, it’s irresistibly delicious. 90
Brick House Vineyards, Willamette Valley (Oregon) ‘les Dijonnais’ Pinot Noir 2004 ($42): Winemaker Doug Tunnell has been certified organic for years – since 1990, but recently took the added step of becoming biodynamic. Whatever the reason, you can really taste the earth in this wine, a black tea and humus scent in the glass that complements a dark, resonant red fruit that stalls between concentrated strawberry and plum. Its texture is lean and dry, with less baby fat than your average Oregon pinot these days, and a dark earthy finish. Tunnell includes a small percentage of ripe, lignified whole clusters which contribute an earthiness and a tea spice and add to the sense that this wine is intimately connected to the earth. Will benefit from a little age, then serve with duck. 92
Maysara Winery, Willamette Valley (Oregon) Pinot Noir ‘Delara’ 2004 ($45): Moe Momtazi purchased 500+ acres in the southern half of the Willamette Valley, ten miles south of McMinnville in the new AVA named for that Oregon town. Pretty much from the start he has pursued biodynamics, having had ‘natural’ agriculture in his family heritage since his childhood in Iran, where his grandfather’s respect for the earth in his orchards and fields made a deep impression. The 2003 Delara, a barrel selection, is a big wine from a big vintage, a dark and plummy with a rich, concentrated fruit character and a gripping, grainy texture that should resolve with a little age. (Note: A number of 2003 Oregon pinots I tasted on this trip appear to be settling in an interesting way; still broad-shouldered, but no longer so jammy.) 91
Cayuse Vineyard, Walla Walla (Washington) Cailloux Vineyard Syrah 2004 ($60): After a couple of vintages where winemaker Christophe Baron’s wines have seemed heavy and overripe, the 2004s and 2005s (tasted from barrel) have relocated their spine and their balance. This 2004 is from his original rock-strewn biodynamic vineyard in the flats of the Walla Walla Valley. It is still one of Walla Walla’s earthiest wines, with a violet-tinged smoky mineral scent that shares a faint hint of savory bacon fat. But already in the aromas you can tell this is a lighter wine, with more perfume and not as intense a center of gravity. Its flavors are pure fresh currants, and all of those savory elements revisit the palate, with impressive length and a complex finish. 92
Organic and Sustainable Wines:
Evesham Wood Winery, Willamette Valley (Oregon) ‘Blanc du Puits Sec’ 2005 ($13.50): Absolutely ethereal, 100% certified organic white from this less-than-well-known Eola Hills producer in the middle of the Willamette Valley. Made from 85% Pinot Gris and 15% Gewürztraminer, this wine makes a good case that the more neutral Pinot Gris can benefit from a little perfume from a more aromatic variety like Gewürztraminer. Light, fragrant, but hardly blowsy, it smells of citrus blossoms and its light brisk pear flavors seem suspended by a talc-like minerality and a rippling, exhilarating acidity. A beautiful aperitif, this would also be terrific with a seared scallop. 92
Chehalem, Dundee Hills (Oregon) Stoller Vineyard Pinot Noir 2004 ($39): Stoller Vineyard is a sustainably-farmed jewel in the Dundee Hills that rises from 99W, the main highway just south of Dundee, and in its way it’s as dramatic and spectacular a vineyard site as Corton. This wine regularly shows a lush red fruit profile, and this particular rendition has a soft red cherry aroma, but its flavors are all strawberry, lush and bursting with juice, with fine tannins and a stirring minerality. 92
Cooper Mountain Vineyards, Willamette Valley (Oregon) Pinot Noir ‘Mountain Terroir’ 2003 ($45): Dr. Richard Gross, a medical doctor with strong affinities for homeopathy, farms his vineyards organically and even makes some organic wine – with no sulphur inputs. This one, though, is made from organically grown fruit, and that fruit is dark and spicy when first poured, but brightens considerably in the glass until the finish, where it tastes like a bowl of Bing cherries. A fresh wine from a big, powerful vintage. 91
Pepper Bridge Winery, Walla Walla Valley (Washington) Merlot 2003 ($45): This fine Merlot from Pepper Bridge contains 100% sustainable fruit from Pepper Bridge Vineyard and winery owner Norm McKibben’s other project, Seven Hills Vineyard. It has a deep-in-the-woods aroma, an almost mossy spice that lies just beneath a heady, dark black cherry fruit character. Its flavors are powerful, with notes of deep black cherries, cocoa, and espresso. It shows a rich oak imprint, but is nimble enough for duck. 92
Some Useful Websites:
www.liveinc.org
www.vineatrust.org
www.tilth.org
www.demeter-usa.org
www.oregonwine.org
www.wallawallawine.com
Certified Wines and Wineries:
Walla Walla Valley VINEA Certified Wineries and Vineyards: Several, including Abeja, Amavi, L’Ecole No. 41, Leonetti, Pepper Bridge, Reininger, Seven Hills Vineyard, Seven Hills Winery, Woodward Canyon
Walla Walla Demeter-Certified Biodynamic: Cayuse
Willamette Valley LIVE-Certified Wineries & Vineyards: Benton-Lane, Bethel Heights, Ponzi, Willamette Valley Vineyards, Willakenzie Estate, Witness Tree
Willamette Valley Oregon Tilth-Certified Organic: Cooper Mountain, Croft Vineyard, Evesham Wood Vineyard, Sokol Blosser
Willamette Valley Demeter-Certified Biodynamic: Bergstrom, Brickhouse, Maysara, Resonance Vineyard