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A Visit to the Willamette Valley, Part
I
By Jim Clarke
 In
May this year I felt the itch to get out of the city and gave
myself a few days to visit the Willamette Valley in Oregon. The
Valley is a high quality wine region and has been enjoying a dynamic
run of strong vintages. It’s also the first place in the
U.S. where winemakers have come to grips with Pinot Noir, a grape
notorious for its finicky, difficult nature. A third generation
of vintners is establishing itself, and none of the more established
wineries have become so big that they dominate the scene. Things
are still changing in both the wineries and vineyards, and these
innovations are still out in the open and not yet hidden behind
a veil of P.R. as they might be in the state to the south. My
visit was brief, but it was a great opportunity to take the pulse
of America’s home for Pinot Noir.
I arrived in Oregon on a Sunday
– on Mother’s Day, specifically. Having made my obligatory
call during a stopover in Las Vegas (I even played a few slots
in the airport on my mom’s behalf), I dropped my things
at the hotel and treated myself to a meal at Red
Hills Provincial Dining in Dundee. The Willamette Valley,
while very beautiful in its own right, may not have the Wine Country
look of Napa Valley; however, it certainly sounds like wine country
when you start eavesdropping. Guests at the table next to me were
talking to hostess and owner Nancy Gherts about the progress of
the 2003 vintage, now resting in barrel, and to whom they planned
to sell their grapes next season. Even guests with no apparent
direct connection to the wine industry spoke knowledgeably and
enthusiastically about the wine they were enjoying with their
meals.
In part this is because Richard
and Nancy Gherts have put together an award-winning wine list,
featuring local producers, but including a wide selection from
around the world – it’s a magnet for wine lovers.
The restaurant is set inside an old Craftsman home, and the menu
tilts things in favor of hometown wines; salmon and mushrooms,
for example, are sure bets for pairing to the Willamette Valley’s
dominant grape, Pinot Noir. This is where the “Provincial”
in “Red Hills Provincial Dining” comes in; they rely
on local products for the centerpieces of their menu.
In Europe, wines from a region
can generally be relied on to match with the cuisine of a region: Chianti,
with its strong acidity, lends itself to a tomato-based pasta sauce,
for example. Oregon may be frontrunner for this sort of symbiosis in
the New World. Pinot Noir has become the dominant grape, backed up by
its traditional Burgundian partner Chardonnay and a Pinot cousin, Pinot
Gris. Rich, wild Pacific salmon is the go-to fish for Oregon, and the
area has a greater diversity of edible wild mushrooms than anywhere
else in the U.S. The mild climate also lends itself to all sorts of
fruits, berries, and vegetables that brighten the Oregonian dinner table
and often suit their white wines. Oregon-grown hazelnuts – locally
known as filberts – are world-beaters, a favorite of mine since
my college days in the Northwest. They’re wonderful alongside
the state’s Chardonnays, even though I first discovered them in
their roasted, salted form as the ideal companion to Oregon’s
other beverage of note, the microbrew.
Ponzi
Vineyards
After a night’s rest I headed
to the north end of the Willamette Valley to visit Ponzi Vineyards,
part of the old guard of Oregonian winemaking. The winery was founded
in 1970 by Dick and Nancy Ponzi, and the business has now, in European
fashion, been passed down to the next generation. Daughter Luisa has
taken on the post of Winemaker, and her siblings Maria and Michel have
divided up the business responsibilities of the operation. Maria greeted
me warmly and took me for a walk through the Estate Vineyard, which
lies next to the winery. She put me in touch not only with Ponzi’s
own history, but with the history of winemaking throughout the region.
Ponzi has been instrumental in
bringing together the wine community and forging a sense of identity
among Oregon’s wine industry for some time. They helped found
the Oregon Winegrowers Association, as well as the Oregon Wine Advisory
Board (now the Oregon Wine Board). Both organizations foster winemaking
in the state by bringing winemakers and growers together and pushing
for legislation on behalf of all of those involved, from vineyard workers
to owners to the consumer. Under the guidance of these organizations,
Oregon has also instituted the strictest wine-labelling regulations
in the U.S. Nancy Ponzi also made Willamette Valley wine a fun and open
experience by being one of the founders of the International Pinot Noir
Celebration and, for wine professionals, the Oregon Pinot Camp.
In the 1970s Ponzi and the other
producers of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir sold their wines as
estate bottlings; the wines might come from one or several different
vineyards, but were blended instead of bottled individually. Bottling
and marketing wines from individual vineyards began in the mid-to-late
80s, but Ponzi has largely kept with their original approach.
Although they do have four different vineyards – Estate,
Abetina, Madrona, and Aurora – only the Abetina
Pinot Noir is bottled as a single-vineyard wine. They
also round out their portfolio by growing several other varietals
rather than hitching their fortune exclusively to Pinot Noir’s
star.
Not that they have neglected
the usual suspects: Willamette Valley and Reserve bottlings of
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, together with a Pinot Gris.
The latter was my introduction to Ponzi’s wines; my entry
in my tasting notebook for the 2002 is dramatically
circled in red ink. They also recently introduced a rarity: Tavola,
a very enjoyable entry-level Pinot Noir that offers fantastic
value with prices in the teens. The 2001 Willamette Valley
Pinot Noir is spicier than I remember the 2000 being,
with notes of briar, white pepper, and raspberry, while the
2000 Reserve is a fuller, darker-berried wine with touches
of smoke and earth. I am also very fond of the Reserve
Chardonnay; both the 1999 and the 2000
(the current release) show a pleasing balance of California-style
tropical fruit aromas with more Burgundian smoke, hazelnuts, and
spice.
The other wines at Ponzi stand
as tributes to the family’s Italian heritage. They grow two Piedmontese
grape varieties, Arneis and Dolcetto. The 2002 Arneis
blends lemon curd and chalk notes with a touch of almond; its crisp
acidity marks it as Ponzi’s contribution to cutting the summer
heat. The 2002 Dolcetto is medium-bodied, with aromas
of black fruits and licorice. I enjoyed their 2002 Pinot Blanc
as well; I’m tempted to call it a Pinot Bianco, but it actually
reminded me more of a Macon Chardonnay rather than anything Italian
with its floral nose and appley notes.
Rex Hill
Vineyards
 Ponzi
is one of the northernmost wineries in the Valley, near the suburbs
of Portland, so from there I headed south to visit Rex Hill Vineyards.
The austerity and elegance of the winery and grounds struck me as I
drove up. Co-owner Jan Jacobsen landscapes the latter; she is a sculptor
and painter by vocation, and her artist’s eye has softened the
winery’s stern grey walls with greenery and flowers. The interior
is intriguing as well; the building, constructed in the 1920s, was originally
a fruit-and-nut drying plant, and the brick drying ovens have turned
out to be just right for storing barrels of wine. Jan and her husband
Paul Hart have added warmth inside by lining the walls with original
artworks by Jan and other artists which they have collected through
the years.
Paul was interested in single vineyard
wines from the start and introduced bottlings of Maresh, Archibald,
and Dundee Hills Vineyards in their inaugural 1983 vintage. These days
winemaker Aron Hess creates a wide variety of wines, concentrating on
the Oregon triumvirate of Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, and Chardonnay. The
portfolio is divided into three categories, the most exclusive being
their Reserve and Vineyard Designate wines; the single vineyard wines
are only produced in small quantities rarely exceeding 500 cases in
a given vintage. These Aron describes as his dream wines. He has 14
different Pinot Noir vineyards to taste and select from, and which few
receive single vineyard status each year depends on the results of the
vintage. Of the current releases I was particularly taken with the 2001
Carabella and Maresh Vineyard Pinot Noirs.
The Carabella is loaded with dark fruits and a smoky
earthiness, while the Maresh leans more toward cherries
and mushrooms, with stronger acidity. The 2002 Reserve Chardonnay
also grabbed my attention with its aromas of smoke, stone, and baked
pears. It was full and round, but without the buttery excess of California’s
Chardonnays
Rex Hill’s Willamette Valley
category aims at a more moderate price points and includes varietals
outside the “Big Three” such as Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc.
They also make an interesting and refreshing Unoaked Chardonnay,
and the 2001 Dundee Hills Cuvée Pinot Noir made
an impression on me as the Maresh Vineyards’ little brother, with
similar aromas and texture on a slightly sparer frame. Finally, Rex
Hill offers some budget Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris under its Kings
Ridge label. On the whole Aron is enthusiastic about barrel
fermentation and oak aging – even the Kings Ridge wines spend
time in oak – but the wines seem to have gained more structure
from this than flavor. The aromas and flavors I associate with new oak
were well integrated in all of the wines I tasted.
A Sustainable
Lunch
 I
drove further south to visit Ponzi again. Not the winery this
time, but the Ponzi Culinary Center.
In Dundee – neighboring Red Hills Provincial Dining, in
fact – the Center’s three components radiate around
a small courtyard: the Dundee Bistro, the Ponzi
Wine Bar, and Your Northwest. I was
ready for lunch, so I made a beeline for the Bistro; Maria Ponzi
had recommended the Alaskan halibut fish-and-chips, with good
reason. The menu is built on local, organic ingredients, and even
mentions several local farms by name.
The Dundee Bistro’s Chef, Jason Smith, is particularly
keen on farmers who practice sustainable
agriculture, and environmental concerns were on the minds of many
wine industry professionals I spoke to on my trip. Both Ponzi
and Rex Hill have adapted their vineyard practices so as to be
LIVE Certified; the LIVE (Low Input Viticulture and Enology)
program is a European initiative certified by the International
Organization for Biological Control. Oregon is the first state
in the U.S. to adopt the program, which encourages biodiversity
in the vineyards, sustainable agriculture, and responsible stewardship
of soil and water resources. The requirements for LIVE Certification
are not as strict as those for organic or biodynamic status, and
many winegrowers find the flexibility important. Maria Ponzi described
the difference for me: an organic grower could have their hands
tied in the face of a crippling pest problem, as treating it with
pesticides would cost them their certification for several years;
however, the alternative may cost them that year’s crop.
Under the LIVE program winegrowers can still respond to extreme
situations with essentially the full range of modern technology,
but in the normal course of things they try to encourage the vineyard
to maintain a natural balance.
Almost all of the producers I visited on my trip were
practicing or developing some form of sustainable and/or organic viticulture.
There are a variety of associated vineyard practices. For example, many
growers plant a variety of green or flowering plants in between the
rows of their vineyard. This lends biodiversity to the area, creating
an environment that encourages beneficial insects – thereby lessening
the need for pesticides – and helps keep the soils’ nitrogen
levels balanced. Planting cover crops during the off-season also prevents
erosion and helps protect the watershed, which is useful not only for
the winegrower but also for local salmon fishing; LIVE, in fact, actually
works together with Salmon Safe, an organization which works to maintain
sustainable salmon fishing in the Northwest. The ideas behind sustainable
agriculture were actually developed in the 1920s and 30s, but were pushed
out of the mainstream later in the century by the so-called Green Revolution,
which sought to solve world hunger by using science and technology to
increase crop yields. The methods developed during the Green Revolution
are the starting point for most of today’s commercial farming.
After I finished lunch and, with it, my musings on
agriculture, I meandered through the two other parts of the Culinary
Center before heading on to my next winery appointment. The Ponzi
Wine Bar offers Oregon wines for sale, either by bottle, by
the glass, or in tasting flights. They also offer a “lighter-fare”
menu of things to nibble on while you enjoy your wine. Next door Your
Northwest offers an assortment of non-vinous products from
the Pacific Northwest, including hazelnuts, smoked salmon, and berry
products.
Archery Summit
 Driving
up to the Archery Summit winery, I felt for the first time that I was
actually in the hills of the Red Hills of Dundee. The road winds up
past row upon row of vines, each “decorated” with a rose
plant at the end of it. This “decoration,” common to many
vineyards around the world, actually fills a practical role: the rose
in the vineyard is the canary in the coalmine. Rose plants are very
susceptible to a fungus called oidium (also known as powdery mildew),
which can also wreak havoc with the grapevines. Oidium shows up first
on the roses, giving the vineyard manager a chance to protect their
vines.
Once I arrived at the winery at the hill’s crest,
I spent only a brief time admiring the view; the Pacific Northwest’s
famous drizzle had begun. The cool, mild weather and a long growing
season play a vital part in making the Willamette Valley so good
for Pinot Noir. While often overcast or rainy, the valley rarely
sees extremes of heat, cold, or humidity. The
climate is essentially maritime, buffered by some low mountains
called the Coastal Range. A gap in the south of the range called
the Van Duzer Corridor funnels cooling afternoon winds into the
valley.
I had had enough of drizzly rain during my college
days in Seattle and London, so we retreated into the extensive caves
that Archery Summit has carved into the hill for aging their wines.
Although Archery Summit is one of the younger producers in the area
– their first harvest was in 1993 – their facility represents
a substantial investment in the region. Their older sister is Pine
Ridge Winery in Napa Valley, so when they decided to open a
winery in Oregon that already had a strong enough financial base to
do it in style. Pine Ridge makes a few different varieties of wine,
but Archery Summit was created to make one thing: great Pinot Noir.
After a walk through the cool caves I had the opportunity
to taste several of their wines. The Premier Cuvée
is their baseline and incorporates grapes from all four of their vineyard
sites. It sets a high standard; the 2001 is a touch
mellower than the single estate vineyards, featuring deep red fruit
and earthy aromas complemented by violets, vanilla, and toast. The Arcus
Estate spreads across the sides of a small valley facing south,
its bowed shape (arcus means “bow” in Latin) concentrating
the intensity of the sun to ensure ripening and concentration of flavors.
In 2001 the resulting wine was a refined and intricate blend of black
fruits, cherry, and chocolate, lightened by refreshing floral aromas.
The Red Hills Estate 2001 leaned more toward red fruits
like strawberry and raspberry, contrasted by earth and spice. Renegade
Ridge and Archery Summit Estate are the two
other single vineyard wines; their production is more limited, and they
share the complexity and the elegance that seems to be the hallmark
of Archery Summit’s wines.
Sineann
I first met Sineann’s winemaker Peter Rosback
at the ZAP tasting in New York, several weeks before my visit
to Oregon. ZAP stands for “Zinfandel Advocates and Producers,”
and Sineann is one of the latter, disproving the theory that Oregon
is too cold for this most-American of grapes. At the tasting he
impressed me with his enthusiasm, and his wines impressed me as
well. He makes two different Zinfandels, providing a case study
on the difference between old and young vines. The Old
Vine Zinfandel is Sineann’s flagship wine –
they may be the only Oregonian winery whose flagship wine is not
a Pinot Noir – and the 2002 is a rich blend of dark berries,
baking spices, and chocolate. The acidity is a touch higher than
in many Californian Zinfandels, so it’s less round but more
food-friendly. The vines in question are about 100 years old;
Peter claims it comes from the oldest producing vineyard in the
Pacific Northwest. The Pines Zinfandel comes
from a vineyard planted 15 years ago with cuttings from its older
brother; they are grown on the same hillside, so age really is
the determining factor between the two wines’ styles. The
2002 Pines Zinfandel is all about fruit, more
up-front and without the complexities and spice of the Old
Vines.
 Peter
was busy with his other enthusiasm, his family, when I visited
the winery, so his assistant Aaron Berlin showed me around. Apparently
Peter’s attitude is infectious; Aaron had set up a formal
line of bottles to taste from, but soon he was running around
the winery, climbing around and pulling a wide array of barrel
tastings for me. Each sample reminded him of some other example
he was excited to share. We tasted Pinot Noir
(of course), Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer,
a Port, dessert wines, Syrah…
Peter likes to experiment. Standouts, for me, included the 2003
Covey Ridge Pinot Gris, the 2003 Gewurztraminer Resonance,
and the 2002 Medici Vineyard Pinot Noir 2002.
The Pinot Noirs leaned more toward a red fruit style than any
others I had during my trip.
Most of the wines were from single vineyards; because
of his long history in the area, Peter has a number of different winegrowers
who are eager to work with him, and he likes to showcase their vineyards
individually. His interests go beyond the Willamette Valley, and he
makes wines from grapes sourced all over Oregon and Washington. Peter
also has a side project called “Jezebel”
making wine together with Aron Hess of Rex Hill Vineyards. I tasted
their 2002 Syrah, made from grapes from Terry McDuffee’s
vineyard along the Washington border. Many winemakers might have given
up on making wine from this vineyard in 2002 – a fire burned right
up to the vineyard’s edge, and the grapes were immersed in smoke.
Peter and Aron went ahead and made the wine anyway, and it’s a
very distinctive one-off: intense, smoky aromas, of course, but lots
of blackberry and grilled sausage aromas were still present. Very much
like a German Rauchbier.
Sineann was the first garagiste winery on
my trip. I don’t know that any Oregon wineries would actually
use this term (which comes from Bordeaux, where a new wave of winemakers
started by working out of their garages), but it’s evocative of
the simple barns that the winemakers practice their exacting craft in;
marketing is done elsewhere. My last winery for the day, Bergström,
was similar in this regard.
Bergström
 Josh
Bergström was working in the winery when I arrived. While
he ran inside the house to grab some bottles and glasses I watched
the rain slowly clear into a turbid overcast. The stern-looking
sky underscored Josh’s earnest enthusiasm; he has clearly
defined goals for the winery, and the limits he has set for himself
remind me of Stravinsky, who once said that in art, the restrictions
placed on a work in progress are what define its greatness.
The first limit Josh works under is volume; after using
borrowed facilities for his 1999 and 2000 harvests, his own winery
was completed in 2001 with a 5,000 case capacity. Josh feels this
is the most he can produce and guarantee the level of quality
he is aiming for. In the vineyard he restricts himself to very
strict rules regarding organic practices and sustainable agriculture,
and is in the process of slowly adapting his vineyards to biodynamic
farming. This is the next, and many would say extreme,
step in organic farming. Initially developed by “spiritual
scientist” Rudolf Steiner in the 1920’s, biodynamic
farming goes a step further than most organic programs, treating
the vineyard and its soils as organisms, and factoring in the
progress of lunar and cosmic cycles on their lives. Steiner felt
a farm needed a mix of crops and livestock for balance, and developed
a set of organic preparations that a farmer could use to rectify
imbalances in the vineyard organism. For many, biodynamic farming
verges on voodoo and the occult, but I’ve yet to encounter
a wine from a biodynamic vineyard that wasn’t top-notch.
Adapting a vineyard to biodynamic practices is a gradual process;
making the change in a single vintage would be like a smoker going
cold turkey and puts undue stress on the vines. The day after
my visit Josh was meeting with an expert to go over his vineyards’
progress toward biodynamic health.
 Josh
has been working with five different Willamette Valley vineyards,
producing mostly Pinot Noir along with Pinot Gris, Chardonnay,
and Syrah (The latter actually uses grapes from Paso Robles, California).
The 2002 vintage will be the last Bergström Pinot
Noir from the Arcus Estate, which is
actually owned by Archery Summit. It’s a shame, because
the 2002 wine is amazing, showing incredible complexity as massive
amounts of black fruit – blackberry, boysenberry, blueberry
– roll across the palate touched by earthiness and an element
of spice, extending on through a long, well-balanced finish. Nonetheless,
Bergström has replaced Arcus Estate in his portfolio with
some prime acreage in the Shea Vineyard, and
a 2003 barrel sample suggested that a wine of the same sort of
quality is in the making. The other single vineyard wine comes
from his very own plot of land, the Bergström Estate.
The 2002 unfurls in rich earth and smoky aromas,
topped with blackberry and cherry. The body, acidity, and finish
are all impressive, with chewy tannins that suggest that this
wine will profit from a long life in the bottle. The other vineyards
contribute to two blended Pinot Noirs as well as the white wines.
The 2002 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir is a smooth,
full mouthful of black cherry, cola, earth, and spice, while the
Cumberland Reserve combines black fruits, briar,
and earth. I’d be glad to have any of Josh’s wines
in my cellar.
Map of North
Willamette Valley
Part II of my trip includes truffle hunting and visits to four
more wineries, including Ken Wright Cellars and Patricia Green; look
for it on StarChefs in just a few weeks.
Resources and links:
Red Hills Provincial Dining
276 N Highway 99W
Dundee, OR 97115.
tel.: (507) 538-8224.
Opens daily at 5 pm.
Ponzi Vineyards
Oregon
Winegrowers Association
Oregon Wine
Board
Rex Hill Vineyards
The Dundee
Bistro
Low
Input Viticulture and Enology (LIVE)
Archery
Summit
Sineann
Zinfandel
Advocates and Producers (ZAP)
Bergström
Biodynamic
Farming
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