A trip to Sokol Blosser in Oregon
Woof, I am finally catching my breath. The journey started a thousand years ago in Heathrow. I am one of nature’s worst travellers, a furious uber-stresser who is chronically disorganised. When the good lord designed my personal navigation system he set it for running off in all directions simultaneously. I unerringly join the wrong queue; I fumble for and drop documents (passports, tickets). I am an inveterate clock checker. Meanwhile I yearn to be one of those cool folks who drift around in flip flops, loose shorts and a flimsy t-shirt as if the world was their oyster and the airport was their front room. Or, like that woman there, who is snoozing on a bench without a care in the world. She isn’t going to miss her flight; her internal alarm clock will rouse her oh-so-gently so that she can float onto the plane totally refreshed. And what about those kilted Scotsman breakfasting on lager at eight in the morning? Do they just migrate seamlessly from airport bar to airport bar communicating in the international language of beer? They don’t need to worry about the time difference – it is always beer o’clock.
Just because I’m yawning doesn’t mean that my brain isn’t clanking like industrial machinery.
“Travel is glamorous only in retrospect when turned into an impossibly euphoric blog post.”
What do you do for nine hours on a plane? I read, dozed off for a few minutes, ate a remarkably tasteless meal or several, and gorged on movies.
A swift review.
The Hurt Locker focuses on a specialist bomb disposal team in Iraq. It is not just a film about the men who do these things, and are physically or psychologically damaged by them, it is also about the disjunction of war. At no point do you sense that the soldiers are anything other than aliens in this desert landscape and all encounters are confused and confusing. The language, the milieu, the culture, the buildings – everything is inimical. A strong, claustrophobic movie.
Last Station was a period piece film about the last days of Tolstoy with Christopher Plummer wearing a Gandalfian beard, Helen Mirren masticating the picturesque scenery and Paul Giamatti being so oleaginous that Dick Cheney would invade him without prompting, as well as assorted Brit thesps pretending to be Rooshan. The film is imbued with a Chekovian (cliché alert!) melancholy and dwindles to its natural conclusion, but feels, a bit like Tolstoy himself in the end, that it has run out of energy.
The Ghost Writer, Roman Polanski’s fim based on Robert Harris’s book, is an oppressive political thriller. The central performances are strong and Martha’s vineyard comes across as a wintry limbo. Only the crass ending (which deviates from the novel) lets it down.
Touchdown Vancouver. Shuffled through the various controls into the American zone. “A passport, as I’m sure you know, is a document that one shows to government officials whenever one reaches a border between countries, so the officials can learn who you are, where you were born, and how you look when photographed unflatteringly”. ~Lemony Snicket
“What is the purpose of your visit?”
“ I’m visiting vineyards in Washington. Um, I mean Oregon. Wherever I’m going. Whatever today is...”
I had five hours to throttle before my connection. It was 12.20 local time by which I had already had breakfast, 11’s, a hot lunch and then an afternoon snack,. Ergo it must be… lunch again?
Air Canada’s second plane was just an oversized airfix model, ten rows deep. It was delayed because they had to change the left sided tyre. I suspect the aircraft (ha) was just cannabalised from bicycle part. I also half expected to be offered boiled sweeties to suck because the cabin wouldn’t be pressurised. We took off without incident. This was my first view of the American Pacific coastline; we flew over the Puget sound sprinkled with the myriad San Juan islands and to the east fjords that jagged into Washington State coastline and further inland still huge volcanic snow cones of Mt Rainier and Mt St Helens rearing up seemingly out of nowhere.
I was met at the airport by the urbane Michael Brown, one of the Sokol Blosser’s brand ambassadors who had devised the itinerary for the trip. Michael, alas, the next day, was struck down by appenditis and had to go into hospital. That wasn’t on his itinerary, but so much of the credit goes to him for putting together an excellently balanced schedule. Anyhoo, still with appendix, he whisked me off to the Hotel Monaco in downtown Portland where I showered and threw on some less musty clothes. My room was huge, a playground I wanted to investigate (two TVs, DVDs, games console, a bed the size of a football field) but I was also hungry.
Was it breakfast time yet?
We went to a heaving Italianish restaurant a few blocks away, where I met my new companions, and I demolished a plate of charcuterie and some melt-in-the-mouth scallops wrapped in pancetta. We shared a bottle of 2005 Domaine des Baumard Savennieres which had a salty, mineral, nutty cut and throughbred flavours that bolted across the palate. Even if I hadn’t arrived, my stomach had…
Portland
A little local colour never comes amiss, so I will describe it as blandly and monochromatically as possible.
Portland lies in the Marine west coast climate region, marked by warm, dry summers and rainy but temperate winters. The Cascade range dominates the horizon. The ubiquitous conical Mount Hood, another Fuji clone and the still active Mount Helens, both snow girt, draw the eye to the horizon.
This climate is apparently ideal for growing roses, and for more than a century, Portland has been known as “The City of Roses”. It is also referred to as the most environmentally friendly or “green” city in the United States and the second most in the world. Freiburg since you ask. The city and region are noted for strong land-use planning and investment in light rail and trams, supported by Metro, a distinctive regional-government. Portland is known for its large number of microbreweries and microdistilleries, as well as the legendary Stumptown Roasters, who are not the local football team, but the oh-so-boutique gourmet coffee dudes. I’m even speaking the lingo now.
Americans love to append symbols to their home states. All states have their own nut (Oregon’s is the filbert or hazelnut), and for all I know, trees and flowers and everything. Welcome to Cornwall – the granite county. Or the Western Isles – where potatoes can just about grow!
Alex described Oregon as the left hand side of the States physically and metaphorically. Politically it is very liberal; it has the highest number of strip clubs per capita, it is tolerant of free speech and self-expression. It has a thrilling bar and food culture. All these I was soon to discover, except for the strip clubs. Come on, don’t look at me like that!
And now the really dreary, but it is important to put the trip into context. Pleasure notwithstanding I had come to learn about the Oregon wine industry. The wines are rarely seen beyond the borders of the States and yet they are held in high esteem. Pinot Noir, which grower acknowledges to be a really difficult variety to cultivate, intriguingly seems to flourish in this climate. From a handful of farms and a few rows of vines in the early 70s, Oregon, although small globally, has boomed. There are now over 400 wineries and nearly 20,000 acres under vines with an annual production of around 1.7 million (9 litre cases).
THE CURRENT STATE OF THE OREGON WINE INDUSTRY
Oregon Wine Facts
Number of Wineries
2010 - 400+
2008 - 350+
2005 - 303
2003 - 250
2001 - 174
2000 - 135
1990 - 71
1986 - 47
1980 - 34
1976 - 11
1970 - 5
Vinifera Acreage
Planted
2009 - 19,600
2008 - 19,300
2007 - 17,400
2006 - 15,600
2005 - 14,100
2003 - 13,400
2002 - 12,100
2001 - 11,100
2000 - 10,500
1999 - 9,800
1991 - 5,950
1990 - 5,682
1980 - 1,100
1972 - 200
1968 - 100
(1st planting of Southern
Oregon vinifera grapes
in 1959)
Wine Sales
2009 Sales
1,660,202 - cases
2008 Sales
1,748,282 - cases
2007 Sales
1,711,532 cases
2006 Sales
1,590,357 cases
2003 Sales
1,199,086 cases
2001 Sales
1,000,000+ cases
1999 Sales
777,890 cases
1994 Sales
612,512 cases
Major Varieties
(Sorted by 2009 Production)
Pinot noir, Pinot gris,
White Riesling, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot, Pinot blanc, Gewürztraminer
Additional Varieties
Arneis, Baco noir,
Cabernet franc,
Chenin blanc, Dolcetto,
Gamay noir, Grenache,
Malbec, Maréchal Foch, Müller-Thurgau, Muscat, Nebbiolo, Petite Syrah, Petit Verdot, Sangiovese,
Sauvignon blanc, Semillon, Tempranillo, Viognier, Zinfandel
Ratio of Red to White 2009 production:
63.6% / 36.4%
Oregon’s northern latitude brings long hours of summer sunshine to its vineyards, usually adequate to fully ripen grapes for Oregon wines. Occasional marine breezes breach the Coastal range, and help moderate the climate, causing the ripening process for wine grapes to be gradual. The combination of these conditions encourages complex fruit flavours, aromatics and nuances in these northern-Oregon-grown wines, complexities that allow Oregon wineries to compete well with other world-class wineries.
The Willamette Valley AVA/appellation is Oregon’s largest wine region, stretching from Portland in northern Oregon to Eugene, more than 100 miles. Most of the region’s wineries are located west of Interstate 5. The largest concentration of Oregon wineries is located in the Northern portion of this region.
When the Willamette Valley AVA was first authorized 1984, its geographic description included some 3.3 million acres! Twenty years later, winemakers and wine growers succeeded in submitting applications for approval of six sub appellations within the Willamette Valley, appellations that describe micro climates proven over the years to be distinct from the Willamette Valley as a whole and suited for the growing of wine grapes. McMinnville Foothills, Dundee Hills, Ribbon Ridge and the Yamhill-Carlton District were all authorized as official American Viticultural Areas (AVA) in the first quarter of 2005. The Eola-Amity Hills District was authorized later that year in August, and the Chehalem Mountains AVA became official on December 27, 2006.
In February 2005 federal authorization was passed for the Southern Oregon AVA. It was distinct from other recent State-AVA designations in that it defined a kind of macro appellation that completely encompasses previously authorized appellations. The Umpqua Valley (1984) and Red Hill Douglas County (2005) AVAs, the Rogue Valley AVA (1991) and the Applegate Valley AVA (2001) now all lie within the boundaries of the newer two-million-acre appellation of Southern Oregon in the southwest portion of Oregon State.
Appellations on the east side of Oregon’s Cascade Mountains include only a small, southern portion of the Columbia Valley and Walla Walla Valley AVAs and only three Oregon wineries, but there are plenty of vineyards.
OFFICIAL AMERICAN VITICULTURAL AREAS
Willamette Valley AVA
(1983)
Sub Appellations
Dundee Hills
(2005)
McMinnville Foothills
(2005)
Ribbon Ridge
(2005)
Yamhill-Carlton District
(2005)
Eola-Amity Hills District
(2005)
Chehalem Mountains
(2006)
Southern Oregon AVA
(2005)
Sub Appellations
Applegate Valley
(2001)
Red Hill Douglas County
(2005)
Rogue Valley
(1990)
Umpqua Valley
(1984)
Shared with
Washington State
Columbia Gorge AVA
Columbia Valley AVA
Walla Walla Valley AVA
Shared with Idaho
Snake River Valley
PINOT NOIR & OREGON
While “type of Pinot noir grape” or “clone” is not a component of terroir, it is integral to the manifestation of terroir in wine. Different Pinot noir clones impart unique qualities to wine. As such, clones are an important variable in the nuances of aroma and taste.
The story of Pinot noir clones starts in the 1950’s in France. In response to serious vine disease problems, a French scientific team led by Dr. Raymond Bernard embarked on a several year quest to first identify healthy Pinot noir (and Chardonnay) vines, then graft healthy cuttings to new rootstock. After many years of monitoring these new vines as well as producing wine from the grapes, a series of disease-free, high performing “clones” was selected and became available to winegrowers. A similar, smaller program of clone development was carried out at the University of California at Davis. Today the number of Pinot noir clones available exceeds all other varietals.
In the 1960’s and 1970’s, the early years of Pinot noir vine planting in Oregon, clones formed the basis of vineyard development not only because of disease-free characteristics but also for genetic variations allowing selection for ripening time, berry size, cluster traits as well as factors such as character and taste in the resulting wine.
The first Pinot noir clones to be planted in Oregon were: Pommard and Wadensvil.
Oregon pioneer Pinot noir winegrowers like David Lett, Charles Coury, David Adelsheim and Dick Erath planted these clones and they generally account for the oldest Pinot noir vines in Oregon. They are still planted today.
Newer clones, often labelled Dijon clones, include: 113, 114, 115, 667, 777, 828 (the last three buses don’t run on Sundays)
These six clones became available to Oregon growers in 1989.
New clonal selections are still being tested. Their introduction provides winegrowers with new opportunities to develop, and, Pinot noir wine lovers more opportunities to explore, the seemingly infinite complexities of taste and character that are the hallmark of this unique varietal.
Because of the diversity of clones used in Oregon vineyards, Pinot noir wine lovers can do comparison tastings from single vineyard wines that are made exclusively from different clones. Of course other characteristics of vineyards such as soil, elevation, and micro-climate as well as winemaking styles will also influence the resulting wines, but the clonal selections may reveal distinctive differences in aroma and taste.
DUNDEE HILLS
Dundee Hills AVA is one hour’s drive south of Portland along the Willamette valley. There are now 17 avas in Oregon and Dundee Hills contains some of the pioneers of Oregon wine: Eyrie Vineryards, Erath, and Sokol Blosser, all of whom came to the region in the late 1960s and early 1970s.. The countryside is rolling – previous the area was given over to wheat and fruit orchards but since the wine industry became embedded wineries have sprung up all over.
The Dundee Hills viticultural area, with warmer nights and less frost than the adjacent valley floors, is protected from great climatic variations by surrounding geographic features. To the north, the tall Chehalem Mountains buffer the climatic influence of the Columbia River Gorge, which funnels cold air in the winter and warm air in the summer into the Willamette Valley from the interior of northern Oregon. In addition, the Willamette Valley, located to the east and south of the Dundee Hills area, has spring and autumn fog and frost, which is created as cool night air drains from the hillsides onto the valley floor.
The Coast Range, to the west of the Dundee Hills area, lessens the harsh effects of the Pacific Ocean’s heavy rains and windstorms, and causes a rain shadow effect in the Dundee Hills area. Annually, the Coast Range receives 90 to 135 inches of rain, while the Dundee Hills area gets about a third that much – 30 to 40 inches of rain annually.
The climate is temperate – winters and springs can be very wet, but after June there is rarely any rain until the harvest. Harvest is normally early October. Summer temperatures can range from a pleasant 28 c to 36 – although the higher temperatures do not benefit Pinot which relies on acid for its backbone.
Now you can write a book on the Oregon wine industry.
SOKOL BLOSSER ESTATE
Bill Blosser and Susan Sokol Blosser planted their first vines in 1971, they needed all of their youthful self-confidence, energy and determination to make their way because there was no wine industry in Oregon. As Susan admits: “We were naive. We didn’t what we were doing.” Today, with over 400 wineries and more than 19,000 acres of vineyards, Oregon wines are critically regarded and available throughout the world. Sokol Blosser has survived, grown and prospered as a family-owned and run operation. The estate itself comprises 87 acres surrounding their beautiful winery in Dunde with an overall production of 65,000 cases. The grapes which grow in the iron-rich, fertile and well-drained red Jory soil of the Dundee Hills are further protected by highish elevation, mild night-time temperatures and absence of fog. The Dundee Hills, an area famous for its red clay-loam soils that were deposited here by ancient lava flows. How does this unique soil affect the vines and the wines produced in the Dundee Hills?. The Dundee Hills AVA is Oregon¹s first micro AVA as of one year ago and is over 80% “Jory” soil-type. This special volcanic soil has excellent minerality and drainage. Also, the Dundee Hills benefits from being drier and warmer than many pockets that surround it. All of these factors together combine to showcase unique characteristics found in the best Pinot noirs from this region. The wines tend to be very focused with great clarity and complexity. Some of the descriptors are bright red fruits, exotic spices, and a gorgeous minerality in the structure.
A brief note about Jory
The Jory series consists of very deep, well-drained soils that formed in colluvium derived from basic igneous rock. These soils are in the foothills surrounding the Willamette Valley. They have been mapped on more than 300,000 acres in western Oregon. They are named after Jory Hill, Marion County, Oregon, which itself is named for the Jory family, who settled in the area in 1852, after travelling along the Oregon Trail.
• Surface layer: organic material
• Subsurface layer: dark reddish brown silty clay loam
• Subsoil - upper: dark reddish brown clay
• Subsoil - lower: red clay
The Jory soils and the climate of the Willamette Valley provide an ideal setting for the production of many crops, including Christmas trees, various berries, filberts (hazelnuts), sweet corn, wheat, and many varieties of grass seed and are, of course, suitable for the grapes used in the expanding Oregon wine industry.
For Pinot Noir to become a world-class wine there must be a level of care and commitment that goes beyond that of any other varietal. At Sokol Blosser that includes careful hand harvesting, fermentation in small lots and ageing 16 months in French oak. Every grape is hand sorted before it goes into a fermenter - for Pinot Noir, the grapes are de-stemmed without crushing, to preserve as many whole berries as possible. For white varietals, the grapes are whole-cluster pressed.
From the start, the Sokol Blossers were aware of the impact that farming and wine production would have on the environment. Before it was popular, the winery did everything it could to give back to the land a.nd at one point experimented with biodynamic viticulture Today, the second generation of Sokol Blossers as represented by Alex and Alison continue this ‘good to the earth’ policy through certified organic farming, sustainable business practices and low impact packaging. In fact, in 2002 Sokol Blosser became the first US winery to receive LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification.
There is plenty of single vineyard definition with multiple blocks usually christened after existing (or occasionally defunct) features of the landscape such as Walnut Block, Peach Tree Block, Fir Island, Big Tree, Blackberry (named after a mobile phone mast – as if!) One of the more picturesque names is Goosepen Block so called because the Sokol Blossers bought a gaggle of geese to crop the grass around the vines. Geese, being geese, congregated by the fence near the house and didn’t perform their requisite grazing duties and so ended up in the freezer (but never eaten) or stuffing the pillows.
The vineyards tend to be planted north/south although some are east/west facing on slopes of varying gradients. Viticulture, as mentioned , is very hands on and organic. As Alex Sokol Blosser says, being organic helps you to become a better farmer.
They practise canopy management with green harvesting, leaf-thinning, pruning and hedging, whilst the organic side includes organic sprays, cover crop rotation, mulching…
The original vines were planted on French rootstock and soon became prey to phylloxera. Phylloxera acts as a kind of deleterious virus that weakens the vine’s resistance to other diseases. Sokol Blosser keeps a few “show rows” of the original vines which are phylloxerated.
FIRST FULL DAY
Knowing that jetlag might swathe me in a neverending mantle of slumber I set a battery of alarms for 7.30. As it was I found it difficult to sleep in the gigantic bed away from home where the buffalo don’t roam and jigger me senseless when the hotel clock radio alarm goes off at 6.00 am. By now I’m totally overdrawn at the sleep bank and fuzz downstairs in search for breakfast. I order everything on the menu and drink five cups of coffee hoping to kickstart the old metabolism. When signing the bill they ask me which room I’m in to which I say sleepily “211”. About ten minutes later as my final shot of caffeine jolts through me I remember that I’m actually in 221 and recall the bill so that it can be transferred to the correct room. I practically sleepwalk back to my chamber, slot the card into lock of room… 211. Oops, right first time. Someone else will be paying for my breakfast!
We climb blearily on the bus outside the hotel. First stop is Argyle Winery to taste a range of sparkling wines and are led through the fizzy line up by what seems a ridiculously young and even more ridiculously self-confident boy. My brain is still in another time zone, but the bubbles hit the spot and, combined with the glorious hot sunshine, lift me out of my daze.
Ten minutes later we are at Sokol Blosser in the vineyards and caking our shoes in volcanic dust aka jory soils. We repair to the mercifully cool underground barrel cellar which is housed under a wild thatch of grass, weeds, and flowers where we have the privilege of tasting two pairs of older vintages, namely1988 & 1989 and 1998 & 1999. The oldest wine of these has grace and flavour in abundance with legs to please, whilst the two younger models are a bit more buff but could still shed a little puppy fat. The comparative youthfulness of these wines remind one that for all the silky seductiveness and teasy-pleasy stuff, Pinot is a strong grape and requires time for all its components to come together.
We repair to the awning-covered long tables in the courtyard of the winery where we are served a very summery and delicious Mediterranean-style three course lunch using local produce. I’m a bit hazy on the details but the dishes boomed with colour and sunshine flavours. The starter was a salad gaily bedecked with yellow heirloom tomato, black olives and roasted onions and other crunchy bits. The main course was simple grilled albacore fillet on a bed of borlotti beans and panacotta finished things off.
We drank (from memory) a limpid rosé made from Pinot Noir which tripped somewhere between Sancerre and Provence, with oodles of refreshing watermelon fruit. That wine was only going to taste like an elixir on a day like this. After lunch, a semi-siesta, as blankets were spread on the lawn and we lazed around, chatting or thumbing through magazines.
Thereafter it was back to the cellar with winemaker Russ Rosner conducting a barrel sample tasting of the various vineyard blocks. Russ uses an original technique for producing full-flavoured wines allowing for a post-fermentation soak of up to three weeks resulting in soft, supple tannins and a more complex wine. The wine is then aged in French oak barrels for approximately sixteen months followed by a further year in bottle. On one mad day he will make his selection tasting a couple of hundred wines and deciding the final blends. Some will go into easy-drinking Delinea, some into Dundee Hills, whilst certain single vineyard blocks might be made and an Estate blend will be composed from a mixture of old vineyard blocks and young vines and low yields. The latter is 100% barrel-aged (60% new, 40% once used French oak from Allier, Bertranges and Vosges oak) and is unfined and unfiltered. Interestingly, this wine is only for export (at the moment).
The barrel room is always a place of mysterious alchemy. Each barrel, new or used, with its particular warp and weft, influences the wine within in a very particular way. The vineyard blocks themselves with their individual terroirs are treated differently and give their nuances to the final blend. The vision of the winemaker is to make all this come together, to be able to visualise how the powerfully tannic embryonic wines will eventually harmonise in the bottle and grow into mature, well-rounded, subtle creations.
Blinking into the dazzling sunlight and back onto the lawn before being summoned in threes for our ride over the Dundee Hills region in a sleek black helicopter. I sat in the front seat holding on to my nerves and my lunch as the rotor blades roared like the most gigantic food processor blades. Lifting off, the helicopter judders and does a couple of small pendulum swings, before leaving the ground and then we’re away. It is like being in a fragile glass bubble; the machine banks and dips, weaving amongst the patchwork quilt of vineyards and wineries which are scattered amongst clumps of trees. It is exhilarating and a touch alarming.
A brilliant climax to the first day. We were then whisked off to dinner at Tina’s http://www.tinasdundee.com/ where we were served a meal of high culinary skill and perhaps overgenerous portions. It was difficult to do justice to what was on the plate. After about five gougeres (big mistake) we sat down to a gorgeous pre-starter of scallops with chanterelles and morels. The fish course was very rich, being salmon troisgros, line caught chinook salmon, steamed in a reduction of white wine, vermouth fish stock and crème fraiche and garnished with fresh sorrel. At this point I’m thinking “That’s it – I’ve finished now,” but I hadn’t reckoned on a colossal roasted fillet of Beef with fingerling potatoes and Portobello mushrooms and then a solid wedge of peach pastry tart, both expertly executed, but surplus to diminished appetite!
DAY 2…
... dawned even brighter, but not so early as we hit the highway again from Portland to Dundee.
First up was a vertical tasting of Dundee Hills Pinot Noir from 2000-2008 to illustrate the difference between the vintages. Cool years such as 2002 imbue the Pinot Noir with acid and therefore fresh fruit – these are high toned wines. Hotter vintages such as 03, 05 and 06 give the wines – not surprisingly – roasted aromatics. 07 and the infant 08 (yet to be bottled) had plenty of oak but the bone structure was good. The characteristics of Dundee Hills would be fragrant aromas and flavours of black cherry, liquorice and mocha, smooth and supple fruit, long and elegant finish. The Estate Pinot (a blend of the best blocks and lowest yielding vines) tends to have thick black cherry and blackberry flavours and a hint of secondary earth and truffle character. The older vintages move towards humus notes, but are not vegetal at all; they remind me of old, fine-grained wood and the fruit character is a mix of soft red and black cherries and plums with a defined minerality.
Back out into the sunshine where oysters were shucked and diverse white wines produced. Muller-Thurgau (off-dry), a principle component of Evolution, was fun and aromatic, though preferred to be on the chilled side. There was a very nice dry Pinot Blanc with plenty of texture and a Muscat Ottonel as well. From memory there was Dundee Hills Pinot Gris (which went surprisingly well with the oysters) and a single block Pinot Gris. Bottles upon bottles. So little time, so much wine.
That was the prelude. We then enjoyed a little picnic box lunch with a couple of bottles of “old vines” single block Pinots including one (1994 Peach Tree Block) which captured that ole-Burgundian-Pinot-wild-strawberries-enchantment.
Mother, honestly, I’m working here.
You can jaw-jaw about jory-jory and speak airily about terroir but there is nowt better for understanding it than gettin’ down and dirty amongst the soil. So onto the oversized golf buggy or ATV to chug up hill and put name to block. The vineyard area is a mosaic - some of the vines are mere saplings or striplings yet to produce their first crop, others have had one or two years, and others are twelve years old, the oldest specimens since post-phylloxera planting. The composition of the soils and the microclimate determines how much work needs to be done amongst the vines; the more fertile the soil the more aggressive the canopy growth which takes energy away from the vine which necessitates hard pruning and leaf thinning.
After the aforementioned shaking, rattling and rolling Alex took us for a soil pit seminar which I imagined would be conducted in a sterile classroom with powerpoint presentation, but in fact involved examining different bore holes drilled at intervals in the soil. The jory soils retain moisture which helps to nourish the vines whereas the lower quality soils are drier and friable. As we left the last big bore (as it were) I heard a squeak beneath my feet. Evidently I had stepped on a gopher who turn out be vineyard enemy number one because they eat vines. An integrated/organic pest solution would to encourage their predators (hawks and snakes) or to hit them with baseball bats – made from reclaimed wood.
After a flying visit to Stoller winery just up the road we returned to Sokol Blosser where a detachment disappeared to forage in the environs for Mexican beer, a duvet cover full of corn chips and some seriously smoky salsa. The beers, brewed in Mehiho, none of your Burton-on-Trent franchise crap, were à point.
Gastronomic juices aflame I was looking forward to next instalment of taste bud pampering, namely gourmet pizzas from a mobile wood-fired oven. All genuflect. Tastebud Farm (an appropriate name) originated as a small sustainable family farm five-and-a-half fertile acres near Canby, Oregon. They grew a diverse crop that included some fun and interesting vegetables, greens and herbs that were difficult to find in local markets.
In 2000
In collaboration with the Portland Farmer’s Market board, they built a wood-fired brick oven in order to offer a delicious selection of rustic-baked goods, which were sold at farmer’s markets and other events in the Portland area.
They also make some mean bagels but I didn’t have the opportunity to try them.
The pizzas were homer-licious, texturally spot on. I tried all five including one with roasted eggplant, another with zucchini and goat’s cheese, and a third with spicy sausage and spiced peppers. With a massive bowl of salad and fresh herbs as a salve to the conscience and beers for cheers, well, one could only agree with the person who sighed with pure relish: “Life is good.”
Back to the hotel and a swift sluicedown at the bar. I drank three Dewars on the rocks in rapid succession, ate someone else’s truffle popcorn and tumbled off to bed.
DAY 3
Saturday was nominated the R & R day and began with an expedition to the farmer’s market - which is apparently the biggest in Oregon. It’s big. A quiet riot of food. The idea at these events is to make a noise like a camel and carry a big hump because every stand demands a pit stop and the assaying of food and drink.
First port of call was a guy selling ice lollies. Check out honeydew agave or spicy mango chilli or strawberry lemonade. I opted for the cucumber, lime and jalapeno which was a brilliant Blumenthalian combo and cleansed my palate in preparation for some serious grazing.
Next a steep bank, a Spion Kop of fat succulent peaches – impossible to resist though goodness knows how you eat them without taking a bath in their juice. Punnets of plums, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries were annexed. Pretzels were bagged, and cookies purloined.
But now it was time for the main course, namely biscuits and (sausage) gravy with iced sweet tea. Never in a million years at home would I try any of these things but I wanted to be as human blotting paper and soak up as many new impressions as possible. For those unfamiliar with this traditional southern American dish it consists of soft dough biscuits coated in thick “country” or “white” gravy, made from the drippings of cooked pork sausage, white flour, milk, and often (but not always) bits of sausage, bacon, ground beef, or other meat. The biscuits are very similar to our scones. It looks basic and even slightly bilious but the aroma went straight under my head and into my stomach. And iced sweet tea – surely, yuck. Reader, I loved it.
We visited a couple more stands to stock up for a picnic and drove to visit the Multnomah Falls in the Columbia gorge which divided Oregon and Washington. The Columbia river itself is huge, as wide as a lake, and acts as a kind of wind tunnel, attracting a host of surfer dudes and such like water sports aficionados. The waterfall is a major tourist attraction tumbling about 650 feet in two drops, one long and slender like a silver thread, the other a squat powerful cataract. A gazillion tourists trudge the few hundred yards to the first bridge and take pictures of each other framed against the fall. There is also a little romping to the top of the cliff via a dozen or so switchbacks, and feeling that I had basically done nothing but gorge this trip, I decided to work up a bit of a sweat and get some burn into my legs. A real motley selection of people do this section of the walk: slouchy teenagers, toddlers dragged by their parents, tottering nonagenarians, patently overweight people, lithe athletes. We even saw a couple grimly pushing their baby buggy up the knobbly path. Some of the views are breathtaking, although, perversely, when you get to top and look down over the edge of the waterfall you can’t really see anything. The only consolation was plunging my hands into icy stream (glacial melt water) and slathering it over my face. Down, down, down we return to the oven – it’s about 100 degrees now in American money – and never has the prospect of a chilled $2 bottle of water seemed so agreeable.
Back to Portland and a quick nap and off to Departure at the Nines Hotel, a glamorous rooftop cocktail bar with stunning views of the cityscape and the distant mountains. A small “sleb” section has been roped off for us and whilst we are not dressed too dustily (yours truly excepted) the stiletto heeled, cocktail dressed, designer clad trendies of Portland are gazing at us as if we mean something. Waves of nibbly spicy food, tempura and sushi knocked up a big thirst in conjunction with the fierce end of day heat bouncing off all the mirrored glass windows of Portland’s office blocks.
It’s 7.30 and Portland is rocking. A monster limo stretches the whole length of a block, a Lady Ga-Ga (she is rumoured to be in town) lookalike is chatting to the chauffeur; outside a bar a jazz-funk band is playing, restaurants are bulging at the seams.
One of the group has booked a table at the painfully trendy Thai street food Pok-pok restaurant on the other side of town. http://pokpokpdx.com/menu_dinner.htm
Only a few years old it is already well established on the American culinary map. Even our taxi driver knew all about it, giving us chapter and verse, about what we should eat when we got there. It oozes cult – it is still a canteen or a shack, trading on its minimalism. The tables and chairs cost zip, ditto everything else. It is about the food and the drink and the service which is as sharp as a tack. The waiter guides us through the menu and various eating rituals and we order a good selection of dishes for the table.
Highlights of our mini feast:
Ike’s Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings
Fresh natural chicken wings marinated in fish sauce, garlic and sugar, deep fried, tossed in caramelized Phu Quoc fish sauce and garlic and served with Vietnamese table salad
Kaeng Hung Leh
Classic Northern Thai sweet pork belly and pork shoulder curry with ginger, palm sugar, tamarind, turmeric, Burmese curry powder and pickled garlic.
Kuung Op Wun Sen
Wild caught gulf prawns baked in a clay pot over charcoal with pork belly, whiskey, soy, ginger, cilantro root, black pepper, Chinese celery and bean thread noodles.
Muu Paa Kham Waan
Boar collar meat rubbed with garlic, coriander root and black pepper, glazed with soy and sugar, grilled over charcoal and served with chilled mustard greens and a spicy chili-lime-garlic sauce. Northern Thai drinking food.
The bill for eight of us came to $240 including service. As they say in Thailand “Yum yum”.
This educative and pleasure packed trip just lasted few days; the impressions will last a lifetime. The abiding memory is one of beautiful hospitality and a sense of fun. This was an induction to Oregon itself, for us to get a feel of place, because without context the wine is always missing a crucial dimension. The wines now make sense to me and I understand the narrative arc(for want of a better expression) of the family and the vineyard. Wine is nothing if not the story behind the wine: the geology (did I mention jory enough times?), the history of the region, the local topography, the nature of the vines, the method of viticulture and the winemaking process. And, of course, it is about the people and their vision for the wines.
OREGON TRIVIA
Oregon has more ghost towns than any other state.
- Oregon and New Jersey are the only states without self-service gas stations.
- The Columbia River gorge is widely considered the best place in the world for windsurfing.
- Oregon’s state nut is the hazelnut (or filbert). Oregon is the only state with a state nut.
- Oregon’s state birthday is on February 14, Valentine’s Day.
- Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the USA, and is the only lake formed in the remains of a volcano.
- The world’s largest rosary collection is exhibited at the Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center.
- Oregon’s state beverage is milk.
- Nearly all the characters in The Simpsons are named after streets in Portland.
- It is against the law in Myrtle Creek, Oregon to box with a kangaroo.
- Oregon was the first state to ban the use of non-returnable bottles and cans.
- Oregon residents own 1/4 of the country’s total llama population.
- Famous movies filmed in Oregon include: National Lampoon’s Animal House, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Goonies, Free Willy