Oregon wine regions: The Willamette Valley AVA

My immediately preceding post provided an overview of winemaking in Oregon.  This post, the first of a series that will cover the individual winegrowing regions within the state, provides insight into one of its most important wine regions, the Willamette Valley.

The Willamette Valley AVA is the largest of the Oregon AVAs, covering, as it does, 5200 square miles to include an area from the Columbia River in the north to the Calapooya Mountains just south of Eugene and bordered on the west and east by the Coast and Cascade Ranges, respectively.  Named for the river that bisects its 60-mile width for most of its 150 mile length, the valley is home to two-thirds of the state's wineries.

Willamette Valley has a maritime climate -- cool, wet winters and warm, dry summers -- a climate pattern which, according to willamettevalleyagriculture.com, allows for a longer growing season.  The valley is protected by the Coast range to its west and a series of hill chains to the north.  According to oregonvineyardland.com, valley climate is moderated by three openings in the Coast Range which provide gateways for the transit of cool air between the Pacific Ocean and the valley.  The opening between Lincoln City on the coast and Salem in the valley is named Van Duzer Corridor.  The remaining two (un-named) corridors run from Newport to Corvalis and Florence to Eugene, respectively.

Rainfall averages 40-45 inches/year with 50% of the precipitation occurring between December and February and very little occurring during the summer.

As shown in the figure below, the Willamette Valley soil profile was established over a very long time horizon beginning with the hardening of ancient lava flows over 50 million years ago and continuing to the most recent layers deposited within the last 15,000 years.

Source: Pinot Camp 2012 document

According to the Oregon Pinot Camp 2012 documentation, ",,, great Willamette Valley Pinot Noir grows on rocky hillsides facing south or southeast, at least 200 feet above sea level and avoiding cooler hilltop microclimates over 800 feet."  The document goes on to assert that these conditions generally occur on volcanic, marine sedimentary, or windblown (loess) soils.

When it was initially designated in 1984, the Willamette Valley AVA extended over 3.3 million acres.  Over the intervening years, the valley's viticulturists have been able to discern and communicate the existence of six unique terroirs within the broader AVA and these six have all been designated as AVAs.  The characteristics of these AVAs are highlighted in the table  and figure below.

Source: Compiled from oregonwines.com

There are a total of 610 vineyards on the 15,120 planted acres in the Willamette Valley AVA and these vineyards produced 29,425 tons of grapes in 2011 (USDA NASS, Oregon Field Office, nassusda.gov).  Yield per harvested acre in 2011 was 2.18, indicating additional upside production potential without harm to the quality of the region's wines.  Of the 2011 wine grape production, 75.7% was Pinot Noir, 18.5% Pinot Gris and 5% Chardonnay.  Negligible amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and White Riesling are also planted.

Based on the numbers, Pinot Noir is king in the Willamette Valley. But there is no ubiquitous Pinot Noir profile.  According to Oregon Pinot Camp 2012, depending on the soil type, a different profile will emerge: on volcanic soils, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir will accentuate "high-toned aromatics, red/blue fruits, baking spices, and soft, succulent tannins;"  on sedimentary soils, "blue/black fruit, earth tones, and ... heavier tannins;" and on loess, "mixed berry fruits, exotic spices, licorice, cedar" along with briary components and round tannins.

With all of the assets listed above, Willamette Valley AVA would not have been as successful as it has become without the people.  From the pioneers, to the ones who followed, to the viticulturists and owners plying the trade today, the valley has been characterized by a cooperative, learning, working relationship which should serve as a model to every up-and-coming wine region.


©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Oregon wine industry: Current state and futures

Wine production in Oregon owes its existence to a band of hardy pioneers (Richard Sommer, David Lett, Charles Coury, Dick Erath) who ignored the conventional wisdom which held that the state was too wet and too cold to produce the quality of grapes required to make fine wine.  After over 40 years of grape growing and producing quality wines, the pathfinders, and those who followed closely behind, have conclusively refuted the arguments of the "soothsayers" and Oregon is now recognized as one of the world's leading cool-climate wine regions.  In this post I will examine the characteristics of Oregon as a winemaking region. The information provided is based on a telephone interview with Dr. Patricia Skinkis -- Viticulture Extension Specialist and Assistant Professor at Oregon State University (OSU) and member of the school's Oregon Wine Research Institute (OWRI) -- as well as a variety of secondary sources.

According to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, Oregon 2011 wine grape production was 41,500 tons, a 33% increase over 2010 levels.  Production was distributed over a large number of grape varieties but Pinot Noir (23,726 tons) and Pinot Gris (6,046 tons) were by far the largest contributors.  The next leading varieties, contrastingly, were Chardonnay (1,923 tons), White Riesling (1,899 tons), and Syrah (1,319 tons).  Planted acreage in 2011 was 20,400 and, with average yield of 2.37 tons/acre, only Merlot, Muller-Thurgau, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, and White Riesling produce above the great-wine benchmark of 3 tons/acre.

With the exception of the regions shared with Washington and Idaho, the Oregon wine growing regions are concentrated in the valleys that lie between the Coast and the Casacade Ranges.  By functioning as a barrier to the warm, moist air flowing in from the Pacific Ocean, the Cascade divides the state into western (third of the state; heavy precipitation; moderate temperatures) and eastern (two-thirds of the state; low precipitation; more extreme temperatures) climatic zones.   

Source: Erath Winery

According to Dr. Skinkis, the climate in Oregon, while challenging in regards to grape growing, also has its benefits. The challenges include precipitation, limited days of sunshine placing the region at the edge of berry-ripening days, cooler temperatures, regular frosts in autumn, and large variation in weather from year to year rendering vineyard management tricky. The benefits include the moderating effect of the Pacific Ocean, clear definition of grape varieties that can be grown in each area, a good mix of cool-climate (in the north) and moderate-climate (in the south) varieties, long growing seasons, and full, but gradual, ripening of varieties.

According to Dr. Skinkis, the wine industry in Oregon is small (840 growers and 419 wineries) with the average grower working 20 acres of land.  Most of the businesses are family-owned, many as second careers.  In the cooler climate of the north, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Chardonnay are the varieties of choice while the warmer southern climes gravitate to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah.  Pinot Noir (12,560 acres), Pinot Gris (2,590 acres), and Chardonnay (950 acres) represent the largest share of plantings in the state.  Overall, 63.6% of the grapes grown in the state are red varieties.

Dr. Skinkis sees a lot of interest in the industry in biodynamics but not many of the growers are Demeter-certified.  Instead a number can be classified as sustainable with LIVE as the most common certification and a large number of organic practictioners (The related panel at the Portland Wine Bloggers Conference lumped these viniviticultural practices together under a "sustainable" umbrella in that, according to the panel, they all focus on safety; safety of the workers in the vineyards, safety of the consumer, or safety of the environment.  The panel saw sustainable as poorly defined and the lowest standard as it allows the viticulturist to "ebb and flow" according to conditions.  Organic was more rigid but the certification of the grape versus the wine was viewed as very complex. Biodynamic was described as a self-nurturing universe.  Natural winemaking calls for a conscious decision to intervene as little as possible during the process. (See here for my post on natural wine.) LIVE (Low Input Viticulture and Enology) is wine-grape-specifc and, according to the panel, is more rigorous in looking at the system than either organic or biodynamic.  According to LIVE, 275 vineyards and 35 wineries in oregon are LIVE-certified.).

The industry works closely with OSUs OWRI (a Working Group of individuals who focus on wine-related issues) to address issues of concern.  The industry's focus today is on increasing fruit quality and improving yield, according to Dr. Skinkis, and she assists this effort by (i) providing new information and research and (ii) integrating applied research and Extension outreach for the benefit of winemakers, growers, and owners.  The areas of viticultural research that are currently being pursued are (Dr. Skinkis):

• Economic -- understanding the economic impact of different vineyard management practices
• Sustainability -- the economics and environmental effects of this approach and the role of cover crops in this area
• Yield management -- what level of fruit is the vine to ripen (Yield has become a measure of quality)?

Enological research is being pursued in the areas of microbial spoilage, color stabilization, and flavor and aroma compounds.

For the future, Dr. Skinkis envisions the research needs of the industry  pivoting to the following areas:

• Increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of managing grapes in a cold environment and the roles of nutrients and canopy management in that process
• How to better manage for vine balance (versus today's focus on yield management)
• New ways to manage troubled fermentations (Two potential paths are new yeast strains or a better understanding of native yeast strains.).

The work of a band of pioneers and the cooperative efforts of a second wave have served to lift the Oregon wine industry from a pooh-poohed concept to a strong, well-regarded presence on the world wine stage.  Using Burgundy as its north star, the industry has selected an industry structure and a variety mix that works perfectly for its geographic location as well as the persona of its practitioners.  The region's future remains ahead of it.

In future posts I will examine the Oregon AVAs in detail.


©Wine -- Mise en abyme