Latest / The Realtor Who Wines / 40 Years of Oregon Wine, Pinot Noir & the Science of Winemaking

Transcript

40 Years of Oregon Wine, Pinot Noir & the Science of Winemaking · The Realtor Who Wines

• 0:00
  Welcome to the Realtor Who Wines podcast.
• 0:02
  I'm Rashelle Newmeyer.
• 0:03
  Your hostest with mostest, a student of life, a connector, a passionate wine enthusiast, and your local favorite guide.
• 0:10
  Join me as we explore the vibrant Pacific Northwest.
• 0:14
  Savor the finest wines and champion the spirit of entrepreneurship.
• 0:18
  Each episode, I'll sit down with inspiring guests, supporting business ownership and uncovering the stories that make this community unique.
• 0:25
  So grab a glass of wine, settle in, and let's embark on a journey of discovery and connection together. Cheers.
• 0:32
  Well, Steve, I am really excited to talk to you today because you have been in the wine industry for such a tenured time making wine.
• 0:41
  I also like your back story, by the way.
• 0:43
  Thank you for your service to our country.
• 0:45
  I know that you served in the Army.
• 0:45
  Correct?
• 0:48
  Yeah, so thank you for that.
• 0:49
  I would like to start by. Cheers to you.
• 0:52
  Should we cheers with the spark?
• 0:55
  Good idea.
• 0:56
  Cheers.
• 0:57
  Cheers.
• 1:01
  So, before we move on to that.
• 1:02
  Do you know why we say cheers? No. To tell me.
• 1:05
  All right, so I don't know if this is the real reason, but. Okay.
• 1:08
  I was on a wine trip, traveling up the Rhine and the muzzle and the SA rivers and stopped in.
• 1:14
  I think it was rude and visited a winery.
• 1:17
  And of course, there was a bunch of tourists there, and so it was crowded.
• 1:21
  So we got put into a group tasting and tour of the cellar, and we're sitting down and the wines are being poured, and the person giving the tour is this barrel chested individual.
• 1:33
  I forget his name, but I guess he sung opera at the local opera house, had this big booming voice and he had a story.
• 1:40
  He said cheers.
• 1:41
  And then he asked, do you know why we say cheers?
• 1:44
  And everyone says, no.
• 1:45
  That's interesting question.
• 1:47
  So, you know, everyone looks at the wine and appreciates the color and the clarity, and there's all kinds of things that you can determine from the wine just by looking at it.
• 1:54
  And, and then you smell the wine so your nose gets to appreciate it.
• 1:59
  And you put it in your mouth and you taste it, and you appreciate the sensation and the flavor and everything, but the ears are left out.
• 2:08
  Cheers. Cheers.
• 2:09
  Don't forget the ears.
• 2:11
  Oh my gosh, I love that so much.
• 2:13
  Thank you for sharing that around the world.
• 2:15
  I love that I don't forget the ears.
• 2:17
  Cheers.
• 2:19
  I'm going to start saying that I love that so much.
• 2:21
  Please introduce yourself to everybody. Yes.
• 2:25
  So, as you call me my name, my name is Steve Anderson.
• 2:28
  I've been the winemaker here since January of 2000, but I had some tenure prior to that.
• 2:34
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: 15 p.m..
• 2:38
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: Oh my gosh.
• 2:40
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: The story for such a detailed time period.
• 2:44
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: I was supposed to start at three.
• 2:46
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: I lived in Corvallis at the time, so it's a 30 mile drive, and I showed up originally that morning at 8 a.m.
• 2:53
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: to start a completely different job.
• 2:55
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: I was going to take over as the vineyard manager for the outgoing vineyard manager, and I showed up that morning at 8 a.m.
• 3:04
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: to start my new duties and trained with the outgoing vineyard manager.
• 3:07
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: It's October, so it was harvest, and it was decided that he was no longer going to leave.
• 3:14
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: Oh, and so I didn't have a job.
• 3:17
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: The vineyard manager is the younger brother of our founder, Tom Huggins.
• 3:22
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: And so while I was making preparations to start my new career right out of college, that that job went away.
• 3:28
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: So as I'm leaving the building one minute later, 801 the winemakers coming to work and he asked me, where are you going?
• 3:34
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: And I go, well, I'm going home.
• 3:36
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: What do you mean? Well, I don't have a job.
• 3:38
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: What do you mean?
• 3:39
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: He was unaware of the decision that was made.
• 3:42
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: Says, well, if you need a job.
• 3:45
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: He knew my situation.
• 3:45
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: I'll get to that in a second.
• 3:47
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: You can come back and work the night shift.
• 3:49
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: I need more staff.
• 3:51
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: You know, you can do juice analysis and help process fruit.
• 3:54
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: And here's the kicker of the background.
• 3:57
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: When your wife goes into labor, you can just drop whatever bucket you're holding and take a go.
• 4:02
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: Yeah.
• 4:02
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: So my wife was eight and a half months pregnant when I was originally hired to take over as vineyard management, so I spent two weeks getting my affairs in order, bringing the mother in law into the house.
• 4:16
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: Sure. Making arrangements.
• 4:18
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: And so I showed up that morning at eight and didn't have a job.
• 4:21
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: So cellar rat started a cellar at.
• 4:24
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: A couple weeks later I was approached and asked, hey, how would you like to be the assistant winemaker? We don't have one.
• 4:29
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: And so that was in part there was a couple of incidents in my favor.
• 4:36
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: I was finishing up some lab work, went out to the crush line and noticed that they were putting Riesling into the press.
• 4:42
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: That was supposed to be shared in a.
• 4:43
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: So I yelled out across the deck, everything was really loud.
• 4:47
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: All the air compressors and all the hydraulic pumps were screaming and all that stuff.
• 4:52
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: So I rub and he goes, what?
• 4:56
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: I go, what are you processing?
• 4:56
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: And he goes, Chardonnay.
• 4:58
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: And I go, no, you're not.
• 4:59
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: So everything shuts down and and I'm looking around and I offloaded the truck.
• 5:05
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: So I know I put the chart in here and the reasoning over there.
• 5:08
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: And now everything's in a pile way over here.
• 5:11
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: Oh, no.
• 5:11
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: So our crew, not knowing the difference, just put all the grapes into the press.
• 5:16
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: Oh, gosh.
• 5:16
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: So I grab a cluster of Chardonnay and a cluster of Riesling, and I'm showing Rob and.
• 5:21
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: And he couldn't see the difference.
• 5:23
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: And, you know, I'm pointing out some of the details.
• 5:25
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: And anyways, we ended up putting a little less than 10% Riesling into that that press.
• 5:31
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: We want a gold medal at the state fair the next year.
• 5:33
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: Oh my gosh, 10% Riesling, which is allowed.
• 5:37
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: Yeah, yeah.
• 5:38
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: And the following year, Joe Dobbs, who was at Willamette at the time, he got a gold medal at the state fair for his Chardonnay with a 10% Riesling.
• 5:45
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: Oh. So, I think, you know, Hills, we are trendsetters.
• 5:50
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: Or at least we try to.
• 5:52
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: Yeah, yeah.
• 5:53
  I started October 3rd, 1993 at 3: So that was incident one.
• 5:55
  Another one was like 2: 00 in the morning.
• 5:58
  Another one was like 2: Our French was d6.
• 6:00
  Another one was like 2: December Crusher stopped pumping.
• 6:04
  Another one was like 2: And so Rob says, oh, it's broken.
• 6:06
  Another one was like 2: Let's clean up. Let's go home.
• 6:07
  Another one was like 2: And I go, wait a minute, we still have truckloads of grapes we need to process.
• 6:11
  Another one was like 2: Why don't we try to fix it?
• 6:11
  Another one was like 2: He says, I don't know how to fix it.
• 6:13
  Another one was like 2: So I looked for a wrench and started taking it apart and noticed that the flap of the flapper valve wasn't closing.
• 6:22
  Another one was like 2: It wasn't even opening.
• 6:24
  Another one was like 2: So I took it apart and realized, oh, the spring had broken on it.
• 6:27
  Another one was like 2: So I'm looking around in the tool boxes for springs.
• 6:29
  Another one was like 2: Anything I could find couldn't find anything.
• 6:32
  Another one was like 2: And then I remembered, oh, wait a minute.
• 6:34
  Another one was like 2: There's a seat from the back of Tom, our founders van.
• 6:37
  Another one was like 2: He had a Dodge Caravan, a, you know, a family man, that he had the seats out in the office and he used it as our delivery van.
• 6:45
  Another one was like 2: Oh, funny.
• 6:45
  Another one was like 2: So I flipped that over. Hey, look at those springs.
• 6:48
  Another one was like 2: So I took the spring. I stretched it out.
• 6:50
  Another one was like 2: I put it in there, put it back, and we got through the night, I love that.
• 6:55
  Another one was like 2: So about three weeks later, harvest is done.
• 6:58
  Another one was like 2: Of the 80 original springs on that seat, there was about a dozen left.
• 7:01
  Another one was like 2: So I got really fast at taking the thing.
• 7:03
  Another one was like 2: So I got us through the harvest, and that's when I was like, you know what?
• 7:06
  Another one was like 2: You're pretty handy mechanically.
• 7:08
  Another one was like 2: You know the difference on site, the different varieties of fruit.
• 7:12
  Another one was like 2: And yeah, that's when I became assistant winemaker.
• 7:16
  Another one was like 2: Oh my God, did that for five years.
• 7:18
  Another one was like 2: I actually left for a year and a half.
• 7:20
  Another one was like 2: I was hired away to make wine.
• 7:22
  Another one was like 2: A winery in Roseburg, you know, as a problem solver, a fixer of some of their issues.
• 7:27
  Another one was like 2: And year and a half later, I wasn't pleased.
• 7:30
  Another one was like 2: And the winemaker, who was my mentor, he'd left Eula Hills.
• 7:34
  Another one was like 2: And so the job opened up and Tom approached me and said, how would you like to come back and make mine?
• 7:40
  Another one was like 2: I said, I'm in there.
• 7:41
  Another one was like 2: So that was in December and I started in January after years of 2000.
• 7:46
  Another one was like 2: Oh my goodness.
• 7:47
  Another one was like 2: So then you've been here for 26 years then as the winemaker with five years ahead of that. Right.
• 7:53
  Another one was like 2: And even that 18 months I was gone.
• 7:55
  Another one was like 2: I owned like 110 shares.
• 7:58
  Another one was like 2: Oh my goodness, you know, so 0.01%.
• 8:01
  Another one was like 2: So I like to say, even though I wasn't employed, I still had a solid firm connection as, yeah, 120 110 shares of 2 million.
• 8:11
  Another one was like 2: Right. Still standing.
• 8:12
  Another one was like 2: So yeah, you still were part of the family you started in wine or like had an affection for wine really early.
• 8:19
  Another one was like 2: I was reading that you started with a bucket and a bunch of grapes.
• 8:22
  Another one was like 2: You talk about that a little bit.
• 8:24
  Another one was like 2: That's a story that I often have to tell.
• 8:27
  Another one was like 2: Yeah.
• 8:27
  Another one was like 2: So you say an affection for wine, and it wasn't so much an affection for wine.
• 8:32
  Another one was like 2: People think, oh, a young person, a teenager, and they're wanting to make wine to get drunk.
• 8:37
  Another one was like 2: And that was not it. The my introduction into wine was I was, you know, the kid of the 6070s and, you know, you go outside and keep yourself entertained.
• 8:52
  Another one was like 2: So in the summertime, you know, at breakfast and I'd just be gone all day and I would kind of feed myself by foraging, you know, with the neighbor's blueberries.
• 9:00
  Another one was like 2: And of course, blackberries are everywhere. Sure.
• 9:02
  Another one was like 2: Our neighbor had this great barber so late summer, early fall, you know, I'd always be over there helping myself to her grapes.
• 9:10
  Another one was like 2: And one day she's like, hey, Steve, what are you doing?
• 9:12
  Another one was like 2: I go, oh, I'm just eating some grapes.
• 9:12
  Another one was like 2: Oh, yeah, that's okay.
• 9:14
  Another one was like 2: That's that's fine.
• 9:15
  Another one was like 2: And somehow that morphed into a story about, you know.
• 9:18
  Another one was like 2: Yeah.
• 9:18
  Another one was like 2: You know, when I was a kid, the whole family, we'd go pick grapes and we go to Grandma and Grandpa's and, you know, and the whole family would be making wine in the basement.
• 9:27
  Another one was like 2: And I remember going down the stairs and there'd be jars and jugs of different colored things, you know, bubbling along.
• 9:33
  Another one was like 2: And I thought that was really fascinating.
• 9:33
  Another one was like 2: Yeah.
• 9:36
  Another one was like 2: So I asked my mom if and Patty was her name.
• 9:40
  Another one was like 2: She told me the recipe was, you know, take a five gallon bucket of grapes and remove the stems, squish him up at a 5 pound bag of sugar, a package of yeast, stir it all up, cover it with a plastic bag, and wait six weeks.
• 9:53
  Another one was like 2: I mean, that was the recipe.
• 9:54
  Another one was like 2: Okay, so I went home and come in through the back sliding door.
• 9:59
  Another one was like 2: My mom's at the sink washing dishes and said, mom, can I make some wine?
• 10:03
  Another one was like 2: And she goes, what?
• 10:04
  Another one was like 2: What the what the beep for?
• 10:07
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, like a science project.
• 10:10
  Another one was like 2: Yeah.
• 10:11
  Another one was like 2: I was really into, you know, science and experimenting and building things and just for fun.
• 10:18
  Another one was like 2: And so I went back over to Patty's and got a five gallon bucket of grapes and rode my bike up to the store to with my allowance to buy a 5 pound bag of sugar and a package of yeast.
• 10:28
  Another one was like 2: And I did all that.
• 10:30
  Another one was like 2: That work filled the bucket up with water, put a plastic bag over it, covered it with a rubber band, secured it with a rubber band, and then put it in the corner behind the dining room table.
• 10:40
  Another one was like 2: Went to school the next day and came home from school, and that plastic bag had bloated up and there was purple foam all over the white linoleum floor.
• 10:48
  Another one was like 2: Fortunately, bleached cleaned it up.
• 10:50
  Another one was like 2: Oh, good.
• 10:50
  Another one was like 2: So lesson number one is don't fill the bucket all the way full.
• 10:54
  Another one was like 2: You gotta have room for the cap to take for the foam to to not escape the container.
• 11:00
  Another one was like 2: So six weeks later, I had a ferment which I thought was done because I knew nothing about wine.
• 11:07
  Another one was like 2: No one told me, you need to punch it down and no one told me, you know, when a ferment was actually finished.
• 11:13
  Another one was like 2: So put it up on the table.
• 11:16
  Another one was like 2: Had a piece of siphon hose that I got from the hardware store that I spent my allowance on and was filling empty Crown Royal bottles.
• 11:24
  Another one was like 2: My parents and their friends were really into Crown at the time, so we had all these empty bottles. Yeah.
• 11:28
  Another one was like 2: So, you know, it's got a cool capital.
• 11:30
  Another one was like 2: So I put the siphon hose in and I start my action and then of course, it gets in my mouth, spit it out, fill up the bottle.
• 11:39
  Another one was like 2: Oh, lost the siphon.
• 11:40
  Another one was like 2: Have to do it again.
• 11:41
  Another one was like 2: So by the time I had all the bottles full and the bucket was empty, when I got up from the floor, I was just dizzy and tipsy.
• 11:48
  Another one was like 2: And yeah, that was my first experience with alcohol and my mom was at the sink washing dishes again.
• 11:54
  Another one was like 2: And I go over to her and I'm holding my tummy and my head, and I was like, oh, mom, I don't feel well.
• 11:58
  Another one was like 2: I'm really sick. I'm really dizzy.
• 12:00
  Another one was like 2: And she goes, oh, what have you been doing?
• 12:02
  Another one was like 2: And I go, well, I've been filling the wine bottles.
• 12:04
  Another one was like 2: And she just looks at me and starts laughing.
• 12:08
  Another one was like 2: You're drunk.
• 12:09
  Another one was like 2: And I go, no, I'm not.
• 12:09
  Another one was like 2: I didn't drink any, I swear.
• 12:12
  Another one was like 2: And how old were you two?
• 12:13
  Another one was like 2: I was 13, yeah. Okay.
• 12:15
  Another one was like 2: So I stormed off, went to my room, went to bed I was fine, yeah, yeah.
• 12:19
  Another one was like 2: Swept it off.
• 12:20
  Another one was like 2: Gave those bottles away at Christmas to my mom and all their friends and family.
• 12:25
  Another one was like 2: And they thought, wow, this is really good. It was sweet.
• 12:28
  Another one was like 2: It was pink.
• 12:29
  Another one was like 2: It was Concord grapes. Yeah.
• 12:30
  Another one was like 2: So it was like, yeah, you know, grape juice, you know, that was sweet and sparkling and a in a crown cap, a Crown Royal bottle.
• 12:37
  Another one was like 2: It had a screw cap.
• 12:38
  Another one was like 2: So it trapped the CO2 and so it became a command performance.
• 12:42
  Another one was like 2: Oh you're going to make more of that next year.
• 12:43
  Another one was like 2: Well oh gosh.
• 12:44
  Another one was like 2: Blackberries get ripe in the summer and I August.
• 12:48
  Another one was like 2: So I made blackberry wine as well.
• 12:50
  Another one was like 2: And that was the big hit.
• 12:51
  Another one was like 2: Then I graduated high school, went to college, stopped making wine because I didn't have.
• 12:57
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, I never thought it was going to be a career or a job or I had no interest in drinking wine at the time.
• 13:02
  Another one was like 2: So that's how I got started, I love that.
• 13:05
  Another one was like 2: What? When did.
• 13:06
  Another one was like 2: So you said you kind of stopped and had no interest in, like, making wine.
• 13:09
  Another one was like 2: When did you develop the interest to make wine?
• 13:12
  Another one was like 2: So yeah, that's a little more complex.
• 13:15
  Another one was like 2: So my college roommate, sophomore year, his parents live in France.
• 13:23
  Another one was like 2: His dad is an ex-Marine who married a French woman.
• 13:27
  Another one was like 2: So my roommate went to high school in college, in France, in Paris, and then came back to Oregon to to go to college.
• 13:34
  Another one was like 2: And that's how we met.
• 13:35
  Another one was like 2: So I had just gotten out of the service, joined the Army so I could pay for college, and he was going to go for the holiday break to France.
• 13:48
  Another one was like 2: And he says, hey, Steve, how'd you like to go with me to to France for the Christmas break?
• 13:53
  Another one was like 2: I said, yeah, that sounds lovely.
• 13:54
  Another one was like 2: I had a passport and I had never used it.
• 13:57
  Another one was like 2: So yeah, we did that and spent a couple days in Paris and then went out to their country home and the Loire Valley near Moultrie and Ambrose and.
• 14:12
  Another one was like 2: I was asking, you know, so do you like wine?
• 14:14
  Another one was like 2: They go. No. Not really.
• 14:15
  Another one was like 2: And, you know, I can't tell the difference between red or white.
• 14:18
  Another one was like 2: You know, if anything, I think maybe a white wine. That's sweet.
• 14:20
  Another one was like 2: Maybe Riesling. Sure.
• 14:22
  Another one was like 2: You know, I've had a glass of wine. Yeah. College.
• 14:25
  Another one was like 2: You know, I've had some. Yeah, but.
• 14:26
  Another one was like 2: Yeah.
• 14:26
  Another one was like 2: And I didn't even really like beer a lot at the time. So, so he goes.
• 14:33
  Another one was like 2: I bet you can't tell the difference.
• 14:36
  Another one was like 2: Or I can help you build an appreciation for it.
• 14:39
  Another one was like 2: And so I'm in this, this home with all this family that's French speaking.
• 14:44
  Another one was like 2: And only some of them spoke English.
• 14:47
  Another one was like 2: So he goes down in the basement, gets a bottle of red, a bottle of white and blindfolds me, opens the bottles, pours them in the glass, hands them to me and says, tell me which ones red, which ones white.
• 15:02
  Another one was like 2: So I smell it and I taste it, and I smell the other one and I taste it.
• 15:06
  Another one was like 2: And so I hold up the glass and I think this one's red, and I think this one's white, and the whole room just breaks out laughing, you know, a gut busting laugh, Silly Americans.
• 15:18
  Another one was like 2: And I'm like, okay, what's going on?
• 15:20
  Another one was like 2: And they pull the blindfold off.
• 15:21
  Another one was like 2: And I had it absolutely wrong.
• 15:23
  Another one was like 2: So what he had done, you know, is went down in the cave, the cellar and pulled out a bowler.
• 15:30
  Another one was like 2: And that's the one I thought was white because it was soft and fruity and not very tannic.
• 15:35
  Another one was like 2: And then he brought up this Oct long aged, cellar aged Chardonnay from Marseille or something like that.
• 15:45
  Another one was like 2: And I thought that was the red because of the feel and the texture of it.
• 15:49
  Another one was like 2: Yeah.
• 15:49
  Another one was like 2: And so that right there was one of my first epiphanies that I didn't realize was one until later that, well, I don't know what they before he was, but but I was wrong.
• 16:00
  Another one was like 2: And that, you know, you could have a soft red wine or a heavy red wine or a brooding white wine or a soft white wine.
• 16:07
  Another one was like 2: And so it's not so much the generic, oh, Chardonnay is always like this, and Pinot noir is always like that.
• 16:12
  Another one was like 2: Or, you know, there's a whole range of different wines.
• 16:16
  Another one was like 2: So absolutely, that was my first introduction.
• 16:18
  Another one was like 2: So we come home and Scott and I, that was my roommate, you know, we start drinking wine in the apartment.
• 16:24
  Another one was like 2: His dad came to visit that spring before summer and bought some wine for us and brought some wine for us.
• 16:31
  Another one was like 2: And, you know, again, I wasn't really into the the drinking scene, but I started having an appreciation for wine and realized there's more to it than just Riesling.
• 16:40
  Another one was like 2: That's sweet and white and soft.
• 16:42
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, well, and there's more to it than just unlike some different alcohols.
• 16:48
  Another one was like 2: Like, there's more to wine than just, like, pounding it to get drunk or whatever.
• 16:49
  Another one was like 2: Yeah.
• 16:51
  Another one was like 2: So there's like a whole experience with it and things like that.
• 16:54
  Another one was like 2: So that's and then what transpired once you started to like kind of find a slight interest in wine where you're like, you know, I kind of want to learn more about this or become a winemaker.
• 17:06
  Another one was like 2: Like, when did that transition happen for you?
• 17:09
  Another one was like 2: So time is passing, I graduate, I have a degree in horticulture from Oregon State.
• 17:14
  Another one was like 2: My career path that I thought I wanted to be on was to be a nurseryman.
• 17:19
  Another one was like 2: So I was exploring, looking for jobs, working in retail and wholesale nursery and yeah, saw this job posting for Vineyard Manager.
• 17:32
  Another one was like 2: So I check that out and interviewed.
• 17:34
  Another one was like 2: And that's how I got got hired.
• 17:37
  Another one was like 2: So ended up not getting the job as managing vineyards and agriculture and was in the cellar.
• 17:44
  Another one was like 2: And my mentor, the winemaker here at the time, was really patient and really encouraged, you know, experimentation and let me do things and ask questions and answer.
• 17:58
  Another one was like 2: And so, yeah, you know, trialing different yeast and experimenting with different grains of, of oak barrels, you know, and just on and on and on and on.
• 18:09
  Another one was like 2: So for me, it wasn't so much the appreciation for wine as an alcoholic beverage, as it's just a never ending science project.
• 18:17
  Another one was like 2: Totally.
• 18:18
  Another one was like 2: So the appreciation for wine came with, you know, oh, look, I'm able to change the texture, the color of the complexity of Pinot noir by the yeast we choose and the temperature we fermented at.
• 18:30
  Another one was like 2: And do we crush it or not crush it?
• 18:32
  Another one was like 2: Is it in a neutral oak barrel?
• 18:34
  Another one was like 2: Is it French? Is an American is a Hungarian.
• 18:36
  Another one was like 2: Is it tight? Green? Loose green? One year old? Two year old?
• 18:38
  Another one was like 2: You know, the permutations are endless.
• 18:41
  Another one was like 2: Totally.
• 18:41
  Another one was like 2: That's actually one reason why I wanted to start the podcast, because there's just so much that goes into winemaking.
• 18:47
  Another one was like 2: And I just really wanted to share that story.
• 18:49
  Another one was like 2: And that sometimes, especially because we live in wine country here in Oregon, that people don't realize how much work or how many people had to, like, help make that one bottle of wine and instead they're like $40 or $70 or $120.
• 19:04
  Another one was like 2: And it's like, you just don't even understand, like all the time and energy that went.
• 19:08
  Another one was like 2: And why is Oregon more expensive than somewhere else, etc..
• 19:11
  Another one was like 2: So yeah, so for me, the the winemaking side of it, like I said, it's just a never ending, you know, science project that just, you know, keeps me keeps me interested.
• 19:24
  Another one was like 2: Yeah.
• 19:24
  Another one was like 2: How much do you get to have as the winemaker impact on the crops itself?
• 19:29
  Another one was like 2: Like do they seek your expertise?
• 19:32
  Another one was like 2: Do you help with all the crops or like talking about, like we should plant this varietal, different things like that.
• 19:38
  Another one was like 2: Like, do you get to weigh in on that or.
• 19:40
  Another one was like 2: Great segue, because I was just going to say.
• 19:44
  Another one was like 2: To your previous comment a second ago that a lot of people, you know, give credit to the winemaker.
• 19:49
  Another one was like 2: Oh, such a great winemaker, make great wine.
• 19:51
  Another one was like 2: Well, I mean, there's the cliche that, you know, it's it's really easy to make great wine from great grapes.
• 19:57
  Another one was like 2: It's really hard to make great wine from inferior grapes.
• 20:01
  Another one was like 2: So you got to have quality grapes. Yeah.
• 20:03
  Another one was like 2: And I'm not out in the field pruning and thinning and spring.
• 20:07
  Another one was like 2: We have a vineyard crew, a vineyard manager to do that.
• 20:10
  Another one was like 2: So I really want to give here as well a lot of credit to our vineyard manager Antonio and his crew and my assistant winemaker and our crew for making wine.
• 20:20
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, because it's a team. Yeah, I'm the responsible party.
• 20:23
  Another one was like 2: And the something screws up. It's.
• 20:25
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, it's on me.
• 20:26
  Another one was like 2: But I think now with 30 plus years experience, I've seen a lot of the problems and very few new ones come up.
• 20:33
  Another one was like 2: But anyways, I just wanted to give a shout out to all the, the crew that, absolutely below and around and under me.
• 20:42
  Another one was like 2: So back to your question.
• 20:43
  Another one was like 2: Yes, I do have a lot of influence.
• 20:45
  Another one was like 2: Consult with our vendor manager all the time about different blocks.
• 20:49
  Another one was like 2: We're going to taste some peanuts here in a minute.
• 20:51
  Another one was like 2: That from a single vineyard, but are managed slightly different than we can talk about the differences on those in just a moment.
• 20:58
  Another one was like 2: So yes, crop load, clone rootstock.
• 21:02
  Another one was like 2: You know, when we're planting new vineyards, it's like, you know, what clones do we want and what rootstock should we put it on?
• 21:08
  Another one was like 2: And is that a vertical trellis?
• 21:09
  Another one was like 2: Is it a single wire flop? Is it a G.
• 21:11
  Another one was like 2: You know, all of that and this divine spacing and, you know, tons per acre or pounds per vine or.
• 21:19
  Another one was like 2: Right.
• 21:19
  Another one was like 2: And then do you also have any do you and Antonio talk about harvest like let's go ahead and get those grapes off there continually.
• 21:27
  Another one was like 2: Yeah.
• 21:28
  Another one was like 2: So a question I get get asked here and this is going to be a bit of a diversion.
• 21:33
  Another one was like 2: You know what's your favorite wine.
• 21:34
  Another one was like 2: So my smartass answer is the wine in my glass.
• 21:36
  Another one was like 2: That's my favorite one.
• 21:37
  Another one was like 2: And my second favorite wine is the wine I didn't have to pay for.
• 21:39
  Another one was like 2: Oh yeah, I like both those things.
• 21:42
  Another one was like 2: And so I will then turn it to, well, I don't have so much a favorite one.
• 21:49
  Another one was like 2: I have favorite varieties, red and white.
• 21:51
  Another one was like 2: But my favorite wine to make this is probably the better.
• 21:54
  Another one was like 2: Yeah. Question is Pinot gris.
• 21:57
  Another one was like 2: And the reason for that, it ties right into that communication with the vineyard manager, etc..
• 22:02
  Another one was like 2: So we have many clones of Pinot gris on several different rootstocks, so we'll have 146, but I've got three different rootstocks.
• 22:10
  Another one was like 2: So there's three blocks there.
• 22:11
  Another one was like 2: And they all ripen or mature at slightly different times.
• 22:14
  Another one was like 2: So there's enough to make, you know, 30,000 gallons of wine from all the crop that we grow, all 100% estate grown.
• 22:23
  Another one was like 2: And it all is a different time.
• 22:25
  Another one was like 2: So I need to be in close communication to pick this one block before it gets overripe and I lose the acid, or before this one gets too much sugar, or before you know the balance is off between the the and the acid.
• 22:38
  Another one was like 2: So we're picking different crops at different times, and it may take three weeks to get all the Pinot gris in as juice.
• 22:45
  Another one was like 2: So then once I have the juice and I don't have enough tanks to keep everything separate so it gets blended together, but I will split that juice into three tanks and then I can use three different yeasts.
• 22:56
  Another one was like 2: Oh, so one yeast gives me the the perfume esters, the other one gives me the fruity tiles.
• 23:02
  Another one was like 2: And another yeast actually eat some malic acid while it's converting sugar to alcohol, which lowers the acidity and raises the four.
• 23:11
  Another one was like 2: And so when you put that all together, you get this nice perfume flowery aroma to wine that has a nice fruity flavor that's still bright without being mouse dripping acidic.
• 23:21
  Another one was like 2: If you're thinking about making a lifestyle upgrade, maybe wine country, acreage, grape views, or do you want to go downtown?
• 23:29
  Another one was like 2: Let's talk. Either way, I want to help you level up.
• 23:32
  Another one was like 2: Reach out now and we'll make your dreams come true.
• 23:36
  Another one was like 2: a lot of decision making, a lot of risk assessment going on and making sure.
• 23:41
  Another one was like 2: Because you know if you wait three days then you may have lost some acid in that fruit or it's over. Right.
• 23:47
  Another one was like 2: You got sugar and your alcohol is too high or your alcohol is too low.
• 23:50
  Another one was like 2: So got to have some experience.
• 23:53
  Another one was like 2: And you know how many different varieties of grapes do you guys grow?
• 23:59
  Another one was like 2: Not a question I have not the Solomon ever.
• 24:02
  Another one was like 2: So we got Pinot noir, Pinot gris, Chardonnay or not.
• 24:06
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, we do have a little bit of cab.
• 24:10
  Another one was like 2: So Muscat now, Sauvignon blanc, Marshall demeanor, Riesling.
• 24:17
  Another one was like 2: And then do you source grapes from anywhere else or do you?
• 24:19
  Another one was like 2: We do get Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from the Applegate Valley.
• 24:23
  Another one was like 2: Okay.
• 24:24
  Another one was like 2: Get some Tempranillo from the Umpqua Valley.
• 24:27
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, that makes sense.
• 24:30
  Another one was like 2: And then does Tom have any, like, do you guys all meet together and make decisions together, or does he kind of just let you in?
• 24:36
  Another one was like 2: Antonio, do your thing.
• 24:39
  Another one was like 2: He lets Antone and I do our thing.
• 24:42
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, yeah.
• 24:42
  Another one was like 2: He's not completely removed from the equation. Sure.
• 24:45
  Another one was like 2: Obviously we communicate, you know, this is what we're doing.
• 24:48
  Another one was like 2: This is what we've decided and things like that.
• 24:52
  Another one was like 2: But now having, you know, 30 years under my belt and Antonio being here for 25 years, that's amazing.
• 24:59
  Another one was like 2: He was the vendor manager who didn't leave.
• 25:02
  Another one was like 2: He was his assistant.
• 25:03
  Another one was like 2: So when Jim retired, Antonio took over his managing the and the crew and responsible for all the plantings and maintaining and everything.
• 25:12
  Another one was like 2: I think that's a testament to the business itself, to have two people in such substantial roles that have stayed for such a long time, that just really goes to show the business itself in the heart of the business, which I think speaks volumes.
• 25:26
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, we gelled together well as a team and, you know, can anticipate what everyone needs now.
• 25:33
  Another one was like 2: Yeah.
• 25:33
  Another one was like 2: Well, how many different varieties do you guys currently offer in the bottle?
• 25:38
  Another one was like 2: All of those that I just mentioned. Right.
• 25:41
  Another one was like 2: And then are any of them blends or any like do you have any.
• 25:44
  Another one was like 2: Well, we do have a rosé, which is an assemblage.
• 25:47
  Another one was like 2: We have a red which is an assemblage as well.
• 25:52
  Another one was like 2: So, Pinot noir, we have our classic for distribution, the stuff you find in every retail shop.
• 26:00
  Another one was like 2: We also have our barrel select the winemakers, reserve the vineyard designate.
• 26:05
  Another one was like 2: We have another vineyard designate that is a field blend of clones, the other ones a single clone.
• 26:13
  Another one was like 2: Then we have our Pinot Noir rosé.
• 26:18
  Another one was like 2: Then on Pinot gris, we just have the singular Pinot gris.
• 26:21
  Another one was like 2: There's no reserve of it as well.
• 26:24
  Another one was like 2: Then we have our Sauvignon blanc, some Riesling.
• 26:31
  Another one was like 2: Don't do like a virtue meter per se.
• 26:32
  Another one was like 2: We do grow some.
• 26:33
  Another one was like 2: I bottle it and we do private label for different entities.
• 26:38
  Another one was like 2: You know, we'll make wine, for example, Blue Heron and Timberline Lodge, when you have those branded labels, that is Hills Wine with their label that they then sell at their retail establishment.
• 26:48
  Another one was like 2: So we they can sell Gewirtz or Meter.
• 26:51
  Another one was like 2: And so we make it for them.
• 26:53
  Another one was like 2: That's cool when you.
• 26:55
  Another one was like 2: So since you've been doing this for 26 years, making the wine, do you stick with the same recipes or do you ever vary a little bit?
• 27:04
  Another one was like 2: I mean, I know sometimes it's going to change because the never ending science project, right?
• 27:08
  Another one was like 2: Yeah.
• 27:09
  Another one was like 2: You know, people ask about yeast all the time.
• 27:11
  Another one was like 2: And I just mentioned just three choices for a variety.
• 27:15
  Another one was like 2: And unfortunately, I can't just throw those three all together in a tank because there is competitive factors.
• 27:21
  Another one was like 2: So each tank needs its own individual yeast.
• 27:24
  Another one was like 2: And I know some wineries like to just do native permits, given the size that we are to meet.
• 27:32
  Another one was like 2: For me, really, that can be risky.
• 27:35
  Another one was like 2: If you're doing a 10,000 gallon tank and you do a native ferment and for some reason something goes wrong.
• 27:40
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, you're stuck with 10,000 gallons of something that needs to be fixed or sold bulk to somebody else.
• 27:46
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, rather than than bottled.
• 27:48
  Another one was like 2: So I don't take that risk, I inoculate.
• 27:53
  Another one was like 2: So the next question is where do you get your yeast from?
• 27:56
  Another one was like 2: Well, I ordered it. It's, you know, from a catalog. Yeah.
• 27:59
  Another one was like 2: So there's many manufacturers, there's many distributors and they all have descriptions.
• 28:04
  Another one was like 2: And so I'm constantly trialing yeast.
• 28:06
  Another one was like 2: So kind of my protocol will be, is I'll order a 500 gram or half kilo pack of yeast that has a great, wonderful description.
• 28:14
  Another one was like 2: So I'll try it in a ferment of red.
• 28:16
  Another one was like 2: And if it turns out great next year I'll buy two packs of that yeast, and I'll repeat it in the same lot that I had previously before, and I'll try it in something else and see if it translates.
• 28:27
  Another one was like 2: And if it does, and I really like it, then it may become part of my normal cadre of yeast.
• 28:33
  Another one was like 2: So whites, so Sauvignon blanc.
• 28:36
  Another one was like 2: Here's a classic one.
• 28:37
  Another one was like 2: So when Tom and his founding group first planted Oak Grove in 1982, they planted some Sauvignon blanc, and the vineyard was a former wheat field.
• 28:47
  Another one was like 2: And so it's longer than it is wide.
• 28:50
  Another one was like 2: And so they planted the rows for the length, making it easier to manage.
• 28:55
  Another one was like 2: But it was planted east west, so only one side of the canopy got sun, and he did it in a split trellis.
• 29:03
  Another one was like 2: So the south side got sun all day long, where the north side got very little sun.
• 29:08
  Another one was like 2: So literally half the vineyard one row would ripen and the other would still be green.
• 29:14
  Another one was like 2: So what was decided to to mitigate that was, well, we would pick the riper side and then two weeks later pick the other side.
• 29:21
  Another one was like 2: And that seemed to be helpful.
• 29:23
  Another one was like 2: As it turned out, it was better to let the one side get overripe and let the other side almost get ripe and pick it all together, and it had a better balance.
• 29:33
  Another one was like 2: So that was was one, but two.
• 29:37
  Another one was like 2: Here's where the yeast comes in.
• 29:38
  Another one was like 2: We were trialing yeast and I had discovered this one yeast.
• 29:42
  Another one was like 2: That was fantastic.
• 29:43
  Another one was like 2: It really elevated the fruit and brought out the characters that we wanted.
• 29:47
  Another one was like 2: Well, two years later, we bulldozed out that solving a blank because of phylloxera and replanted it.
• 29:53
  Another one was like 2: So it takes four years from the time he plant a grapevine till you get your first crop.
• 29:57
  Another one was like 2: So we were out of solving on Blanc for four years, but I had remembered that yeast.
• 30:02
  Another one was like 2: So when it was time to ferment the new grape juice from Starvation Blanc, I brought that yeast back.
• 30:08
  Another one was like 2: And it was even better because we had a better clone on rootstock with this yeast.
• 30:13
  Another one was like 2: So if I hadn't trialed yeast trying to find the right one to fix a problem in the vineyard, I might not have ever discovered that yeast and had such a wonderful thing.
• 30:25
  Another one was like 2: So solving a block is one of our better wines.
• 30:28
  Another one was like 2: In two, two years, three years in a row, it's gotten, you know, 90 or better and oh, wow, you know, trade magazine.
• 30:34
  Another one was like 2: So somebody else likes it too. Yeah.
• 30:36
  Another one was like 2: So many other than.
• 30:37
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, I love that you guys are getting ready to celebrate 40 years in business.
• 30:43
  Another one was like 2: What is some of the biggest changes that you've seen or growing pains.
• 30:46
  Another one was like 2: So obviously you've scaled over the years.
• 30:49
  Another one was like 2: You didn't always start at the size that you are right now. How what are some growing pains that you've learned from as you guys have scaled?
• 30:59
  Another one was like 2: Fabulous question.
• 31:00
  Another one was like 2: My mind is racing because it's an easy, simple question with a complex answer.
• 31:05
  Another one was like 2: So yes, when I started here in 93 where we're sitting, this was the winery, I mean, the tanks.
• 31:12
  Another one was like 2: And we had 40 barrels in here.
• 31:14
  Another one was like 2: The bottling line was in here.
• 31:16
  Another one was like 2: Behind the wall here was an awning where we kept our crush equipment and a couple of other tanks.
• 31:22
  Another one was like 2: So we were less than 20,000 cases.
• 31:25
  Another one was like 2: Production.
• 31:26
  Another one was like 2: Well, I don't even remember exactly how many, but at our peak, I think it was 2015, 2017.
• 31:36
  Another one was like 2: We had a bumper crop, we harvested all the fruit, and we eventually bottled 80,000 cases of wine from that vintage.
• 31:43
  Another one was like 2: So I like to say typically we're a 50,000 case production winery, most of it for FOB through distribution for retail. But it's not Covid, but it's just leading up to and through Covid and the changing shift in generation and buying habits.
• 32:02
  Another one was like 2: You know, we've scaled down not because of anything we wanted to do, just because of the demand of the demand and the economy and all that changes.
• 32:10
  Another one was like 2: We're back to a 20,000 case winery, but we have enough acres of vines to produce 45,000 cases of wine.
• 32:18
  Another one was like 2: So I don't know if this is the direction you attended the question to go.
• 32:22
  Another one was like 2: Yeah. So we're struggling.
• 32:24
  Another one was like 2: We're I'm advocating to our board of directors that I think we need to remove about 100 acres of vines to come back into correction, because, you know, even if we had a 30% growth and sustained it for four years, we would come back to where we once were.
• 32:42
  Another one was like 2: So I think we need to make a change and maybe not produce so much for distribution.
• 32:47
  Another one was like 2: Figure out how to get more direct to consumer.
• 32:49
  Another one was like 2: You know, how do we grow our wine clip?
• 32:51
  Another one was like 2: I mean, these are questions we've been asking ourselves for a decade, two decades. Totally.
• 32:54
  Another one was like 2: But we need to figure it out.
• 32:56
  Another one was like 2: Well, and you're not alone in that.
• 32:58
  Another one was like 2: That's been a common theme, especially in the last few years, that the younger generation just isn't consuming as much.
• 33:05
  Another one was like 2: Or when they do, it's just like a glass at a time, or maybe a bottle versus I'm an elderly millennial, so my generation was like, we'll take the case. Like, why wouldn't we buy the whole case?
• 33:15
  Another one was like 2: That makes sense.
• 33:16
  Another one was like 2: And so I can only imagine that that's a pain point.
• 33:20
  Another one was like 2: And just trying to figure out how to rise to that pain and like, overcome it.
• 33:26
  Another one was like 2: Some wineries, I've noticed, are starting to nonalcoholic wine.
• 33:30
  Another one was like 2: Is that anything that you guys have considered?
• 33:34
  Another one was like 2: We've thought about it.
• 33:35
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, yeah.
• 33:36
  Another one was like 2: It's just another like option to add.
• 33:39
  Another one was like 2: But yeah, it's just one of those things that as the market changes and as consumerism changes, it's like, well, what do we do?
• 33:45
  Another one was like 2: I also wanted to I love wine, obviously, I'm a huge ambassador of it, but so I part of the reason I wanted to start the podcast was to add more story behind it and get people more interested in it, and just like learning about it and maybe going out and coming to Yola Hills after watching this episode or hearing it and wanting to try it out for themselves.
• 34:06
  Another one was like 2: So that's why I wanted to share everybody's stories, because I don't want to see the wine industry start to get smaller and smaller.
• 34:13
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, there's currently a lot of consolidation and removal mines and wineries.
• 34:21
  Another one was like 2: So prior to our recording, you know, I mentioned, so yes, we are celebrating 40 years of business as a winery.
• 34:28
  Another one was like 2: And then there's four years prior to that from the vineyard.
• 34:31
  Another one was like 2: So the vineyard was planted originally.
• 34:33
  Another one was like 2: And then because of a lack of wineries to absorb that fruit, Tom started Isla Hills Wine Cellars.
• 34:39
  Another one was like 2: Yeah. To to make wine from that fruit.
• 34:42
  Another one was like 2: But yeah, the drinking age generation today the newcomers there's I like to say, you know, they're not drinking wine like Mom and dad or grandma and grandpa used to.
• 34:53
  Another one was like 2: Yeah for sure.
• 34:53
  Another one was like 2: So many more choices.
• 34:54
  Another one was like 2: Ready to drink cocktails, cocktails, spirits.
• 35:00
  Another one was like 2: Covid really helped advance that shift because now you can order things online.
• 35:05
  Another one was like 2: I know not so much spirit, not least not in Oregon.
• 35:08
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, but nationwide, you know, just it's like, wow, you know, I used to buy brand X and now that online presence is really showing that there's hundreds of choices.
• 35:20
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, absolutely.
• 35:22
  Another one was like 2: And it's not just wine and it's not just beer and cider.
• 35:25
  Another one was like 2: It's so yeah, it's everything.
• 35:27
  Another one was like 2: It's everything.
• 35:27
  Another one was like 2: Speaking of which, not all of our listeners are in Oregon.
• 35:31
  Another one was like 2: We have people that listen from all over.
• 35:33
  Another one was like 2: How would somebody, if they don't live in Oregon, get Ahold of a bottle of Yola Hills?
• 35:38
  Another one was like 2: Can they order online?
• 35:39
  Another one was like 2: You can order online.
• 35:40
  Another one was like 2: Due to shipping rules and regulations, some states we can ship to.
• 35:45
  Another one was like 2: In some states we can't.
• 35:47
  Another one was like 2: And so that's online.
• 35:48
  Another one was like 2: If you were to go to the Hills Winery.
• 35:50
  Another one was like 2: Com and look it up and click on the Buy Now button, you know it would ask, you know, what state are you in.
• 35:56
  Another one was like 2: And you're in the state that doesn't allow shipping.
• 35:59
  Another one was like 2: Then we can't then plan a trip.
• 36:01
  Another one was like 2: We would love to showcase you and host you fly Alaska Airlines. Yes.
• 36:07
  Another one was like 2: Lies free.
• 36:08
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, absolutely.
• 36:09
  Another one was like 2: Or Oregon Wine Advisory Board has worked with them and yeah.
• 36:14
  Another one was like 2: So yeah, you can check on a case of wine and not have to pay extra for it.
• 36:18
  Another one was like 2: Yeah.
• 36:18
  Another one was like 2: And they'll take good care of it and make sure it arrives.
• 36:22
  Another one was like 2: And then if you do live local, but you're not here in the Valley, can people buy wine at the grocery store?
• 36:28
  Another one was like 2: Any kind of liquor stores?
• 36:30
  Another one was like 2: Having been around for 40 years, being one of the larger wineries in Oregon, we're just about every retail location.
• 36:37
  Another one was like 2: Maybe not every single skew of our wine.
• 36:40
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, but Pinot noir, Pinot gris, Chardonnay.
• 36:42
  Another one was like 2: We're in Albertsons, Fred Meyer, Safeway, even Plaid Pantry, right?
• 36:47
  Another one was like 2: Yeah. We're everywhere.
• 36:47
  Another one was like 2: So there's no reason.
• 36:50
  Another one was like 2: There's no reason not to be able to to have our wine.
• 36:52
  Another one was like 2: And a lot of restaurants have our higher end wines, you know, by the bottle, by the glass as well. Yeah.
• 36:58
  Another one was like 2: And just to give frame of reference for anyone that doesn't know, we are just outside of Salem, not too far, about 20 minutes west of Salem, would you say?
• 37:07
  Another one was like 2: Not even that.
• 37:07
  Another one was like 2: We're ten miles west of Salem.
• 37:09
  Another one was like 2: Okay, there you go. On the corner of highway 99.
• 37:12
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, highway 22.
• 37:13
  Another one was like 2: I definitely recommend coming out to the tasting room.
• 37:15
  Another one was like 2: It's beautiful.
• 37:15
  Another one was like 2: They also host events out here.
• 37:18
  Another one was like 2: Very large space.
• 37:19
  Another one was like 2: So and we also have our vineyard venue, our legacy vineyard.
• 37:22
  Another one was like 2: We do summer concerts on the lawn out there all summer long.
• 37:26
  Another one was like 2: Great place if you're having a wedding or reception.
• 37:30
  Another one was like 2: And where is that one union.
• 37:32
  Another one was like 2: Yeah. Where's that logo.
• 37:33
  Another one was like 2: So that is in the Eola Amity Hills.
• 37:35
  Another one was like 2: So that's between Salem and Rick Real.
• 37:38
  Another one was like 2: Our vines are all in the hills.
• 37:42
  Another one was like 2: Amity Hills. Ava.
• 37:43
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, I would love to transition and talk about the different Pinos that we have today. So.
• 37:49
  Another one was like 2: Well first we started with the bubbles.
• 37:51
  Another one was like 2: Is there anything you want to say about the bubbles or share about the bubbles?
• 37:55
  Another one was like 2: So leading up to this, you were asking, you know, what kind of wines would you like.
• 38:00
  Another one was like 2: So it kind of did the the sparkling.
• 38:02
  Another one was like 2: It's always a good entry. Wine.
• 38:04
  Another one was like 2: You know reception both for us.
• 38:05
  Another one was like 2: I love bubbles, your parties are celebrating.
• 38:08
  Another one was like 2: So the one that I poured for you today, I call it blank Day blanks.
• 38:13
  Another one was like 2: My marketing team doesn't like that because they blocked a blank out of France is usually Chardonnay.
• 38:19
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, and so I call it blank to blanks because this is actually a 7525 Pinot Gris Sauvignon blanc.
• 38:26
  Another one was like 2: So we grow a lot of Pinot gris.
• 38:28
  Another one was like 2: And I mentioned earlier we don't have a reserve of it.
• 38:31
  Another one was like 2: I guess this would be my reserve.
• 38:33
  Another one was like 2: I sparkle it, it is a method traditional.
• 38:36
  Another one was like 2: It's sparkled in the bottle.
• 38:38
  Another one was like 2: It's champagne, just not made in the champagne region of France.
• 38:42
  Another one was like 2: So we pick it fermented dry, add some sugar, some yeast.
• 38:49
  Another one was like 2: I'm targeting about five atmospheres of pressure.
• 38:51
  Another one was like 2: That's 75 psi, and it's 6 to 8 months.
• 38:56
  Another one was like 2: And that's where we're letting the yeast eat that extra sugar and turn it into CO2.
• 39:03
  Another one was like 2: Then we riddle it to get the yeast on point and we discuss it, give it a little bit of a little bit of sugar, a little bit of acid to balance it out and put a champagne cork and a wire hood and, and a label and it's ready to go.
• 39:17
  Another one was like 2: So we do completely in-house.
• 39:20
  Another one was like 2: I mean, we grow the grapes, we ferment the wine, we cork and cage it.
• 39:25
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, 100% in-house.
• 39:27
  Another one was like 2: And this is one of our most popular varieties.
• 39:30
  Another one was like 2: But I do a Pinot noir rosé, the Chardonnay varietal sparkling, and we do the Splunk de Blancs.
• 39:36
  Another one was like 2: I do a chair go as a sparkling in a demi.
• 39:40
  Another one was like 2: So if you want some sweet sparkling wine, Muller chair, go.
• 39:43
  Another one was like 2: And then I do a novelty one where we take Marshall Faulk, which is one of just a handful of grapes where the flesh is actually colored.
• 39:53
  Another one was like 2: So even if you try to treat it gently, the juice comes out dark.
• 39:56
  Another one was like 2: Right?
• 39:56
  Another one was like 2: And so we call it black bubbles, or I call it black bubbles because it's a really dark black wine that is sparkling.
• 40:03
  Another one was like 2: I've noticed that there has been more Marshall folk throughout the valley in probably the last ten years.
• 40:10
  Another one was like 2: Not like everybody grows up, but it's becoming more and more.
• 40:14
  Another one was like 2: It's popping up more.
• 40:14
  Another one was like 2: You'll find the the wineries that have been around for a while have folks in their vineyards.
• 40:19
  Another one was like 2: So back in the 90s, when the rains used to start late September and October, and as a winemaker and a vineyard manager, we had to worry about picking between rainstorms and isn't going to rod, is it going to get right?
• 40:32
  Another one was like 2: And so the growers and the wineries planted a few rows or acres of folk as something that we could blend into Pinot noir to help us enhance the color.
• 40:42
  Another one was like 2: In a year where it may be week.
• 40:44
  Another one was like 2: I haven't put into Pinot Noir for over a decade.
• 40:48
  Another one was like 2: So now what do I do?
• 40:49
  Another one was like 2: I've got I've got three acres of Marshall folk and it's like streamliner for me.
• 40:56
  Another one was like 2: I find it hard to sell.
• 40:57
  Another one was like 2: People can't pronounce it so they don't know what it is and they're not willing to to buy it.
• 41:04
  Another one was like 2: So I said, well, why don't we just make it into sparkling wine?
• 41:07
  Another one was like 2: So it becomes a novelty and you just sell it as a sparkling red wine?
• 41:11
  Another one was like 2: Yeah.
• 41:12
  Another one was like 2: And so, even non wine drinkers, I'll be like, I'll take some bubbles.
• 41:16
  Another one was like 2: You're like, okay, fine.
• 41:17
  Another one was like 2: There you go.
• 41:18
  Another one was like 2: And then so now we're going to transition to the Pinot Noir.
• 41:22
  Another one was like 2: Do you want to talk about. Sure.
• 41:25
  Another one was like 2: Know someone moving to Oregon?
• 41:27
  Another one was like 2: Send them my way.
• 41:28
  Another one was like 2: I specialize in relocation, and I'll treat them like family.
• 41:31
  Another one was like 2: Plus, you know, there's a glass of wine in it for him.
• 41:34
  Another one was like 2: Cheers.
• 41:36
  Another one was like 2: Which one did we pour first.
• 41:37
  Another one was like 2: This was this one.
• 41:39
  Another one was like 2: Oh, okay. So, Sorry.
• 41:45
  Another one was like 2: Don't forget the ears.
• 41:48
  Another one was like 2: Cheers.
• 41:54
  Another one was like 2: So we're trying this in the the Riedel, Oregon Pinot noir glass.
• 42:00
  Another one was like 2: Yes. Well, you.
• 42:01
  Another one was like 2: While this looks like you know any shape or Riedel spent time and money and effort to specifically design an Oregon Pinot noir glass. Yes.
• 42:09
  Another one was like 2: And some people ask me, does the glass matter?
• 42:12
  Another one was like 2: What's your take on it?
• 42:14
  Another one was like 2: I can't roll my eyes and exasperate enough to go.
• 42:17
  Another one was like 2: Yes, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.
• 42:20
  Another one was like 2: When I we're going to digress here a little bit.
• 42:25
  Another one was like 2: Shape of the glass.
• 42:26
  Another one was like 2: So like the yeast choices like the fermentation the whole berry whole cluster crushed open top tank, closed tank, all those decisions.
• 42:34
  Another one was like 2: So the shape of the glass.
• 42:35
  Another one was like 2: So you'll notice how there's very little wine in here relative to the size.
• 42:39
  Another one was like 2: I mean this is a more than an ounce pour.
• 42:45
  Another one was like 2: But this large bowl allows for a large surface area of the wine to evaporate, allowing it to aromatase, obviously.
• 42:55
  Another one was like 2: And then it's got this little tulip lip so it doesn't all escape.
• 42:58
  Another one was like 2: So when you put your nose in it, it concentrates it towards your nose so that you can smell it, something a lot of people forget.
• 43:05
  Another one was like 2: You notice I'm feeling the lip here.
• 43:07
  Another one was like 2: If you feel this Riedel glass, it's smooth all the way up.
• 43:12
  Another one was like 2: There's not a little bump of a lip from a molded glass like a restaurant, sometimes glass or sturdier.
• 43:18
  Another one was like 2: And you notice it's got a little bead on the inside.
• 43:21
  Another one was like 2: So why? That's important.
• 43:22
  Another one was like 2: When I tilt this up and I let the wine pour onto my tongue, it's not going to lift the wine up and skip the tip of my tongue, driving the wine towards the back of the tongue first and then allowing it to come forward.
• 43:33
  Another one was like 2: Because how our tongue tastes sweet sour salt and bitter bitters in the back.
• 43:37
  Another one was like 2: So if you drive the wine to the back, your first hit is just going to be bitter.
• 43:41
  Another one was like 2: But most people you put food in your mouth and it goes from the front of the tongue to the back.
• 43:45
  Another one was like 2: So just that little lip on the edge of the glass changes.
• 43:49
  Another one was like 2: Super key to the presentation of the wine. Oh, that's when you tilt it up to taste it.
• 43:54
  Another one was like 2: But the aroma, the shape of the glass.
• 43:56
  Another one was like 2: So you'll see sparkling wine, you know, has the tall skinny glass in there.
• 44:01
  Another one was like 2: So that really wanted it helps.
• 44:03
  Another one was like 2: So you have less surface area on the bottom.
• 44:05
  Another one was like 2: So you're not going to degas the wine quicker if you put it into a big bowl.
• 44:09
  Another one was like 2: But it also really concentrates the aroma.
• 44:12
  Another one was like 2: Yeah.
• 44:13
  Another one was like 2: And then for novice wine drinkers, some people think you swirl all wines.
• 44:20
  Another one was like 2: Yeah.
• 44:21
  Another one was like 2: Do you want to thank you give direction on where I was going to say.
• 44:24
  Another one was like 2: Yeah.
• 44:25
  Another one was like 2: So yeah I mean it's a you swirl your wine, why do you swirl your wine and and does it matter if you go counter clockwise or clockwise.
• 44:34
  Another one was like 2: Looking at legs is very old school old world back.
• 44:40
  Another one was like 2: You know, before you had stainless steel refrigerated tanks and modern filtration techniques and etc..
• 44:46
  Another one was like 2: So why would you look at the legs?
• 44:48
  Another one was like 2: So the legs are when the wine evaporates and it forms the string.
• 44:51
  Another one was like 2: So you're looking at viscosity.
• 44:53
  Another one was like 2: Well what can affect viscosity sugar content.
• 44:56
  Another one was like 2: So and or alcohol content.
• 45:00
  Another one was like 2: So you'd look at the legs.
• 45:02
  Another one was like 2: How fast do they form.
• 45:03
  Another one was like 2: How fast do they disappear.
• 45:05
  Another one was like 2: How fast do they run.
• 45:06
  Another one was like 2: So a sweet wine is going to have thick legs that last quite persistent.
• 45:11
  Another one was like 2: So you could maybe tell how sweet wine is by how long the legs last, or how alcoholic the wine is about how fast the legs form and then disappear.
• 45:19
  Another one was like 2: But I don't this nothing scientific because I could have a high alcohol wine, put a little bit of sugar in it and it totally messes up that whole discussion.
• 45:30
  Another one was like 2: So it's for me, and I know I might get some flack for this.
• 45:33
  Another one was like 2: It's really a non thing.
• 45:35
  Another one was like 2: It's just enjoying the appreciating the wine, looking at the legs.
• 45:38
  Another one was like 2: So we swirl it to put a thin film on the glass so it can evaporate quicker so we can smell it.
• 45:46
  Another one was like 2: So the size of the glass is going to have an effect on how much aroma you have.
• 45:51
  Another one was like 2: Does it matter if you go clockwise or counterclockwise?
• 45:53
  Another one was like 2: Well are you above the equator or below the equator?
• 45:57
  Another one was like 2: Yeah okay. That's why I'm just asking.
• 45:59
  Another one was like 2: These are all questions people have asked me before because I know I like wine.
• 46:02
  Another one was like 2: And I was like, oh, I'm not like.
• 46:04
  Another one was like 2: So the faux pas is swirling, sparkling wines.
• 46:08
  Another one was like 2: If you swirl it, you're gonna, you know, it's like taking your soda and shaking it and shaking the can, and the gas comes out and then you're then your soda pop is flat, right?
• 46:18
  Another one was like 2: So the faux pas don't don't swirl your sparkling wines.
• 46:22
  Another one was like 2: Just look at it and enjoy it and enjoy it.
• 46:25
  Another one was like 2: Yeah.
• 46:25
  Another one was like 2: So what we have here is a our Wolf Hill vineyard.
• 46:31
  Another one was like 2: So the very first vineyard plant in 82 was our Oak Grove.
• 46:36
  Another one was like 2: So the companion vineyard to that, if you walk out there and you didn't know the dirt path between the vineyard, so one is low and flat and the other one goes up a hill, Wolf Hill, two different soil types completely.
• 46:49
  Another one was like 2: I mean, you can in the summertime you could see the dark brown, light brown sandy as it moves up and it turns red and you know, more clay as the Wolf Hill.
• 47:01
  Another one was like 2: So this is Wolf Hill and it's a single clone.
• 47:04
  Another one was like 2: Six, six, seven.
• 47:06
  Another one was like 2: I'll talk about that in a minute.
• 47:09
  Another one was like 2: And it's also a single rootstock RG the initials for riparia Gloire.
• 47:14
  Another one was like 2: So when you hear riparia think riparian or creekside or wet wet zone.
• 47:20
  Another one was like 2: So well Hill 667 on RG, I have six, six, seven on three different rootstocks at Wolfe Hill, but I only have enough of this fruit to make six barrels of wine.
• 47:33
  Another one was like 2: So that's less than 150 cases.
• 47:35
  Another one was like 2: And remember we make 50,000 cases of wine.
• 47:39
  Another one was like 2: So this is super select.
• 47:42
  Another one was like 2: And I only use American oak barrels.
• 47:44
  Another one was like 2: And I specifically get them from Demos Cooperage American Oak from demos Group Ridge.
• 47:51
  Another one was like 2: And I specify the forest I want it from Missouri and they're all heavy toast toasted head barrels.
• 47:58
  Another one was like 2: So when I say heavy toast, everyone has a toaster at home and you've got your selector knob and you've got white and crunchy to black and smoking.
• 48:05
  Another one was like 2: So this is, you know, black and small smoking.
• 48:09
  Another one was like 2: It's not charred, but it's black inside.
• 48:12
  Another one was like 2: So this is what I describe as the most hedonistic wine I make is from one vineyard, one clone on one rootstock.
• 48:19
  Another one was like 2: And I only use this particular barrel from a specific forest, from a specific cooperage.
• 48:25
  Another one was like 2: And we only make 150 50,000 cases of this.
• 48:29
  Another one was like 2: You were the first winemaker that I've talked to that has said that about barrels like specifically like even getting to choose from a forest.
• 48:37
  Another one was like 2: I didn't even realize that was an option.
• 48:40
  Another one was like 2: Oh, it has been a huge thing from France for years, for decades.
• 48:45
  Another one was like 2: I don't know, more than decades preexisting me. But there's several Maine forests in France, so there's a trend, says Yuki.
• 48:58
  Another one was like 2: I always nevers Navarre and the center of France.
• 49:05
  Another one was like 2: So, like growing grapes.
• 49:08
  Another one was like 2: So say you have a mother vine of Pinot noir, and I take three cuttings and I root them, and I plant one in France, and I plant one in Oregon, and I plant one in Otago, New Zealand.
• 49:17
  Another one was like 2: It was the same mother vine not on rootstock.
• 49:20
  Another one was like 2: So but it's trellis the same.
• 49:23
  Another one was like 2: It's sprayed the same as, same as you could possibly have it.
• 49:27
  Another one was like 2: And then you pick that fruit and you make it in a, in a, in a clinical university setting where everything is controlled and the wines are going to be different because of what was the soil type.
• 49:38
  Another one was like 2: Right.
• 49:39
  Another one was like 2: And when did the rain happen?
• 49:40
  Another one was like 2: How much rain? It did happen.
• 49:42
  Another one was like 2: It said so.
• 49:43
  Another one was like 2: Yeah. Same is true of that oak tree.
• 49:47
  Another one was like 2: So because is it in the north of France, the center of France, the south east west, what's the soil type.
• 49:53
  Another one was like 2: And those are more clay, more sand, more morel, more limestone is those minerals are really going to affect it.
• 50:00
  Another one was like 2: And then the amount of rain and wind, winter comes or goes away affects the grain width of of it, you know, the density of that oak.
• 50:09
  Another one was like 2: And then how did you toast it?
• 50:12
  Another one was like 2: Did you air dry?
• 50:13
  Another one was like 2: That would for two years or three years or more before you construct it into a barrel.
• 50:19
  Another one was like 2: So I mentioned alley, and trance alley is a region where the forest is.
• 50:23
  Another one was like 2: But within that allergy region there's a 300 year crop circle.
• 50:27
  Another one was like 2: Oh my gosh.
• 50:28
  Another one was like 2: So they will plant tens of thousands of trees per hectare actually physically plant these seedlings.
• 50:35
  Another one was like 2: And then in 3 or 4 years as they get to about knee high, anything that's bent, twisted, cracked, damaged, they'll just pull them out.
• 50:43
  Another one was like 2: And then they go back in another eight years and send their overhead height again.
• 50:48
  Another one was like 2: Anything that's got branches too low or bent, twisted crack disease damage, they'll remove interest.
• 50:53
  Another one was like 2: What they're doing is they densely pack this wedge of this crop circle, forcing the trees to grow tall and straight.
• 51:00
  Another one was like 2: So after 300 years, you get to the oldest section of the the wedge, the pie of the crop circle.
• 51:06
  Another one was like 2: These trees are massively tall, with no branches for meters going up.
• 51:12
  Another one was like 2: So it has this long, tall, straight grain with no knots.
• 51:16
  Another one was like 2: So that is the most premium would you could get.
• 51:20
  Another one was like 2: Because if you have a knot and you have a branch or you have a crack or disease in it, you know it's not going to make a liquid tight barrel.
• 51:27
  Another one was like 2: So you make it into furniture or flooring or something other.
• 51:30
  Another one was like 2: So the highest use purpose is for making wine barrels.
• 51:34
  Another one was like 2: That's crazy.
• 51:35
  Another one was like 2: This forest was planted by one of the the, you know, first, not first old French kings.
• 51:40
  Another one was like 2: That was when ships were made out of oak.
• 51:42
  Another one was like 2: And they needed strong wood to build warships.
• 51:45
  Another one was like 2: Sure.
• 51:45
  Another one was like 2: Hey, you know, his minister said, let's plant a forest and manage it so we can do ships well.
• 51:51
  Another one was like 2: By the time 300 years came around, we're making ships out of steel, so.
• 51:54
  Another one was like 2: Right. Yeah.
• 51:56
  Another one was like 2: That's so interesting.
• 51:57
  Another one was like 2: Yeah. Thank you for sharing that.
• 51:58
  Another one was like 2: No one has ever gone into detail about that with me before. So.
• 52:01
  Another one was like 2: So now I can buy oak from Pennsylvania or Missouri or even Oregon.
• 52:05
  Another one was like 2: Okay. Right.
• 52:06
  Another one was like 2: And they they have different flavors. Yeah.
• 52:09
  Another one was like 2: They host the same species of oak. Right.
• 52:12
  Another one was like 2: That's interesting.
• 52:13
  Another one was like 2: Sorry to derail us onto oak, but I was like, you were the first one to ever mention that.
• 52:18
  Another one was like 2: And I was like, what?
• 52:19
  Another one was like 2: So part of it never ending science experiments.
• 52:21
  Another one was like 2: Yes, I see, same with the yeast.
• 52:23
  Another one was like 2: I have barrel salesmen come in every year, you know.
• 52:26
  Another one was like 2: Hey, our barrels are the best.
• 52:29
  Another one was like 2: They I.
• 52:32
  Another one was like 2: So when I'm feeling generous, I will order for barrels.
• 52:36
  Another one was like 2: I'll put two in red, two and white.
• 52:39
  Another one was like 2: I will taste them, trial them.
• 52:41
  Another one was like 2: And if I like it, then say, maybe I didn't like it in Chardonnay, but I liked it for Pinot Noir.
• 52:46
  Another one was like 2: So I'll buy four barrels again.
• 52:48
  Another one was like 2: But this time, like the yeast, I'll put it in the same vineyard lot and a different one to see if it translates.
• 52:55
  Another one was like 2: And if it's really outstanding, then maybe I'll buy 40 barrels.
• 52:59
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, and make it part of my permanent rotation.
• 53:02
  Another one was like 2: Right? Interesting.
• 53:04
  Another one was like 2: That's crazy.
• 53:05
  Another one was like 2: Thank you again for sharing that.
• 53:05
  Another one was like 2: That was so interesting.
• 53:07
  Another one was like 2: Anything else you want to say about this Pinot noir specifically?
• 53:13
  Another one was like 2: My wife calls this Pinot noir for cab drinkers, so that's funny.
• 53:19
  Another one was like 2: We'll get people into the tasting room.
• 53:21
  Another one was like 2: And, you know, some are new to wine drinking or limited in their their practice.
• 53:27
  Another one was like 2: Well, I only I only drink big dark, heavy reds.
• 53:30
  Another one was like 2: I don't like Pinot noir.
• 53:31
  Another one was like 2: It's too thin or it's too soft or whatever.
• 53:33
  Another one was like 2: And so you pour a glass behind the counter.
• 53:36
  Another one was like 2: Everything is here. Try this.
• 53:37
  Another one was like 2: Oh, what is it?
• 53:38
  Another one was like 2: Well, you tell me before I like.
• 53:41
  Another one was like 2: Oh, this is great. Is this cap?
• 53:43
  Another one was like 2: No, it's Pinot noir.
• 53:44
  Another one was like 2: And then you pull the bottle and they go. Are.
• 53:46
  Another one was like 2: You tricked me, jinx! Oh, me? A bottle of wine.
• 53:52
  Another one was like 2: So because it's 667.
• 53:55
  Another one was like 2: Yeah.
• 53:56
  Another one was like 2: So here's some some geekiness for me as the winemaker. So.
• 53:59
  Another one was like 2: And I told you, I like to speak in analogies.
• 54:02
  Another one was like 2: I give a lot of wine tours and we're talking clones.
• 54:05
  Another one was like 2: And inevitably and rightfully so. Somewhat.
• 54:08
  Another one was like 2: So what do you mean by clone?
• 54:11
  Another one was like 2: So I know everyone's been to the grocery store and everyone's been to the produce section, and there's a wall of apples.
• 54:17
  Another one was like 2: You've got green ones and red ones and yellow ones and green Fuji pink stripes.
• 54:21
  Another one was like 2: All the things, red ones with yellow dots and. Yeah.
• 54:23
  Another one was like 2: Some are crisp, some are soft summer sour, some are sweet, some are dry and pithy.
• 54:28
  Another one was like 2: Why would you want to eat that? Right?
• 54:29
  Another one was like 2: But they're all apples, right?
• 54:31
  Another one was like 2: So translate that to Pinot noir.
• 54:33
  Another one was like 2: You've got clones which typically are numbered.
• 54:37
  Another one was like 2: In Oregon we have 1131141155 28 828 0502.
• 54:45
  Another one was like 2: You've got selections which tend to have names like the Village in France, Bonneville, Mariah Feld went clone, Curry clone.
• 54:56
  Another one was like 2: Yeah.
• 54:57
  Another one was like 2: So for me, what's more important than the number?
• 55:00
  Another one was like 2: The name is Berry size.
• 55:03
  Another one was like 2: So for me it's about and I'm doing hand signals here skin to juice ratio.
• 55:09
  Another one was like 2: So another analogy and this is totally for analogy.
• 55:14
  Another one was like 2: So think of balls for sports.
• 55:18
  Another one was like 2: You've got marbles really small right.
• 55:20
  Another one was like 2: You've got ping pong balls.
• 55:21
  Another one was like 2: You've got a baseball.
• 55:21
  Another one was like 2: You've got a softball.
• 55:23
  Another one was like 2: You got a basketball.
• 55:24
  Another one was like 2: So imagine all of those balls.
• 55:27
  Another one was like 2: The skin on it is the same thickness, whether it's a marble or it's a basketball.
• 55:32
  Another one was like 2: So if you've got a basketball, that's all you got a thin skin.
• 55:34
  Another one was like 2: That's a lot of juice for a very little skin versus a marble.
• 55:39
  Another one was like 2: Right.
• 55:39
  Another one was like 2: So for me six, six, seven is the ping pong ball.
• 55:43
  Another one was like 2: Got it. Okay.
• 55:44
  Another one was like 2: Or 777 is a marble.
• 55:46
  Another one was like 2: So for me 777 is not my favorite clone.
• 55:49
  Another one was like 2: I know a lot of wineries love it.
• 55:51
  Another one was like 2: Love of winemakers love it.
• 55:52
  Another one was like 2: It makes it deep, dark, heavy, brooding wine.
• 55:54
  Another one was like 2: But that's not what I want to make sure.
• 55:56
  Another one was like 2: So six, six, seven is has to me the perfect skin to juice ratio so I can make it dark if I want, and I can do different things with it and steer it in different directions more easily than I can of. Or which at the time, in the 70s, when things were being planted, that was what was available.
• 56:18
  Another one was like 2: Yeah.
• 56:18
  Another one was like 2: And a lot of it was self rooted and has since been removed due to floxia, but maybe replanted on rootstock, which has helped us to beat the rains.
• 56:27
  Another one was like 2: And now we need to think of consider of rootstocks to help us beat the heat and the drought.
• 56:33
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, kind of a thing.
• 56:34
  Another one was like 2: So you know, those those varieties are gonna are clones and selections are going to change here in the next ten years as vines are being removed and perhaps replanted with the, the changing of the guard.
• 56:48
  Another one was like 2: Yeah. Interesting.
• 56:50
  Another one was like 2: So this is Peter Dwyer from Wolfville Vineyard, six, six, seven.
• 56:53
  Another one was like 2: And I mentioned RG is riparia Galois.
• 56:55
  Another one was like 2: So this is a root stock that typically would be used to plant in a deep wet soils to resist the uptake of water.
• 57:03
  Another one was like 2: But we planted in absolutely the wrong spot.
• 57:06
  Another one was like 2: It's at the top of the hill in volcanic rocky soil which is dry.
• 57:11
  Another one was like 2: So it forces this fruit to mature, ripen quickly before it goes dormant when it runs out of water.
• 57:18
  Another one was like 2: And since it ripens so quickly, it doesn't have time to lose a bunch of acidity, which helps balance the high sugar.
• 57:25
  Another one was like 2: And because there's a high skin to juice ratio, it's very deep and brooding, which is kind of over the top, which then matches it well with a high intensity oak barrel.
• 57:36
  Another one was like 2: And I mentioned the American oak demos.
• 57:39
  Another one was like 2: Heavy toast. Toast.
• 57:40
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, yeah.
• 57:41
  Another one was like 2: So there's only six barrels of this.
• 57:42
  Another one was like 2: Four of them are brand new, never been used before.
• 57:45
  Another one was like 2: So they get the full impact.
• 57:46
  Another one was like 2: And the other two of the six or previously used once.
• 57:50
  Another one was like 2: So it works out to be 66.66666 or 66.7% new oak, which wasn't intentional, it was just someone asked me, so how much new oak is in this?
• 57:58
  Another one was like 2: And I did the math.
• 58:00
  Another one was like 2: Oh 66.7 and it's 667 Clone Pinot noir.
• 58:04
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, so that was not intentional.
• 58:07
  Another one was like 2: It was the yeah. Serendipitous.
• 58:08
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, I love that.
• 58:10
  Another one was like 2: And then what are we wrapping up with today.
• 58:12
  Another one was like 2: And again another glass.
• 58:17
  Another one was like 2: No we're going to do another.
• 58:18
  Another one was like 2: Oh dude this one. Yep.
• 58:27
  Another one was like 2: And which Pino is this one.
• 58:31
  Another one was like 2: Here.
• 58:32
  Another one was like 2: So this is also a Wolf Hill Vineyard Pinot noir.
• 58:37
  Another one was like 2: But it's not a single clone.
• 58:38
  Another one was like 2: It's a field blend.
• 58:39
  Another one was like 2: So as we plant and replant vineyards, we're always left with a few extra vines.
• 58:45
  Another one was like 2: And so for almost two years we had a little bit of 114 and 115 and different rootstocks, some six, six, seven and some hammered, and we were having to prune it and keep watering it, and they were getting root bound.
• 59:00
  Another one was like 2: And there was just, you know, what are we going to do with these vines?
• 59:02
  Another one was like 2: We paid good money for them.
• 59:03
  Another one was like 2: We don't want to throw them away.
• 59:06
  Another one was like 2: In 2005, on the top of our Wolf Hill vineyard was what I called a grassy knoll.
• 59:11
  Another one was like 2: My wife goes grassy knoll. My beep and I qualify that because that's where I got married.
• 59:19
  Another one was like 2: At the top of will fill a beautiful view of the valley.
• 59:22
  Another one was like 2: Yeah.
• 59:22
  Another one was like 2: So, you know, I'm in my nice new suit and nice leather shoes with flat, wide souls.
• 59:27
  Another one was like 2: And she was trying to come up through the vineyard, and I shouldn't say trying.
• 59:30
  Another one was like 2: She did.
• 59:30
  Another one was like 2: She walked up through the vines and then emerged from the vines onto the grassy knoll in high heels and the dress.
• 59:36
  Another one was like 2: And she goes, it was, you know, dirt, clouds and gopher holes, right?
• 59:40
  Another one was like 2: Yeah. Not so easy.
• 59:41
  Another one was like 2: I look at it, you know, from a different perspective, the grassy knoll.
• 59:45
  Another one was like 2: So that was the summer of 2005.
• 59:48
  Another one was like 2: And leading up to that, our vendor manager Jim, prior to Antonio, you know, he he watered it for us and kept it mode and made it beautiful and everything and.
• 1:00:01
  Another one was like 2: Said, you know, we should plant the top of this hill.
• 1:00:03
  Another one was like 2: I mean, there's quite a couple of acres up here and we got all those fines in the greenhouse.
• 1:00:08
  Another one was like 2: So we just took all that mishmash of Pinot noir grape vines and planted the top of the Wolf Hill vineyard.
• 1:00:15
  Another one was like 2: So again, four years later.
• 1:00:15
  Another one was like 2: So this is 2009.
• 1:00:18
  Another one was like 2: We harvest the fruit.
• 1:00:19
  Another one was like 2: I picked it as a block because there wasn't a row of it was.
• 1:00:26
  Another one was like 2: Sensitive to that I use for Pinot Noir.
• 1:00:30
  Another one was like 2: And then it just happened to be not not by any specific forethought.
• 1:00:36
  Another one was like 2: Had some French oak and some American oak.
• 1:00:41
  Another one was like 2: I knew that the juice tasted good and the wine tasted good, so I just put it in some new barrels.
• 1:00:46
  Another one was like 2: Let's try some French.
• 1:00:47
  Another one was like 2: Try some America again.
• 1:00:49
  Another one was like 2: An experiment never ending. So after fermentation and everything is in the barrel and we're letting it finish through malolactic before I give it its first big dose of sulfur to help preserve the wine.
• 1:01:01
  Another one was like 2: I taste all the barrels.
• 1:01:02
  Another one was like 2: And as I'm tasting these barrels, I go, wow, this one's good.
• 1:01:05
  Another one was like 2: This one's good too. This this whole lot is good.
• 1:01:08
  Another one was like 2: It wasn't just the barrel.
• 1:01:08
  Another one was like 2: It was the lot. Right?
• 1:01:10
  Another one was like 2: So I took a and I realized, oh, that was from the field where I got married.
• 1:01:14
  Another one was like 2: So I took a sample and I took it home and let my wife tasted.
• 1:01:17
  Another one was like 2: And she goes, what is this?
• 1:01:18
  Another one was like 2: And I go, well, you taste it first. Yeah.
• 1:01:21
  Another one was like 2: Did you tell me this is really good?
• 1:01:22
  Another one was like 2: It's really fruity and I love the texture of this.
• 1:01:25
  Another one was like 2: I go, well, well, this is the fruit that we planted on the site where we got married.
• 1:01:28
  Another one was like 2: It will fill.
• 1:01:29
  Another one was like 2: And he goes, oh, you should call this wedding block.
• 1:01:31
  Another one was like 2: So I give my wife Nancy, credit for naming this one.
• 1:01:35
  Another one was like 2: So this is a field blend of various Pinot noir on various rootstocks planted on the top in the thin, rocky volcanic soils on top of our wool field vineyard.
• 1:01:46
  Another one was like 2: And it's, you know, about 25% new oak, half American toast and half French oak.
• 1:01:54
  Another one was like 2: So it's a marriage of clones and rootstocks and the marriage of French and American oak barrels.
• 1:02:00
  Another one was like 2: Yeah. That was planted on the hillside where I got married.
• 1:02:03
  Another one was like 2: I love it.
• 1:02:03
  Another one was like 2: So wedding block Pinot noir from.
• 1:02:05
  Another one was like 2: Well, cheers to you and cheers to Nancy.
• 1:02:13
  Another one was like 2: It's so good.
• 1:02:14
  Another one was like 2: So I'm hoping what you're noticing that this one is a lot more fruit forward.
• 1:02:18
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, I mean, it's not so barrel intensive.
• 1:02:20
  Another one was like 2: Not that that one was at all barrel.
• 1:02:22
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, but there was more tannin from that skin to juice ratio and then complementing it literally, you know, literally complementing by having a more intense oak, but then aging it for 18 to 20 months, where this one's only 12 months in oak, but there's some tight grain French oak that gives it some texture without having to add a lot of toast.
• 1:02:42
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, for sure.
• 1:02:44
  Another one was like 2: I do notice a difference between the two.
• 1:02:46
  Another one was like 2: I think they're both delicious.
• 1:02:47
  Another one was like 2: I like they mean these blocks are side by side, but because of the clone and the rootstock.
• 1:02:52
  Another one was like 2: And then this a blend of everything.
• 1:02:54
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:02:57
  Another one was like 2: I could just smell this one all day.
• 1:03:01
  Another one was like 2: And I should make a Pinot Cologne and smell good.
• 1:03:08
  Another one was like 2: Okay, we're wrapping up.
• 1:03:10
  Another one was like 2: What's this one?
• 1:03:11
  Another one was like 2: Okay, so.
• 1:03:13
  Another one was like 2: You were asking what wines that we we wanted to have to show here.
• 1:03:18
  Another one was like 2: And so I have, you know, some selections in view here.
• 1:03:22
  Another one was like 2: So my favorite wines, you know, what are my passions.
• 1:03:26
  Another one was like 2: So if you come to my house, I have a refrigerator in the garage, literally just for wine. Yeah.
• 1:03:31
  Another one was like 2: And I don't drink a lot of wine.
• 1:03:31
  Another one was like 2: People think you're a winemaker.
• 1:03:33
  Another one was like 2: You must drink a lot of wine.
• 1:03:34
  Another one was like 2: But if I'm drinking something, it's usually sparkling.
• 1:03:37
  Another one was like 2: Sure. Or it's port.
• 1:03:39
  Another one was like 2: Okay, so I don't have access to Portuguese varietals of grapes, but I have always had access to Cabernet Sauvignon, which has a thick skin.
• 1:03:50
  Another one was like 2: And that's why Cav tends to be, you know, darker and heavier in body and texture, because the berries are small and the skin is really thick relative to Pinot noir.
• 1:03:58
  Another one was like 2: Yeah.
• 1:03:59
  Another one was like 2: So in 1996, I'm the assistant winemaker.
• 1:04:03
  Another one was like 2: The Port Institute has this traveling road show.
• 1:04:06
  Another one was like 2: They travel the world. Well, they came to Portland.
• 1:04:08
  Another one was like 2: And so at the Portland Convention Center, they had set up in one of the rooms.
• 1:04:12
  Another one was like 2: And they had, I don't know how many port houses, you know, reading wines.
• 1:04:16
  Another one was like 2: And so the industry was invited.
• 1:04:18
  Another one was like 2: So I went to this, this Port Institute Roadshow and was tasting all these ports.
• 1:04:25
  Another one was like 2: And I had never really been exposed to port before.
• 1:04:28
  Another one was like 2: I was like, wow, this is so good.
• 1:04:28
  Another one was like 2: This is so good.
• 1:04:30
  Another one was like 2: And I just got really hammered tasting all these ports.
• 1:04:35
  Another one was like 2: So the next day I showed up at work, and I went to the winemaker at the time and mentioned, I have a new love.
• 1:04:42
  Another one was like 2: Can I call it, can I make some port?
• 1:04:44
  Another one was like 2: And he's like, didn't want to tell me no.
• 1:04:48
  Another one was like 2: He says, well, what would you make it from?
• 1:04:50
  Another one was like 2: And I go, well Cabernet probably because that's we get Cabernet from the Columbia Valley Oregon side and or the Applegate Valley.
• 1:04:58
  Another one was like 2: And it goes, okay. Yeah.
• 1:05:02
  Another one was like 2: Why not?
• 1:05:02
  Another one was like 2: Let's let's do that.
• 1:05:04
  Another one was like 2: So come harvest time, took one ton and crushed it, fermented it for a few days.
• 1:05:12
  Another one was like 2: So to make port and why?
• 1:05:13
  Another one was like 2: It's sweet.
• 1:05:14
  Another one was like 2: The alcohol comes from fortification.
• 1:05:17
  Another one was like 2: You add brandy to it.
• 1:05:20
  Another one was like 2: So brandy is distilled wine, right?
• 1:05:22
  Another one was like 2: So to preserve the sugar, you only ferment for 3 or 4 days to break up the skins and get the color out of it.
• 1:05:29
  Another one was like 2: And then you fortify it with brandy to the level of alcohol you want, let it soak overnight, and then you press it and you age it.
• 1:05:36
  Another one was like 2: That alcohol, that high alcohol 18% will arrest fermentation, leaving you bunch of residual sugar.
• 1:05:42
  Another one was like 2: So I took Cabernet Sauvignon and crushed it, introduced yeast, tracked it every day about three to fourth day, we lugged in to that one ton, about 50 gallons of 165 proof unaged brandy or odor and let it soak overnight, pressed it, and put it in a barrel.
• 1:06:04
  Another one was like 2: My plan was that I wanted to make a few barrels of port every year, and start building an inventory that I could blend to, like a ten year tawny port.
• 1:06:13
  Another one was like 2: Okay, so two years later is when I left Isla Hills.
• 1:06:20
  Another one was like 2: A year and a half after that, I came back.
• 1:06:23
  Another one was like 2: So in January of 2000, as the new winemaker for Eel Hills.
• 1:06:27
  Another one was like 2: Yeah.
• 1:06:28
  Another one was like 2: One of the things I needed to do was taste through all these wines and see where they are and analyze them.
• 1:06:33
  Another one was like 2: Then I came to the port and I'm chasing the 96, 97, and 98.
• 1:06:39
  Another one was like 2: That's the last one that I had made while I was here. And.
• 1:06:45
  Another one was like 2: I was like, wow, this is fantastic.
• 1:06:48
  Another one was like 2: So I got a sample, went into the office, bought it for Tom, and he goes, what is this?
• 1:06:53
  Another one was like 2: And I go, Will you try it first?
• 1:06:55
  Another one was like 2: Because that's always it's inevitable, you know, you go, oh, this lovely, this, that and the other.
• 1:07:00
  Another one was like 2: That's what everyone sees and senses.
• 1:07:02
  Another one was like 2: So he tastes it and he goes, that's so sweet.
• 1:07:04
  Another one was like 2: And he goes, yeah, it's it's a port style wine made from Cabernet.
• 1:07:07
  Another one was like 2: And it's like, when did we make this 1996.
• 1:07:10
  Another one was like 2: And so this is 2000. He's like, we can't be selling this.
• 1:07:14
  Another one was like 2: We're not making any money.
• 1:07:15
  Another one was like 2: You know, having it sit in barrel for so long.
• 1:07:18
  Another one was like 2: Totally. I only had four barrels.
• 1:07:19
  Another one was like 2: So I compromised myself without necessarily letting Tom know that I bottled only two barrels of it as a late bottled vintage.
• 1:07:29
  Another one was like 2: So, following Portuguese tradition.
• 1:07:30
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, it's from a single vintage.
• 1:07:32
  Another one was like 2: It's not vintage port, but it had aged a minimum of four, no more than six.
• 1:07:37
  Another one was like 2: And so we bottled a late model vintage port and sold right through it in the tasting room.
• 1:07:42
  Another one was like 2: Full retail. So then Tom's like, oh, we need to make more of this.
• 1:07:44
  Another one was like 2: And I go, it takes time and luck.
• 1:07:46
  Another one was like 2: I made some in 1997, so we bottled the next two barrels.
• 1:07:49
  Another one was like 2: So I kept two barrels of the 96, the 97 and the 98.
• 1:07:53
  Another one was like 2: I wasn't here in 99 or 2000 during harvest.
• 1:07:56
  Another one was like 2: So those vintages are mixed, but I've made a batch every year since then.
• 1:08:01
  Another one was like 2: So this is a 2001 okay called Jetta following Portuguese.
• 1:08:07
  Another one was like 2: So single barrel six months before I bottle it.
• 1:08:15
  Another one was like 2: So when I bottle this wine, it was six months away from, I'm sorry, 20 years and six months.
• 1:08:20
  Another one was like 2: It was six months away from being able to drink itself.
• 1:08:23
  Another one was like 2: Oh my gosh.
• 1:08:24
  Another one was like 2: And why do we drink port in a smaller glass?
• 1:08:27
  Another one was like 2: Well, because it's has such high alcohol in it.
• 1:08:29
  Another one was like 2: You don't need a full four ounce pour of it.
• 1:08:31
  Another one was like 2: It's it's a little sniff taste, you know, a digestive.
• 1:08:35
  Another one was like 2: It's something wonderful.
• 1:08:36
  Another one was like 2: So this is Cabernet Sauvignon port style wine.
• 1:08:39
  Another one was like 2: That Asian barrel for 20 years before I bottled it.
• 1:08:43
  Another one was like 2: That's amazing.
• 1:08:48
  Another one was like 2: So it's sweet.
• 1:08:50
  Another one was like 2: Alcohol is approaching 20%.
• 1:08:52
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, I fortified it to 16.5.
• 1:08:54
  Another one was like 2: But after 20 years, through evaporation, it's concentrated.
• 1:08:58
  Another one was like 2: And you know, I am going to start describing this one.
• 1:09:00
  Another one was like 2: I mean, I get a little bit of molasses, I get dried fig, some almond.
• 1:09:06
  Another one was like 2: I mean, all the classic port stuff you're going to get from Portuguese style wine, but yeah, Cabernet from the Applegate Valley.
• 1:09:12
  Another one was like 2: I love that with port.
• 1:09:15
  Another one was like 2: So like with some of the other wines, you can only have a bottle open for so long before it starts to turn.
• 1:09:19
  Another one was like 2: But with port because you drink it a little bit at a time.
• 1:09:21
  Another one was like 2: Is that the same?
• 1:09:22
  Another one was like 2: Can you have well sat in a barrel for 20 years, right?
• 1:09:26
  Another one was like 2: Not ever topped exposed to the air so that it can oxidize.
• 1:09:30
  Another one was like 2: So this is a wine where if you pour a glass of wine, you put the cork in it and put it in the kitchen cabinet and you forget about it for ten years.
• 1:09:38
  Another one was like 2: It's still good. Yeah, I love that.
• 1:09:41
  Another one was like 2: How long would you say for the other wines?
• 1:09:43
  Another one was like 2: Would people open them when you open them?
• 1:09:45
  Another one was like 2: Well, the sparkling wine, if you don't finish it, you're gonna lose a bunch of the CO2.
• 1:09:51
  Another one was like 2: Just the headspace is going to try to equalize pressure and you're going to lose pressure and it's going to become flat.
• 1:09:56
  Another one was like 2: Yeah, red wines have a capacity to sit on the kitchen counter a little bit longer because they have tannin in them.
• 1:10:04
  Another one was like 2: And that tannins, the antioxidant portion of it.
• 1:10:08
  Another one was like 2: White wines have a lot less tannin. So we compensate for that as winemakers by adding more sulfites to combat oxidation.
• 1:10:18
  Another one was like 2: So white wines last a lot less time.
• 1:10:21
  Another one was like 2: Open exposed is a red wine?
• 1:10:24
  Another one was like 2: Sure. So.
• 1:10:28
  Another one was like 2: Sounds like a simple question, a complex answer because it also comes down to winemaking style and philosophy as far as SO2. So Tom always likes to tout when he's he's talking about Isla Hills and our wines and his wine.
• 1:10:42
  Another one was like 2: He said, you know, he's uses my name is you know, Steve is really good about, you know, the SO2 because I had measures amount based on a versus.
• 1:10:53
  Another one was like 2: You know, how dad or grandpa taught me.
• 1:10:55
  Another one was like 2: Oh, we got a 50 gallon, a 50 barrel, 50 gallon barrel of wine.
• 1:11:00
  Another one was like 2: And I always had a cup of sulfur, regardless of age, you know, no matter what the harvest was, you know, it's like my grandpa or great grandpa said, add this much.
• 1:11:07
  Another one was like 2: And so that's just the recipe.
• 1:11:10
  Another one was like 2: But I'm using science and technology to add an appropriate level based on the.
• 1:11:15
  Another one was like 2: So some years it's a little more, some years a little less, but it's it's a measured amount. So I'm not trying to keep a wine that can sit open on the counter for a month. No.
• 1:11:29
  Another one was like 2: By over there are some that don't give you a headache or free.
• 1:11:33
  Another one was like 2: So yeah.
• 1:11:34
  Another one was like 2: So that's I was asking because there are some wines that you can have on your counter for a week and they taste fine.
• 1:11:38
  Another one was like 2: And there's some that it's like two days and it turns.
• 1:11:41
  Another one was like 2: So that's I was just curious.
• 1:11:42
  Another one was like 2: So it depends and I know that is right.
• 1:11:46
  Another one was like 2: That's the worst answer anyone ever gives.
• 1:11:48
  Another one was like 2: But it's not.
• 1:11:48
  Another one was like 2: It is true. Yeah. That's honest.
• 1:11:50
  Another one was like 2: I appreciate all of your knowledge and sharing all your stories with us today and your delicious wine.
• 1:11:56
  Another one was like 2: Thank you so much for your time.
• 1:11:58
  Another one was like 2: Cheers! One more time to you and cheers to everyone listening and watching.
• 1:12:02
  Another one was like 2: I hope to see you next week by.