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Oregon Wine Frontier in Perspective: Snapshots of Change After More Than 20 Years By Harry Peterson-Nedry


	In the Beginning: Harry, noticeably thinner and younger, but equally intent in 1985, the year of Ridgecrest’s first harvest.

I write this on a trip to my childhood southeastern North Carolina home, in a place ironically and perhaps prophetically named Northwest, where roots are so deep and firm they come out the other side in pre-Revolution plantations and coastal shipwrecks, where family ties bound all but the last generation to the region in an introspection that made outside affairs of interest, but not really a part of the daily rhythm, where a sense of place is more important than anything except relationships, where there is still a tidal pull to remain, or at least remain connected.

In reflection, I have not moved. Climate aside, Oregon is as closely place and relationship centered as my childhood home.

It has been precisely 20 years since we planted our first vines on the Ribbon Ridge property bought late in 1980, a three-year-old in hand and a newborn in arms. The industry was well begun, with David Lett, Dick Erath, Dick Ponzi, Myron Redford and a small group of stubborn pioneers showing the possibilities of the area. They were supportive but not sure why others would want to experience the tribulations they had endured — maybe not sure others’ passion was fiery enough to accept rejection and inevitable empty bank accounts.

The intervening years have seen more impassioned, sometimes foolish souls, surging to Oregon in waves, stimulated by good vintages’ reputations. Over the 20+ years I’ve been involved, I would count five distinct but overlapping waves of participants in this great Northwest woods experiment, with us in wave two or three:

PIONEERS: technically grounded, with contrarian stubbornness required to buck the tide and persevere (e.g., Lett, Erath, Coury, Fuller, Ponzi)

ROMANTICS: fueled by the hedonistic, back-to-nature softer side, assuming the “how” of the business would follow by native intellect from the strength of “why” (e.g., Redford, Adelsheim, Sokol-Blosser), followed later by ripples reflecting the same intuitive confidence (e.g., John Thomas, John Paul, Russ Raney, Ken Wright, Doug Tunnell)

DOCTORS AND DOLLARS: for the first time providing personal capital to make the road shorter and easier, MDs and aficionados with checkbooks from outside businesses raised the bar financially in the late 70s to mid 90s (e.g., Knudsen, Campbells, Benoits, Hart, Bergers, Howiesons, Gross, and later Shea, LaCroutes, Evenstads, Gerries, Kaplans and Stollers)

IN THE BIZ: finally realizing the potential, names in the business move to Oregon with additional know-how, networks and validation (e.g., Drouhin, Crozer, Parker/Etzel, Andrus, Soter)

APPRENTICES: looking for all intents and purposes like the Romantics in fire and drive, talent drawn in to support the growing industry in vineyard and cellar use reputation and a looser financial environment (banks will actually loan to vineyards and wineries now!) to step out on their own, either part-time or full-time (e.g., Patti Green, Lynn Penner-Ash, Rob Stuart, Jimi Brooks, Jim Prosser, Francis-Tannahill, Laurent Montalieu-Danielle Andrus, Michael Stevenson)

In 1980, there were approximately 115 vineyards and 32 wineries, with an average of 10.4 acres planted (1200 acres total) and 3300 cases produced, respectively. Pinot noir was 33% of acreage, with Riesling and Chardonnay 22% each, and Pinot gris 3%.

Today there are 520 vineyards averaging 22 acres each (11,100 acres total), and 156 wineries averaging 10,600 cases production for those crushing fruit in 2001 — 25 wineries are established but not yet producing, and only 8,800 of 11,100 planted acres are currently bearing a crop! Pinot noir acreage is now 50% of total, white wines radically changing with Riesling now 5%, Chardonnay 11% and Pinot gris 13%.

As usual, there has been a mad rush to capitalize on recent excellent vintages, with newly mesmerized entrants planting only Pinot noir and finally profitable existing wineries reinvesting there too. Pinot gris is the choice for those streamlining their whites.

We are neither fools nor followers, so it should come as no surprise that Chehalem represents the only two acres of Riesling planted in 2001 (while 46 acres were pulled out by others) and one of a few wineries recommitting to Chardonnay, with others again pulling it out. We are a cool climate. We can grow world-class Riesling and Chardonnay to rival Alsace/Germany and Burgundy. We will be in the lead reintroducing what these varieties are meant to be. We’re even considering grafting over some Pinot noir to Riesling next year.

New and renewed investment in Oregon’s vineyards gives a 26% increase in acreage, mainly pinot noir, which will give more wine to permit better market penetration and price stabilization. Oregon’s success as an industry, however, is more about building reputation around quality than capturing sales through brand marketing. We are dependent on climate to give us “great” vintages, but more than just global warming helps in that pursuit. If you match maturing vineyards with maturing winemakers, make viticultural changes to give earlier and richer harvests, avoiding rain effects, and outfit wineries with better tools to accent vintage differences positively, you succeed. We insist on pushing the technical envelope, from clones to snazzy stainless steel equipment to university research.


Oregon’s still collaborative. Harry at the table, on the road, in 2002 with Mike Etzel, Craig Broadley, Sam Tannahill, Ken Wright and Steve Doerner

However, despite soaring industry numbers and greater technical expertise over the last 20+ years, amazingly the early collaborative nature of the industry has not been lost! We remain friends rather than competitors. Our competitors grow other varieties and live in warmer climates! Institutions like the Steamboat Pinot Noir Conference, IPNC, the new Oregon Pinot Camp, new Dijon Chardonnay efforts, root-stock development after phylloxera’s discovery, and collective AVA petitions for subappellations of the Willamette Valley (see sidebar article: "War on Terroir") require ongoing collaboration. Although critical philosophies remain unchanged, if you were to take snapshots over the last 20+ years you’d see changes aplenty in the faces and details:

1980: Two Pinot noir clones and a sad Chardonnay clone; 725 vines per acre plantings; no drip irrigation; Steamboat began last year; no “single vineyard” wines (Rex Hill’s 1983s were the first bothering to distinguish where grapes came from); no apparent phylloxera; Pinot noir, Riesling and Chardonnay varietals. Key wineries: (early) Eyrie, Erath, Elk Cove, Adelsheim, Ponzi, Sokol Blosser (later) Ponzi, Adelsheim, Eyrie, DDO, Bethel Heights, Cameron.

1990: New clones at OSU, but not yet released; 1400+ plants normal (John Thomas was the first dense planting in the valley, pre-dating Domaine Drouhin); dense plantings and Argyle influence pushes drip irrigation on a few sites; rootstocks only experimental, but needed as phylloxera discovered this year; canopy management focus as decade progresses, with hedging, leaf-pulling and crop thinning the norm; a new generation of facilities enters, with DDO’s gravity facility in 1988, followed by WillaKenzie, Adelsheim, and Archery Summit. Key wineries: (early) Ponzi, DDO, Rex Hill, Adelsheim, Panther Creek, Bethel Heights, Cameron, Argyle (later) Ken Wright, Beaux Freres, Cristom, DDO, Brick House, WillaKenzie, Bethel Heights, Domaine Serene, Elk Cove.

2000: Dijon clones prevalent, with 108 Chardonnay almost gone but with older Pinot noir clones Pommard and Wadenswil still popular; 2000-2600 plants per acre and drip irrigation the norm; single vineyards show up on labels in great profusion and confusion; soils and AVA differentiation pushing a “terroir” view of vineyards; organic, LIVE and biodynamic vineyards numerous, as environmental sensitivity grows; conviction that two tons per acre required for world-class Pinot noir; fewer varietals in wineries’ portfolios, even with experimentation on other varieties such as Syrah; more new fancy wineries such as Lemelson, Domaine Serene, Bergstrom; Pinot noir, Pinot gris, Chardonnay dominate, with prior two growing.

Key new wineries: Shea, Penner-Ash, Soter, Bergstrom, JK Carrier, Stuart & Co, Patricia Green.