Cameron Winery -- sustainably farmed, non-irrigated, Oregon pinot noir and chardonnay

Modern agriculture tends to view plants as monocultural events.  Hence a field of corn standing alone; a hill of beans all by its lonesome or a crop of squash with no competition.  And yet plants did not evolve this way and, until fairly recently, agriculture did not work this way.  Before Europeans adopted corn as a staple it was grown by native Americans as part of a  “sacred triangle” incorporating beans and squash into the cultivation.  These plants not only complemented each other physiologically in terms of what they added and took away from the soil around them but they also complemented each other nutritiously so that, when consumed as a group, they provided a balanced diet of amino acids, vitamins and minerals. The plant community in general tends to work this way with different plants often complimenting each other and providing synergy to the system.
When one applies this thinking to the growing of grapes, a plethora of covercrops (that is those plants grown between the rows of grapevines) begins to emerge.  Clover fixes nitrogen from the atmosphere and makes it available to other plants such as grapes.  Buckwheat accumulates insoluble phospohorus and when it is turned over releases it back into the soil in plant available form.  Peas and chicory send long tap roots down into the soil and mine it for insoluble minerals such as potassium which they then return as plant soluble entities.  Mustard also sends down taproots which spew out allelopathic chemicals which kill or inhibit nematodes.  The more that you search, the more that you find.
But let us return to the original premise that modern agriculture is blind to this community of plants.  Corn is corn and nothing else should compete with it or be allowed to live in the same field with it.  We will wrench nitrogen out of the atmosphere by using copious quantities of petroleum to fuel the Haber process and we will add other nutrients such as potassium and phosphorus by mining them. None of these activities are ultimately sustainable but pay that no mind because we have our attention fixed on killing anything that might want to sprout and grow in that corn field other than corn.  Enter Monsanto, one of the biggest agricultural chemical companies in the world.  At first they were interested in selling Roundup (glyophosphate) a herbicide which pretty effectively killed broadleafs and many grasses.  So they genetically modified a corn plant to be resistant to glyophosphate so that farmers could spray copious quantities of that chemical on their fields.  And as one might predict since evolution is proceeding around us, soon many weeds became Roundup tolerant and those expensive seeds that farmers were buying and the expensive Roundup that they were spraying became ineffective.  So enter the new regime: 2,4-D resistant corn plants and the use of an even more potent herbicide than Roundup (anyone over age 50 will remember 2,4-D which was one of the teratogenic parts of Agent Orange, that wondrous chemical sprayed all over Vietnam which caused mayhem amongst the people of Vietnam).
However, it also turns out that 2,4-D is extremely toxic to grapevines and it is very volatile.  In its most common form (available in a product called Crossbow) this chemical can literally vaporize and move a mile or more infecting anything in its path.  So imagine if you will the scenerio of not only corn farmers but backyard suburban warriors all using massive quantities of Monsanto’s product.  I have yet to hear any outcry from the wine industry over the impending licensing of this product by the Obama administration but they should be alarmed, and so should you.  There is a way to live in this world that promotes health and harmony and I guarantee that spraying lots of carcinogenic herbicides in our fields is not it!

In our world In our world of increasingly diverse dietary requirements, questions are inevitably proffered regarding wine and its compatibility with specific eating regimes. And right off the front I would like to declare that Cameron wine (and all wine to my knowledge) is gluten-free! But what about the vegetarians and vegans?

In the first case, vegetarians, the main and possibly only issue would be use of fining agents, those items added to wine during the aging process to aid in clarity, mouth feel or aromatics. While many of these agents are inorganic (such as bentonite for removing protein or copper sulfate for removing sulfides…the aroma of rotten eggs), some agents are animal-derived proteins. Amongst these one would find egg whites, albumin (derived from eggs), isinglass (from sturgeon swim bladders), milk, casein (derived from milk) and beef blood. Most of these proteinaceous concoctions are meant to help remove tannins from the wine, particularly red wines. Therefore vegetarians generally do not have to be concerned about white wines. At Cameron Winery we do occasionally use egg whites obtained from chickens grown on our estate (see below) to fine various batches of Pinot noir that are considered slightly too bitter or astringent.  In many vintages, the wines are sufficiently soft in their own right that no fining is necessary but occasionally a vintage pops up, particularly from a warm year, when some vineyard lots produce wines that need a little softening up! In this case, our flock cheerfully donates their eggs to the cause. So if you are an ovo vegetarian, drink our Pinot noir with gusto.

Veganism is a much more complex story since among this group there exist many different subgroups including ethical vegans, dietary vegans and environmental vegans.* My admittedly limited understanding of these groups would place the latter two in a comfortable position regarding the wines of Cameron while the first is more problematical. That is because Cameron is a farm with a philosophy centered on operating as a “closed loop” which is by far the most environmentally sensitive and sustainable approach to agriculture.

Our approach to farming relies on recycling everything produced on the farm and part of the recycling effort necessarily involves animals. Let us begin with our chickens that are lovingly confined to “chicken tractors” that roll up and down the vineyard rows giving the chickens fresh ground daily in which to pull up greens, eat grubs and scratch the soil. In return they provide nitrogen and other nutrients to the vineyard while being protected from predatory hawks and owls. They also occasionally donate their eggs for fining the red wines at Cameron (see above). Similarly the geese range freely around the vineyard pulling up greens and fertilizing the soil…geese are tough enough to fend for themselves so we do not have to defend them. Our goats provide the pulse of the farm, commenting on whatever is going on and sampling whatever plants we make available to them. Their principal occupation is blackberry removal and mowing down cover crop in the winter months. We collect all of their barn “contributions”  for our compost pile, which is markedly improved by the addition of this animal matter. Finally there is the matter of our beehives, sites of whirling activity fertilizing the cover crop in the vine rows, pollinating the cherry and apple trees and collecting pollen from the hazelnuts. They are an integral part of the overall health of the farm. And for ethical vegans who have declared beehives to be “enslavement of bees”  quite frankly, you know not what you say: the bees are free to go anytime they want and on rare occasions, they do “swarm” and send part of their tribe elsewhere. The next time that you bite down on a cherry, a plum, an apple or a pear, consider that these would not be sitting in your hand without the aid of colonies of bees. And I can truthfully tell you that before we obtained a hive, our cherry trees did not yield any fruit because natural colonies are few and far between. I would assume that ethical vegans do not own cats or dogs or other domestic animals since this would constitute enslavement of animals similar to what we engage in here on our farm with chickens, goats, geese and bees. The problem is that without all of these pieces in place it would not be possible to run the farm as a closed recycling system.

*Environmental veganism rejects the use of animal products on the premise that the industrial practice is environmentally damaging and unsustainable. Dietary vegans eliminate animal products from their diet only. Ethical vegans reject the commodity status of animals and the use of animal products for any purpose

Pruning is the major endeavor occurring during winter in the vineyard.But it is important that one does not snip until one divines the sap to have flown below.  It generally requires several weeks of cold winter weather to complete the process of dormancy and until that happens, one waits, ruminating on what is to come.By the middle of January this year it felt like things were ready to go;  snow was on the ground, a cold north wind had been blowing for days and even the gophers were not advertising their whereabouts.So, hearty crew that we are, the four of us bundled up and ventured out into the first block of Pinot noir.

The goats were let out of their paddock and came to join us;  the geese waddled up to check out the activity;  dogs trotted up and down the rows undoubtedly hoping to find something dead to roll in and, finally, the sheriff (Guido the cat) arrived and sauntered down a row to give his approval of the whole affair.  At first pruning seems like a pretty radical undertaking:  virtually all of the previous year’s growth is severed and removed from the vine and trellis;  the only thing that remains is the main trunk and one or two canes jutting from the head of the vine.  But how one chooses the proper canes  is not always obvious and will set the tone for each vine’s contribution to the quality of next year’s wine.  For example the canes should ideally come off of opposite sides of the vine so that the vascular system is balanced when it comes to supplying nutrients to the emerging buds.  Internodes (the distance between buds) on each cane need to be the proper distance so that the new shoots are neither too cramped nor too far apart.  And the decision on what constitutes the perfect cane needs to be arrived at after only a brief moment of conjecture.  There are approximately 1500 vines per acre and 6 acres of vines at Clos Electrique.  That’s 9000 vines that have to be properly groomed by the end of February at which point each cane gets carefully wrapped and tied to the fruiting wire of the trellis.  In the course of pruning, one enters a personal space of introspection and when it tacks toward seeking the truth, well, one has arrived at the Zen of pruning.

The dawn of the new year at Cameron finds some of the white fermentations in the cellar still eking out an existence, though many barrels have exhausted their sugar and are falling clear. Pinot noir slumbers in the tonneau dreaming of springtime malolactic fermentations.

But the real action this time of year is indubitably occurring in the vineyard. With temperatures during the day averaging in the mid 40′s, cover crops planted in the fall are making headway. Mustard which was sown in areas once planted to cherries sends its tap roots deep, spewing out allelopathic chemicals which kills residual nematodes. A mixture of clover was put down in areas of the vineyard characterized by low nitrogen content. Nitrogen fixing nodules will be working their magic when the soil warms in the spring. Buckwheat, planted in late summer to sustain our bees, has long ago been done-in by a late-November freeze. But the phosphorus that it assimilated is laying in wait for young vines that will be planted in April.

The chickens in the 3 mobile coops are on sabbatical from their egg laying duties. However, they continue to move up and down the vineyard rows spreading nitrogenous joy while they search for young greens and grubs. Meanwhile, sheriff Guido the cat protects the vines from voles and gophers. His is the work that never ends, much to Guido’s personal pleasure. We sadly report the loss of Guido’s long time feline partner in crime, Fiona (1998-2011). Finally, let us not forget the comedy team, Fois and Gras. Honk if you love Cameron!

John, Julian and Danny vs ravenous birds at Abbey Ridge vineyard during harvest 2010.

Harvest mercifully ended this week….it could have gone on and on had it not been for that untimely freeze that caused the leaves to fall off the vines, leaving the forlorn grape clusters hanging alone begging to be put out of their misery.  The mouth-searing acidity, low sugars and absurdly long hang times (that is, how long the fruit hangs onto the vines before we deem them sufficiently ripe for plucking) will forever characterize the 2011 vintage.  But, perhaps incredibly, the first bulletins from our cellar, as we press off red fermenters and watch (and smell) barrels of white juice begin to turn into wine, point to a possible stellar vintage.  In mid-October when the entire affair seemed headed for disaster I heard one lone voice insisting that a vintage on the edge often leads to great wines…thank you Doug Tunnel (Brickhouse Vineyards, http://www.brickhousewines.com).

Though I also have to admit that around the same time my partner and incredible grape grower, Bill Wayne (Abbey Ridge Vineyards, see photo) insisted that the previous 2 weeks of rain were not a problem “because the grapes are not ripe enough to rot!” Bill was indeed correct and except for some errant mildew blowing in from an unsprayed apple nursery next door, his fruit turned out gorgeous. To be sure, there is acidity to be adjusted in some cases and there was a lot of under ripe fruit to be culled out during the sorting process but ripe flavors and aromas are unmistakably present in the developing wines.

Due to continuing fermentations in the cellar for the next several weeks, carbon dioxide levels in the winery are dangerously high. Therefore
WE WILL NOT BE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC ON THANKSGIVING WEEKEND.

Our wines will be available for tasting Thanksgiving weekend at the Ponzi Wine Bar in Dundee.

It’s a miracle! The first two weeks of October were pure rain and seemed to signal a disastrous harvest ahead. Indeed in most years such an event would have rotted the fruit and sent us scurrying for a positive message to be gleaned from it all. And, indeed, I was at that point as recently as October 15th.

But then a wondrous thing occurred: the sun came out, the temperatures warmed up and I happily discovered that the fruit had, in most cases, been so far from ripeness earlier in the month that botrytis had not seen fit to start its attack. Slowly, very slowly, I found my optimism returning. By the 20th of October when, incredibly, we picked our first grapes www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTB41_tvOaA, the long-term forecasts were turning increasingly in our favor.

And now as we hit the end of the month we are seeing gorgeous Pinot noir filling our fermenters, Pinot noir with firm acidity and moderate sugars (hooray for 12.5% alcohols) and, wonder of wonders, ripe full flavors. Meanwhile the white grapes continue to sit in the vineyards slowly losing acid and gaining flavors (the working descriptor here is slowly!). But still the long-term forecasts are holding in there and our first picking of Clos Electrique Blanc yielded pommace from the press that smelled of cloves, a very good sign!!

Vine Stories^® features short videos profiling artisan winemakers discussing their craft. Here is their piece on Cameron Winery.

Goats and grapes are normally not considered compatible organisms since the former loves to dine on the latter.  In fact, in my experience goats prefer grape leaves to almost any other foliar experience.  So when Teri decided to introduce goats to the Cameron mileu I was somewhat skeptical.  And it was not until one of the goats, Vanna White, became pregnant that I began to see the positive possibilities of having goats at the vineyard.  You see once a goat gives birth, as befits its mammalian lineage, it starts to produce milk.  From the milk we derive cheese and in the course of producing curds from whence the cheese is made, a large quantity of whey results.  Whey is a nutrient-rich liquid considered to be of only nominal value, but when diluted to approximately 10% with water it becomes a potent mildew-cide.  During the past summer when conditions were extremely beneficial if you were a mildew spore,  Teri would milk Vanna White, separate the curds from the whey and give me the whey for my mildew-cide experiment.  I sprayed the whey solution on the young grape clusters shortly after bloom, leaving a couple of rows untreated as my “controls”.  At this point in the growing season, the results are unmistakable:  the goats are saving my ass from the ravages of mildew.  A few leaves for the goats, their whey sprayed on the grape clusters and a happy union is formed.

Last year (2010) nature combined with global climate change and brought us the latest vintage ever recorded in Oregon. The saving grace of the vintage in some respects was that the weather also sullied the flowering in the spring so that there wasn’t much to try and ripen. This year nature has again combined with global climate change and the predicted vintage will be even later than last year. But this time there is also a bountiful crop hanging out there. Since the ultimate object of this enterprise is to properly ripen the fruit before picking it, dropping many of those beautiful grape clusters on the ground now is necessary in order to have a chance at ripening what is left. After spending the winter pruning the vines, the spring coaxing the young vines along thinning shoots, suckering and spraying to prevent mildew, the summer pulling leaves, hedging, weed-eating underneath the vines and spraying to prevent mildew, it is a bit disheartening to be faced with dropping on the ground the fruit of our labor. But there it is.

One must keep one’s eye on the prize: massive profits and winter homes in the Caribbean… whoops, that must have been pasted in here from my Wall Street rant. One must keep one’s eyes on the prize: aromas of  dark bing cherries merging into cloves and cardamon with a silky texture flowing across the tongue. Honestly that’s what this is about: if it’s not in the fruit to begin with, it can’t be created in the cellar no matter how much is invested in expensive new barrels and fancy technology (see the Wall Street quote above!). If you look closely on the vineyard floor, you will notice a Trail of Tears closely following Clusters’ Last Stand.