Oregon COPY

Question 1

What’s the collective name for the alluvial soils of the Willamette Valley?

Answer 1

Willamette Silt - found over older volcanic and sedimentary bedrock

Question 2

What are the sub-AVAs of the Willamette Valley?

Answer 2

Chehalem Mountains
Ribbon Ridge
Yamhill-Carlton
Dundee Hills
McMinnville
Eola-Amity Hills

Question 3

What are the sub-AVAs of Southern Oregon AVA?

Answer 3

Red Hills Douglas County
Umpqua Valley
Elkton Oregon
Rogue Valley
Applegate Valley

Question 4

What is the newest AVA in Oregon?

Answer 4

The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater, 2015.

Question 5

What AVAs does Oregon share with Washington?

Answer 5

Walla Walla Valley
Columbia Valley
Columbia Gorge

Question 6

What AVA does Oregon share with Idaho?

Answer 6

Snake River Valley

Question 7

What and where is Idaho’s proposed new AVA?

Answer 7

Lewis-Clark Valley, shared between Idaho and Washington north of Walla Walla

Question 8

Oregon has higher % requirements than the national average. What are they?

Answer 8

Varietal wines (with some exceptions) must contain 90% of the stated varietal.
AVA wines must contain a minimum of 95% of grapes from the stated appellation.

Question 9

What are the exceptions to Oregon’s varietal law?

Answer 9

BDX varietals
Rhone varietals
Zinfandel
Sangiovese
Tempranillo
Tannat

Question 10

What is Oregon’s largest producer?

Answer 10

King Estates

Question 11

Where and when was the first Pinot Noir planted in Oregon, and by whom?

Answer 11

1961, in Umpqua Valley by Richard Sommer, at his winery Hillcrest.

Question 12

When and where was the first Pinot Noir planted in the Willamette Valley, and by whom?

Answer 12

1965
David Lett (Eyrie); experimental vineyard near Corvallis in 1965, replanted in Dundee Hills in 1966.
Charles Coury in Chehalem Mountains (vines are part of the David Hill Winery today)

Question 13

Other Willamette Valley Pioneers (of the Modern Era)

Answer 13

Erath (Chehalem Mountains, 1969)
Ponzi (Chehalem Mountains, 1970)
Amity Vineyards (Eola-Amity Hills, 1974)
Elk Cove (Chehalam Mountains, 1974)
Sokol Blosser (Dundee Hills, 1977)
Bethel Heights (Eola-Amity Hills, 1977)

Question 14

When and where was DDO founded?

Answer 14

1987, Dundee Hills

Question 15

Compare and contrast the climates of the Willamette Valley and Burgundy

Answer 15

Both run roughly along the 45th parallel, are Region 1 and have similar average growing season temperatures.
However, the Côte d’Or’s season is compressed and shorter, with higher mid-season temperatures and lower temps in the spring and fall (to illustrate, budbreak is 1 week earlier and veraison and harvest 5 days later in the Willamette than Burgundy, on average).
Willamette is wetter (avg. 40 inches of rain annually), but most falls during the winter months, and the growing season is drier than Burgundy’s, resulting in less risk of rot and hail.

Question 16

Willamette Valley: pest problems

Answer 16

Birds
Rust mites, nematodes, phylloxera
Gophers, voles, and other diggers

Question 17

What does LIVE stand for? When was it founded, and when did it begin awarding certifications?

Answer 17

Low Input Viticulture and Enology
Promotes an overall reduction in the number of raw materials required in the vineyard and winery.
Founded in 1997 by Ted Casteel (Bethel Heights) and Carmo Vasconcelos (OSU).
Certifications began in Oregon in 1999 and Washington in 2006.

Question 18

What is the average altitude of Willamette Valley vineyards?

Answer 18

275ft - 900ft; due to higher rainfall, the key is to find more nutrient poor soils at higher elevation.

Question 19

What are the four major soil types of the Willamette Valley?

Answer 19

Uplifted Marine Sediments
Volcanic Soils
Loess
Missoula Flood Deposits

Question 20

Describe Willamette’s uplifted marine sediments

Answer 20

Nutrient poor, derived from sandstone and shale. Oldest bedrock in the valley.
Willakenzie (northerly) and Bellpine (southerly) are examples.

Question 21

Describe Willamette’s volcanic soils

Answer 21

Created by volcanic activity in the Cascades 15-17 million years ago; depleted and weathered basalt.
Contain more clay, and therefore retain more water, than the other soils in the valley.
Jory is the most well-known example, and Oregon’s “official” soil.

Question 22

Describe Willamette’s loess

Answer 22

Windblown sediments, often intermixed with basalt-derived soils and marine sediments.
Older than Washington’s loess - predate the last ice age (2.6 million years old).
Laurelwood, Cornelius, and Cascade are examples.

Question 23

Describe Willamette’s Missoula Flood deposits

Answer 23

Flood-borne sediments, low-lying and deep, very fertile. Youngest in the valley.
Comprise approx 10% of the valley’s vineyards; best purposed for other agriculture.
Woodburn is the primary series.

Question 24

What two major soils do not appear in the Willamette?

Answer 24

Limestone and Marl

Question 25

Is chaptalization legal in Oregon?

Answer 25

Yes

Question 26

Name two Oregon producers who promote whole cluster

Answer 26

Cristom

White Rose

Question 27

What is the most densely planted region in Oregon?

Answer 27

Dundee Hills

Question 28

Name four major Dundee Hills vineyards

Answer 28

Eyrie
Maresh
Abbey Ridge
Thomas

Question 29

Where is Shea Vineyard?

Answer 29

Yamhill-Carlton

Question 30

What river runs through the Chehalem Mountains AVA?

Answer 30

Tualatin

Question 31

What AVA sits in the mouth of the Van Duzer corridor? What does this mean for viticulture?

Answer 31

McMinnville
The intense winds coming through the corridor off the Pacific denude vines, reduce yields, reduce berry size and thicken skins, creating denser, more tannic wines.
Most vineyards are planted on east facing slopes, to avoid as much direct impact from the wind as possible.

Question 32

What is the predominant climatic element affecting Eola-Amity Hills?

Answer 32

The wind from the Van Duzer Corridor (the AVA sits east of McMinnville).

Question 33

Major vineyards in Eola-Amity Hills

Answer 33

Seven Springs (Evening Land)
Jerusalem Hill (Domaine Serene)
Roserock (Drouhin)
Bethel Heights
Justice 
Temperance Hill
Spirit Hill (Argyle)

Question 34

What was the first US varietal Pinot Gris to be released with the grape on the label?

Answer 34

Eyrie Vineyards 1970 Pinot Gris

Question 35

In addition to the Coast and Cascade ranges, what mountains will you find in Southern Oregon?

Answer 35

Klamath Range

Question 36

What are the nested AVAs within Umpqua Valley?

Answer 36

Elkton Oregon

Red Hill Douglas County

Question 37

What are the nested AVAs within Rogue Valley?

Answer 37

Applegate Valley

Question 38

What is the warmest AVA in Oregon?

Answer 38

Rogue Valley; pushing Region II, comparable to Bordeaux in heat summation levels

Question 39

What are the subregions (official and unofficial) of Rogue Valley?

Answer 39

Applegate Valley (very dry, with vineyards up to 2000ft; highest elevation in Oregon)
Bear Creek (warmest and farthest inland, very dry)
illinois Valley (cool, rainy, and coastal)