USA - Oregon Flashcards
How much area is under vine?
13,750 ha
How many AVAs are fully in Oregon and how many are shared with other states?
- 15 AVAs fully in Oregon
- 4 AVAs shared with other states
When were the first modern vineyards planted an how did it become famous?
- 1961
- Pinot Noir wines achieved high ranks in blind tastings
- Hence, many Burgundian producers bought land there
What is different in types of business involved compared to California and Washington?
Dominated by smaller, family-owned businesses
What is the current trend in terms of wineries?
- Strong growth
- 5-fold increase in last 20 years
Where are vineyards located, what is the climate and what are climatic influences?
- In the western part, close to the Pacific Ocean
- At 42–46°N in latitude
- Coast Range provides some protection from Pacific influences, however some influence of cold ocean currents and winds
- Cool to moderate climate
- Long daylight hours in summer and autumn
What is the soil?
Free-draining marine sedimentary, volcanic and loess soils
What is the rainfall and when does it occur?
- High levels of annual rainfall
- Mainly in winter, with little rainfall in the summer months
What climatic conditions have a major effect on vineyard management and what is the effect?
- Windy and dry summers
- Low disease pressure
- Enable sustainable grape growing practices
How much of vineyards are certified as sustainable? How about biodynamic practices?
- About 50%
- About 50% of all Demeter vineyards in the US are in Oregon
What are the varieties grown? What is the most planted one (incl. %)?
- Pinot Noir (57%)
- Pinot Gris (decreasing)
- Chardonnay (increasing)
- Other: Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Riesling
What is important in Oregon regarding growing of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay?
Clonal selection
What clones are used for Pinot Noir? Why?
- Wadenswil
- Pommard
- Dijon
- -> clonal diversity to better choose clones suited to the specific climate and soil
What clones are used for Chardonnay?
- Wente
- Clone 108
- Earlier-ripening Dijon was introduced, but due to recent warmer vintages sometimes ripens to early
How are Pinot Noir wines produced? (fermentation, oak)
- Use of whole bunches has increased
- Some use ambient yeasts and experiment with alternative fermentation and storage vessels, including amphorae
- Majority is matured in oak, proportion of new oak is decreasing
Describe the typical style of Pinot Noir (aromas, acidity, tannin, alcohol, quality, price)
- Red cherry and raspberry fruit to black cherry and plum
- Medium(+) acidity
- Medium to medium(+) tannins
- High alcohol
- Good to outstanding quality
- Premium priced (some super-premium)
Name two significant producers of Pinot Noir
- Bergström Wines
- Evening Land
In what two styles are Pinot Gris wines produced? (pressing, fermentation, skin contact, oak, lees)
- Fruity style: whole-bunch pressing and cool fermentation in stainless steel
- Complex wine with texture: skin contact, old barrels and lees contact
Describe the typical style of Pinot Gris (sweetness, aromas, acidity, body, quality, price)
- Dry and off-dry
- Pear, peach and melon fruit, sometimes nutty or honeyed note
- Medium to medium(+) acidity
- Medium to full body
- Good to very good quality
- Mid-priced
How are Chardonnay wines produced? (pressing, fermentation, oak, malo, lees)
- Often whole bunch pressing
- Fermentation and maturation in oak (mostly old oak)
- Malo + lees contact
- Lees usually left without stirring to encourage low levels of reductive sulfur compounds to develop, giving smoky, struck match aromas
Describe the typical style of Chardonnay (aromas, acidity, body, quality, price)
- Lemon and peach
- Medium(+) acidity
- Medium(+) body
- Good to very good quality
- Mid- to premium priced
What are the two major AVAs and how many sub-AVAs does each have and how much of plantings (%)?
- Willamette Valley AVA
- 7 sub-AVAs
- 68% of vineyards
- Southern Oregon AVA
- 5 sub-AVAs
- 25% of vineyards
What three AVAs are on the Oregon-Washington state border?
- Columbia Gorge AVA
- Columbia Valley AVA
- Walla Walla Valley AVA (1 sub-AVA)
What AVA is on the Oregon-Idaho state border?
Snake River Valley AVA
Willamette Valley AVA
What is its size?
- 9,900 ha
- Oregon’s largest AVA
Willamette Valley AVA
Where is it located?
- Western part of Oregon, close to the Pacific Ocean
- Coast Range mountains to the west that provide protection
- Still various parts affected by cold Pacific winds
Willamette Valley AVA
What is the climate and climatic influences?
- One of the coolest and wettest areas in Oregon
- Benefits from warm, dry summers with long hours of sunshine
- High diurnal range during growing season
- Air rises from the warm interior of central Oregon and causes cool coastal air to be pulled inland
- A lack of humidity in the air over the dry growing season means that temperatures can rise and fall quickly
Willamette Valley AVA
Is irrigation practiced due to the dry summers?
- Mostly no irrigation
- Only longest-established producers are allowed to use water from rivers
- Typically, producers would need to build ponds on their property to collect water in winter months (costs for installation and maintenance)
- Many dry farm if possible
Willamette Valley AVA
What is the soil on valley floors and higher altitudes? What varieties is it best suited for?
- Valley floors
- fertile loam soils
- Most suited to Pinot Gris
- If Pinot Noir is grown, vigor must be managed
- Higher altitudes
- Mixture of marine sedimentary soils (e.g. sandstone), volcanic basalt and loess soils
- Lower fertility
- Smaller cordon-trained or replacement-cane pruned vines with VSP trellising are more common
Willamette Valley AVA
What are the main grape varieties?
- Pinot Noir (60-80%)
- Pinot Gris
- Chardonnay
Willamette Valley AVA
Name the seven sub-AVAs
- Dundee Hills AVA
- Chehalem Mountains AVA
- Ribbon Ridge AVA
- Yamhill-Carlton District AVA
- Van Duzer Corridor AVA
- Eola-Amity Hills AVA
- McMinnville AVA
Willamette Valley AVA - Dundee Hills AVA
Where are the vineyards located and what are climatic influences?
- At 60m to 325m
- Higher altitudes than the rest of Willamette Valley
- -> retain acidity
- Buffered to the west by the Coast Range and to the north by Mountains
- -> sheltered from cold wet conditions
- -> warmer temperature than other AVAs
- -> full fruit ripeness
Willamette Valley AVA - Dundee Hills AVA
What is the soil and what are the effects on grape growing?
- Highest proportion of red iron-rich clay formed from volcanic basalt
- -> retains water during dry summers
- -> avoids shutting down of vines
- -> enables full ripening of grapes
Willamette Valley AVA - Chehalem Mountains AVA
How large are plantings compared to other sub-AVAs?
Most plantings of any sub-AVA
Willamette Valley AVA - Chehalem Mountains AVA
Where are vineyards planted?
- At 60 to 305m
- Ridge serves as windbreak
Willamette Valley AVA - Chehalem Mountains AVA
Comment on altitude, aspects, and soil types
- The range in altitude, aspects and soil types
- Soils: loess, volcanic basalt and sedimentary
- -> diversity of vineyard sites and resulting wines
Willamette Valley AVA - Ribbon Ridge AVA
Where are vineyards located and what are climatic influences?
- At low altitude
- -> protected from the wind by surrounding ranges
- -> warm and dry growing area
Willamette Valley AVA - Ribbon Ridge AVA
Describe the soil characteristics and influence on grape growing
- Sedimentary soil
- Relatively deep but low in nutrients
- -> controls vine vigor
- Moderate water-holding capacity
- -> needed as irrigation is not readily available
- -> concentrated ripe grapes
Willamette Valley AVA - Yamhill-Carlton AVA
What is the most planted variety?
Pinot Noir
Willamette Valley AVA - Yamhill-Carlton AVA
Where is it located?
- North west of the Willamette Valley
- In the foothills of the Coast Range
Willamette Valley AVA - Yamhill-Carlton AVA
Comment on rain, altitude, aspect, and soil and their influence on the final wine
- Rain shadow from coast range
- At 60-300m
- South-facing slopes
- Warm free-draining sedimentary soils
- -> riper fruit flavors, fuller body and lower acidity compared to other sub-AVAs
Willamette Valley AVA - Van Duzer Corridor AVA
Where is it located and what are climatic influences?
- South west of Willamette Valley
- Break in the Coast Range funnels in Pacific Ocean winds during the afternoon
- -> cooling influence
Willamette Valley AVA - Van Duzer Corridor AVA
Describe the positive and negative effects of the cooling Pacific winds that are funneled through the break in the Coast Range
- Negative
- Can disrupt flowering and fruit set -> lower yields
- Can cause the vine leaf stomata to shut and slow ripening
- Positive
- Slows the ripening process -> slow sugar accumulation while flavours and aromas develop and acidity it retained
- Reduces disease pressure
Willamette Valley AVA - Van Duzer Corridor AVA
Describe the soils and their characteristics
- Marine sediment loam and silt
- Shallow and well-draining
Willamette Valley AVA - Eola-Amity Hills AVA
Where is it located and what does it mean for the climate?
- East of the Van Duzer Corridor AVA
- Influenced by the same cool ocean winds, leading to slower ripening
- However, greater variation because of range of aspects and altitudes
Willamette Valley AVA - Eola-Amity Hills AVA
Where are vineyards located and what is the soil?
- At 75-250m altitude
- Shallow rocky volcanic basalt over sedimentary soil
Willamette Valley AVA - McMinnville AVA
Where is it located and what does it mean for the climate?
- Between Yamhill-Carlton AVA to the north and Van Duzer Corridor AVA to the south
- Influenced by both areas
- Some sites are protected by rain shadow
- Areas to the south are more influenced by the cool winds from the Van Duzer Corridor
Southern Oregon AVA
Name the two most important sub-AVAs
- Umpqua Valley AVA (incl. 2 sub-AVAs)
- Rogue Valley AVA (incl. 1 sub-AVA)
Southern Oregon AVA
How many ha are planted to vine?
Roughly 3,300 ha
Southern Oregon AVA
Where is it located, what is the climate and what are cooling influences?
- More southerly latitude -> warmer than Willamette Valley
- Cooling influences from
- Mountains (altitude and cool air descending at night)
- River valleys that channel cool breezes during the afternoon and evenings
- -> High diurnal range
Southern Oregon AVA
Comment on soils, rainfall, and irrigation
- Soils: mixture of marine sedimentary soils, volcanic soils (high proportion of clay helping to retain water) and alluvial soils (more free-draining)
- Majority of rainfall in winter -> dry growing season
- Irrigation is essential -> warm climate and lower rainfall
Southern Oregon AVA
What are the main varieties grown?
- Better able to ripen black grape varieties than Willamette Valley
- Pinot Noir (40%)
- Pinot Gris (second most planted)
- Syrah
- Cabernet Sauvignon
Southern Oregon AVA - Umpqua Valley AVA
Where is it located? What are climatic influences?
- Northern part of Southern Oregon
- Umpqua River and its tributaries flow through it -> cool afternoon breezes
- Warmer than Willamette Valley, but relatively cool for Southern Oregon
Southern Oregon AVA - Umpqua Valley AVA
Comment on altitude, aspect and soil of vineyards
Diverse range of vineyard sites with different altitudes (around 50-400m), aspects and soils
Southern Oregon AVA - Umpqua Valley AVA
What varieties are grown in which part of the Umpqua Valley?
- North
- Pinot Noir
- Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer and Riesling
- Central and south
- Syrah, Merlot and Tempranillo
Southern Oregon AVA - Rogue Valley AVA
Where is it located and what are climatic influences?
- Closest to California -> warmest and driest conditions in Oregon
- Cooling influences from altitude (250-950m) and cool afternoon and evening breezes from the Pacific
Southern Oregon AVA - Rogue Valley AVA
Based on the climate? What varieties are grown here?
- Merlot
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- Syrah
- Tempranillo
- Pinot Noir
Multistate AVAs - Walla Walla Valley AVA
Where is it located and what is the climate?
- Far from the coast
- Arid continental climate with hot dry summers
Multistate AVAs - Walla Walla Valley AVA
What are the most planted varieties?
- Cabernet Sauvignon (40%)
- Merlot
- Syrah
Multistate AVAs - Columbia Gorge AVA
How is the climate in different parts of the AVA?
- Western part: closest to the Pacific -> cooler, wetter climate
- Eastern part: warmer and drier
Multistate AVAs - Columbia Gorge AVA
What are cooling influences and what does it mean for grape growing?
- Cooling influences from
- altitude (up to 600m)
- winds funneled by the gorge
- -> wide range of growing conditions and varieties
Multistate AVAs - Columbia Valley AVA
Where is it located and what does it comprise?
- Majority is located in Washington State
- Includes Columbia Gorge AVA and Walla Walla Valley AVA in Oregon
Describe the rough labeling terms (origin, variety, estate)
- 100% of grapes grown in Oregon and 95% of wine from stated appellation (if labeled as such)
- Min 90% of variety if labeled as such (California only requires 75%)
- If labeled ‘estate-bottled’: min 100% of grapes from the winery’s AVA and fully finished at the estate
What businesses are typically involved and what is the current trend?
- Mostly small family-owned wineries (75%)
- Considerable growth in recent years
How does it compare to other states in terms of production?
- 4th with roughly 1.4% of US production
- After California, Washington, and New York
How much is exported and what are main export markets?
- 2.5%
- Canada, UK, Japan
