Page 44 - GrapevineMarApr 2022

Around The Vineyard
While there are always challenges in farming, de
Domingo believes that biodynamic principles work
to prevent long-term challenges. “Because we are
biodynamic farmers, our mind is focused on long
term ecosystem establishment and not a ‘quick-
fix-spray-toxic-product.’ We don’t fight nature, we
embrace nature,” he said.
King Estate Winery,
Eugene, Oregon
Situated on 1,033 acres in southwest Eugene
near Lorane, Oregon, this family-run winery found-
ed in 1991 has been certified organic since 2002
by Oregon Tilth and Salmon Safe. They became
Detmer Certified Biodynamic in 2016. According
to Raymond Nuclo, Director of Viticulture, they’ve
seen a reduction in water stress and disease pres-
sure since instituting these practices. “I think that’s
primarily due to improvement in organic matter in
the soil for water holding capacity. Also, healthier
vines have a greater ability to withstand some of
those stresses.”
Following the devastating 2020 wildfire season,
Nuclo said they did a fair amount of due diligence
in testing and micro fermenting to determine what
areas could still be harvested and what areas were
too heavily impacted to make quality wine. “You
could not determine the impact the smoke had on
the grapes simply by visual observation of smoke
intensity in the vineyard. Vineyards that did not
show noticeable visual differences in smoke inten-
sity showed differences in both lab and sensory
evaluations.”
Hence, they could not harvest their grapes until
they conducted these evaluations. Nor did they
feel comfortable sending workers into the vineyard
until the Air Quality Index went down to a yellow
moderate rating.
As 2020 was the first year the Willamette Valley
experienced an issue with wildfire smoke that
impacted the grapes, Nuclo believes they are rel-
atively early in evaluating the long-term impact
of wildfires on the region. In the event of another
wildfire, Nuclo said there’s little known yet on how
to protect crops from smoke.
In 2021, their harvest was earlier due to summer
temperatures that reached over 115 degrees. This
early harvest produced wines with a higher alcohol
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level because the sugar development got ahead of
the flavor development. Should this trend continue
in the ensuing decades, they may need to look at
other varietals better suited to warmer climates.
Another impact of warming temperatures is the
potential for the vineyard to become infested with
those insect pests found in the warmer regions of
Oregon and California. In Nuclo’s estimation, they
can treat these pests using organically approved
biodynamic practices such as releasing beneficial
insects or utilizing organically approved sprays.
Maysara Winery and Momtazi Vineyards,
McMinneville, Oregon
In April 1997, Moe and Flora Momtazi purchased
496 acres of an abandoned wheat farm and began
planting in 1998. Their vineyard and winery became
Demeter Certified Biodynamic in 2005 and 2007,
respectively. Moe Momtazi chose this approach as
it follows his ancestors’ 8,000-year-old Persian wine
culture while allowing him to refine their practices
as they gain additional knowledge. He estimates
that in the past hundred years, conventional
farming practices have contributed to a range of
problems for the environment and the health and
well-being of people and animals.
Situated in the Van Duzer Corridor, where the
wind blows from the west towards the east, the
vineyard did not suffer from the smoke damage
that neighboring wineries endured in the 2020
wildfires. To help mitigate the hot days, Momtazi
makes a tea from either mulberry leaves or stinging
nettle. “This tea really calms down the plants, so
you don’t have as much of an issue with heat.”
Conversely, Momtazi noted that too much water
could also present an issue. He cited the early fall
of 2013 as one example. They were expecting a big
storm. To prevent the plants from absorbing all this
water, he watered the vines a little before the rain,
thus preventing any split berries in the grapes after
the rains passed. He also made tea from valerian
and rose hips to get rid of any excess water in the
vines. Since the rose hips contained lots of vitamin
C, it boosted the sugar contents quite a bit.
While his grapes cost more than other vineyards,
he feels the customer gets rewarded due to the
quality of their wines. “My hope is that we all wake
up and realize what we have done to our envi-
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