Vineyard & Winery Management Magazine
Cover Story
Abacela WineryPutting tempranillo on the map
By Paul Gregutt
Starry-eyed newcomers setting out on a life-changing, Mission Impossible-type quest to make great wine are not unusual; the wine industry is full of such stories. But by any measure, Earl and Hilda Jones, owners of southern Oregon's Abacela Winery, set the bar about as high as anyone could.
Would-be vintners who set out to develop emerging and/or unproven wine regions sometimes skip the research and plant grapes on land they already happen to own - without bothering to find out if their sites are suitable for wine grapes at all, let alone the varieties they intend to grow. In contrast, the Joneses took a scientific approach to finding their special patch of land - and it paid off immediately.
Earl's background as a physician and educator, along with Hilda's training as a medical technologist, helped them do the extensive research that would facilitate their goal: to grow and make world-class American tempranillo.
At the outset in 1989, they knew only that they loved spicy foods and the Spanish wines that accompanied them so well. They soon discovered that no varietal tempranillo was being made anywhere in the United States. And they wondered: Why not?
The Joneses traveled to Spain to get a clear idea of the climate and soils that produced the wines they most enjoyed. A cool spring, a hot and dry summer, low rainfall and relatively mild winters were the characteristics they noted. The search was on for a comparable climate somewhere in the United States.
Much to their surprise, they found what they were looking for in southern Oregon. The Umpqua Valley (motto: "America's Last Great Undiscovered Wine Region") already had a number of well-established wineries, among them HillCrest Vineyard, Henry Estate Winery and Girardet Wine Cellars. But most were growing cool-climate grapes and hybrids.
The Joneses discovered that although the region is cooler than Napa Valley, Bordeaux and Australia's Barossa Valley, it is warmer than the Loire Valley and Burgundy in France, and Germany's Rhine Valley. Happily, parts of Umpqua provided a near-perfect match to the climatic conditions of the north-central and northwestern portions of Spain's Rioja and Ribera del Duero regions.
The Umpqua Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA), which was approved in 1984, covers a big territory - 65 miles north to south, 25 miles east to west - but even now has just a dozen wineries and about 1,200 vineyard acres in production. Its degree-days, the Joneses found, range from a low of 2,200 in the north to a high of 2,700 in the south. The region has a 200-day average growing season, relative safety from late-spring and early fall freezes, and a ripening period comfortably warmer than that of the Willamette Valley to the north, yet cooler than the Rogue Valley to the south, near Medford.
They quickly realized that they had found exactly the spot they'd been seeking. Near the AVA's southern end, a few miles southwest of the city of Roseburg, the couple purchased 500 acres of oak-strewn savannah in 1992 and established the Abacela vineyard and winery. Winemaking began off-site in 1996, and Abacela was bonded in early 1997. The name comes from the Spanish/Portuguese word abacelar, which means "to plant a grapevine."
Neatly surrounded by three mountain ranges - the Klamath Mountains, the Coastal Range and the Cascades -- the property is unique in several respects. The Coastal Range protects it from Pacific storms. The Klamath Mountains have some of the oldest bedrock in the region. The Cascades, as they do farther north, provide a barrier that seals off the temperature extremes of the eastern Oregon desert.
PLANTING BEGINS
Planting began in 1995, and in 2003 the property was named Fault Line Vineyards, following the discovery of a significant geological fault. (The vineyard and winery have separate names.) During a recent visit to the winery, Earl Jones took me on a quick ride through the vineyards, then showed me a detailed geologic map, confirming that a fault line indeed runs right through the middle of his property. It divides it neatly along an east/west border, into ancient southern and youthful northern portions. Differences in bedrock geology and soils on the two sides are dramatic.
"The map," Earl said, "is known as the Roseburg Quadrangle." The map and its database describe, among other things, the north-thrusting Klamath Terrane's ancient collision and overriding of the youthful Oregon Coastal Terrane, and their subsequent Eocene uplift by huge sub-marine basaltic flows from the Roseburg Volcanics.
The vineyard is mostly cluttered with small, round, smooth tumbled stones, hence the name Cobblestone Hill. Head roughly 2,000 feet to the west, Jones continued, "and you will find the Chaotic Ridge parcel, which is just that: chaotic. That vineyard is located on sandstone and mudstone bedrock from the Eocene. It is slightly older than the geology of Cobblestone Hill, but younger than the geology of Cox's Rock, the northernmost reach of the Klamath Mountains, with 225 million-year-old bedrock."
Since the discovery of the fault line, and the mapping of its widely varied soils, the Abacela estate vineyards have evolved into several distinct planting parcels that currently total 75 acres planted and 52 bearing.
The Cox's Rock parcel (19 acres) includes the original 1995 plantings. It honors John Cox, who arrived with his family by wagon train in 1849; they were the first white settlers in the area. The parcel is entirely south of the fault line and within the ancient boulder-strewn Klamath Terrane (a terrane is the area or surface over which a particular rock or group of rocks is prevalent) - Abacela's "mother" block and the source of scion wood for later plantings.
Cobblestone Hill (23 acres) was planted beginning in 2000 on a steep hillside that straddles the fault line and continues to the south. The soil, like that of Cox's Rock, contains many boulders and large rocks, with a porous texture. It was primarily planted as the winery added new blocks for varieties that had been shown to work well in Cox's Rock.
Chaotic Ridge (18 acres) was planted in 2004 and 2005, and provides additional acreage that was needed to meet market demand for the Abacela wines. The name references the soil, which is so tumultuous that the fault line is somewhat obscured.
Grand Hill (7 acres planted) will bring in its first (quite small) crop this harvest; another 8 acres have just been planted to rootstock that will be grafted over once clonal trials on tempranillo have been evaluated.
With these new vines, Abacela hopes to increase its annual production to reach 12,000 cases by 2012, topping out at 15,000 in four to six years.
SOILS AND CLONES
All together, the vineyards include five major soil types: Sutherlin Silt Loam 175, Coburg Silt Loam 70A, Nonpareil Loam 120C, Philomath-Dixonville Complex 150 and Dickerson Loam 133F, as well as their various subtypes. This is only a small part of some 185 U.S. Department of Agriculture-defined soil types that have been identified in what Earl Jones describes as the "exceedingly complex geological tumult" of Douglas County.
In general, Jones said, his soils have good rooting depths and drainage properties for growing wine grapes. Ranging from clay loam to sandy loam, the different vineyard blocks have widely varying water requirements. To help manage these differences, irrigation is controlled on a block-by-block basis through the use of soil moisture sensors.
Along with the nine clones of tempranillo (see sidebar below), there are multiple clones of grenache, syrah and albariño being cultivated. Roughly 90% of the vines are grafted; the rest are planted on their own roots, in order to determine the rootstocks' effects on vine vigor, and to gain a margin of safety against a severe winter freeze. Many rootstocks have been tried, with 44-53, 101-14, 3309 and 420-A being the ones Jones considers best for his soils. The average spacing is 5 feet between plants with rows 10 feet apart.
Four trellis types were tried, including bush/goblet vines; vertical shoot positioning has emerged as the best choice. Both cane and spur on cordon pruning are employed, depending on the variety. When needed, canopy and fruit sun exposure are adjusted via leaf pulling. Crop load is controlled by pruning, shoot thinning and fruit thinning, to reach approximately 2.5 tons per acre.
"We firmly believe in sustainable farming," Earl Jones said. "We have never used an insecticide and have no intention of ever doing so. We manage in-row weeds by either tillage, light herbicide spray or a combination of both measures. We spray for control of powdery mildew and Botrytis. We have never used paraquat or any other restricted-use spray material that is dangerous to humans."
WINEMAKING
Abacela's wines are made by Andrew Wenzl, who earned his degree in biology and chemistry at Eastern Oregon University. He began his winemaking career in the enology lab at Oregon's King Estate, and later Silvan Ridge. He became Abacela's cellarmaster in 2003, assistant winemaker in 2005, and since 2008 has been the winemaker, in charge of all production.
"As harvest approaches, the winemaking team walks the vineyard blocks, sampling and tasting the fruit," Wenzl explained. "The Brix, pH and TA are monitored with the general goals of harvesting tempranillo at 24.5 °Brix, 3.6 pH and 6-8 g/L acid. But the ultimate pick decision is based upon flavor development."
Wenzl likes to pick in the early morning hours, while the grapes are cold, and processes them immediately after. The fruit is sorted, de-stemmed (but not crushed, with 75%-95% whole berries) and passed over a shaker table before going into a 1-ton fermenter. To facilitate a four- to six-day cold soak, 50 mg/L TSO2 is added at the de-stemmer, and the fermenter head space is gassed as needed with carbon dioxide.
Wenzl said he prefers whole-berry fermentations because of the resulting enhanced fruity esters and softer tannins.
"My favorite yeasts include D254, BRL97, BM45, Ribera, as well as native yeast(s)," he said. "Peak fermentation temperatures are typically 91°F. Two or three manual punchdowns are spaced over the day to achieve maximum heat exchange and extraction of aromas, flavors, color and tannins; pH is adjusted as necessary throughout the fermentation with tartaric acid.
"As the fermentation approaches sugar dryness, it is inoculated while still on the skins with Lalvin 3X malolactic culture. The temperature is controlled during the post-fermentation maceration (which can last for up to two weeks) for further extraction as necessary."
All red grapes are processed in a basket press. "We find the 4-ton Hypac we are using to be very gentle on the skins and seeds," Wenzl said. "The pomace cake acts as a filter, creating a clear division between free and press wine, which consequently is cleaner and of higher quality. The wine is settled briefly in tanks before racking to barrel. The resulting fine lees are bâtonnaged weekly for two months to enhance the wines' mouthfeel and complexity."
Barrels are sourced from several French coopers (Vicard, Taransaud and Billon among them) and Wenzl prefers 36-month staves. Toasted heads and multiple toast levels are used, with about 30% new oak. The average age of the older barrels is just under three years. A small amount of American oak - roughly 5% - is also employed.
"Malolactic sometimes finishes in the fermenter or tank, but more typically ends in barrel," Wenzl said. "The process is monitored with paper chromatography and confirmed by enzymatic malic tests on a spectrophotometer before stabilizing the wine with SO2."
The first racking is done during the fourth or fifth month after harvest, with the intent to clean up the wines and to adjust the pH and oak level as needed.
"Elévage over the next 12 months is simple, with monthly toppings and barrel-by-barrel evaluations," he continued. "At roughly 16 months post-harvest, the barrels are subjected to extensive tasting trials and assembled to style and quality standards. The wines are then returned to barrel to promote further marrying of flavors. A third and final racking is done immediately before bottling, and filtering is done on a batch-by-batch basis."
THE PAYOFF
Earl and Hilda Jones' research and thoughtful approach to vineyard management and winemaking has paid off in the form of acclaim for their wines.
In 2001, the 1998 Abacela tempranillo became the first American tempranillo to best Spanish tempranillos in an international wine competition - the San Francisco International Wine Competition. Among 21 entries, it won a double-gold medal, beating 19 Spanish wines and one other U.S. tempranillo.
In 2009, Abacela's 2005 Tempranillo Reserve became the first American tempranillo to win a Medalla de Oro in Spain's annual Tempranillo al Mundo competition. It was the only wine produced outside of Spain to take a gold medal. Also in 2009, Abacela was recognized by the Portland Classic Wine Auction as Oregon's Vintner of the Year.
Abacela makes three different styles of tempranillo (see sidebar to the left), and they were all good from the start. I first reviewed the 1999 release, noting that (even from such young vines) it was structured to age, with a lovely wild clover scent, tart, dark fruit, streaks of iron and mineral, and excellent depth. The most recent releases, from 2007, include single-vineyard, non-estate wines, as well as a Southern Oregon Cuvée.
Building from its early focus on tempranillo, Abacela now offers a rich portfolio of Iberian variety wines, as well as others with a southern France/Mediterranean focus. In order to enhance his consumer outreach and jump-start others with similar interests, Earl Jones co-founded an organization called T.A.P.A.S. - Tempranillo Advocates Producers and Amigos Society (www.tapasociety.org). T.A.P.A.S. has its own Facebook page, and sponsors tastings of Spanish and Portuguese varieties from member wineries in Arizona, California, Oregon, Texas and Washington.
Along with tempranillo, Abacela's growing portfolio includes varietal bottlings of albariño, garnacha (grenache), cabernet franc, dolcetto, malbec, merlot, petit verdot, several syrahs and viognier. There are also a number of blends, including an excellent claret and a port-style dessert wine blended from authentic Portuguese varieties - all estate-grown.
Too many choices? Well, for most wineries, this would be a stretch, but Abacela keeps the quality high, the prices reasonable - between $15 and $45 - and the uniqueness factor in play.
"Many people find the list of wine grapes we grow at Abacela unusual, but we didn't follow fashion," Earl Jones said. "Rather, we selected the varieties based on whether their homes of origin share a similar climate to that at Abacela. Even after all this, it's not over when the plant is in the ground. We remove from production varieties that do not produce fine wines consistent with being produced at or near their marginally cool limits. Already we have removed a half- dozen experimental varieties and replaced them with others more suited to the site climate."
Clearly, this is a winery that likely won't stop its pioneering exploration, nor rest on its considerable laurels. And others are taking notice, as the growth of T.A.P.A.S. shows - the organization was founded in 2005 with eight members, and currently has 75.
Don't be surprised if "America's Last Great Undiscovered Wine Region" has to change its motto one day soon.
Paul Gregutt writes about wine for newspapers across the Pacific Northwest, including the Seattle Times. He is Wine Enthusiast magazine's Northwest editor and the author of the book "Washington Wine & Wineries: The Essential Guide" (University of California Press).
Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwm-online.com.