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Spring in the vineyards
Women + Wine
Katie Rice & Sarah Pierre
Rice owns VinoTeca in Inman Park
and Pierre owns 3 Parks Wine Shop in
Clenwood Park..
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Spring has arrived! In wine making
regions, spring means new wine is on the
horizon. It may be the most important
season of the year when it comes to the
vineyard’s life cycles — it is the birth of a
new vintage.
One of the best parts of our job is
meeting the people who make the wines
we get to sell. Every week, we taste unique
offerings with our partners and choose
new bottles for the shelves and for tastings.
Sometimes, we are lucky enough to have
the actual people who make the wine pour
for us.
Recently, Katie met Pam Walden,
owner and winemaker of Willful Wines
from Willamette, Oregon. Pam started
in the wine business in 2000 and became
the sole winemaker in 2009, producing
around 5,000 cases annually. She creates
wines with the intention of focusing on
fruit and terroir using low intervention
and minimal oak. While tasting with Pam,
it was apparent the care she puts into her
bottles, but also her love of the vineyards
she sources from. Her belief is “the best
wine comes from the best growers.” This
connection to the agricultural side sparked
a conversation about the importance of this
time of year.
Where the action is
The action in the vineyard in early
spring revolves around the proliferation of
the vines. Grapevines inherently want to
grow up and out. A good vineyard manager
maintains balance.
“Balance and structure are the building
blocks of a well-done vineyard,” Pam said.
“How the vines look is important.”
This time of the year is great to assess
overall plant health. Extreme weather
from the last vintage can affect the growth
patterns of the next season. Too much heat,
sun or stress can overtax the plants, slowing
new growth. The vineyard workers look for
well formed, healthy shoots and remove
poor, spindly ones to allow the overall vine
to use its energy for only producing strong
grapes. These are the plant’s seeds and their
whole reason for being.
In a trellised vineyard, the support of the
vines comes from the stakes and wires. A
first step is tucking the new canes that first
begin to grow. Young vines especially need
training to keep them contained.
“It is about balancing the growth. The
young vines need to be kept contained.
Older vines are easy, they know where to
go,” Walden said. “It is important to access
them for an optimum return. Overgrowth
can lead to vegetative characteristics, but
if you push them too much, they begin to
struggle and not produce.”
Again, it is all in the balance.
Buds, frost & flowering
Bud break is another important
component that occurs from March to April
in the Northern Hemisphere. Pam points
out that wineries love this phase because “it
makes for great pics on social media!”
This is when small nodes begin to form
along the canes, which eventually become
leaves. The vines are emerging from their
dormant winter slumber. This is also the
most susceptible time for the vines. Hail
and frost are the two biggest concerns.
“Hail can knock off buds and flowers
and damage the new shoots leading to a
minimal yield. In 2003 we had hail in May
that significantly hurt the vintage,” Pam
recalled.
Frost can also be a factor but is not
common in Willamette. However, in lower
lying valley floors and cooler regions like
Napa Valley, California and Bordeaux,
France it is an issue. As we have seen with
the peach industry in Georgia, frost can
drastically damage output and damage
the delicate new buds. There are different
techniques to alleviate frost damage
including contained fires burned in the rows
as well as using a sprinkler system to keep
the plants damp enough to not freeze.
Between 40 and 80 days later, the next
process is the flowering which leads to fruit
set. Temperatures need to be consistent
and between 59 and 68F for these fickle
plants to produce. This is the time when the
vintners pray on the weather... but that is
for another article.
To round out our interview, we discussed
with Pam the future of Willamette Valley.
“Oregon Chardonnay has come a long
way. New clones are being planted that
are producing some awesome wines,” Pam
mused.
She also highlighted some unexpected
wines that are coming out including
Pinot Blanc, Cabernet Franc, Gamay,
and Tempranillo. There are some future
challenges including the amount of fruit
being sent to California to make up for
their lower yields. More demand is leading
to newer areas being planted in Oregon,
leading to a cultivation of both new grapes
and new opportunities for us to have more
wines to drink.
Cheers to the spring and all that 2022
has to offer! 03
Katie’s Wine Pick
2020 Willful Wine Co.
Jezebel Pinot Noirfrom
Oregon
Pam Walden’s entry Pinot Noir is made
in the challenging 2020 vintage. This
wine is classic and with fresh acidity
and pressed, dark cherry notes. The
wine is medium bodied with a smooth,
lingering finish. It out drinks it’s $20
price point.
46 APRIL 2022 | [E]
AtlantalntownPaper.com