Bonne on Columbia Gorge

S

SFJoe

Joe Dougherty
Interesting article by Jon Bonne on the diverse climates and varied wineries in the Columbia River Gorge.

I wish he'd commented on the soils, though. Anyone know anything about them?
 
the only Pinot Noir I ever vinified was from around Hood River, on the Washington side, back in 1989. There's a guy named Peter Brehm, who started a company in Berkeley in the '60s called Wine and The People, who scouted that place out early on, and has Pinot, Chardonnay and Syrah planted up there that's pretty interesting stuff.
 
Western Oregon is essentially old seafloor as a base, with various volcanic events - basalt and andesite rock - windblown loess, and then more recent glacial flood deposits of high nutrient soils in the lowest lands of the Willamette Valley. I think the Gorge is really interesting though windy, and south slopes are at a premium. The Hood River flows north, for example. But the Gorge is warm without the heat of Walla Walla, and it typically finishes the season dry, or at least more like CA than through the Gorge here in the Willamette Valley. I think if I make wine from outside the Willamette Valley, it would be from the Gorge.
 
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