Portland, I predict we'll have a drink.
photos via Montenori Wines
When the things that you’re seeking find you instead of you seeking them out, it makes for a good day. I recently took a time-out with a close friend to visit Portland, OR. What we’d initially hoped could be a road trip turned into a whirlwind of wine tastings, catching up with old friends, making new friends, and just enough nature to give me my fix of “wide open spaces” for at least a few weeks before making it to Austin to close the year out. As much as I do enjoy cities like Los Angeles, New York, etc. where I spend most of my days, I do still enjoy being surrounded by nature and bodies of water even more, and so I welcome almost any opportunity for a road trip.
However, it was the fear of encountering snowfall on roadways and also the timing of when this trip ultimately fell that kept us airborne instead--silly me to think that early December would be a quieter time for me, more on that in early 2020.
Portland is definitely one of those dichotomies in the U.S., a small town at heart disguised as a large city. One which people always expect to be a lot more bustling than it is in actuality. It also has a knack for making The Replacements’ musical tribute get stuck in my head at the mere mention of the city. However, it has the kind of geo and demo make-up that allows for things to find you instead of you having to seek them out sometimes.
One of these instances was during our exploration of the countryside wineries in Willamette Valley. Our first stop was at the laureled Montinore Estate Winery. What left an impression on me most long after we had departed was their approach to growing and harvesting their product as I personally, as well as via our Nourish Foundation, continue to become even more intentional and selective of the products we purchase, consume, and offer.
Current owner Rudy Marchesi, the grandson of Italian winemakers and east coast transplant, has been applying “Biodynamic viticulture” since the early 2000s to their wine production. The estate vineyard received the elite Demeter Biodynamic® certification in 2008. “Demeter USA is the only certifier for Biodynamic farms and products in America. While all of the organic requirements for certification under the National Organic Program are required for Biodynamic certification, the Demeter standard is much more extensive, with stricter requirements around imported fertility, greater emphasis on on-farm solutions for disease, pest, and weed control, and in depth specifications around water conservation and biodiversity.”
Marchesi became certified in Biodynamic Farming at the Pfeiffer Center in New York and started applying what he had learned to the vineyards at Montinore Estate in 2003.
After a fascinating conversation with those at the winery, I could bore you with a lot of additional details and benefits of Biodynamic Farming, but instead will share this shorter version from the Montinore website describing the benefits that we as consumers enjoy, “Vineyards grown with Biodynamic practices tend to have less variation in wine character than chemically grown, irrigated vines. With deeper roots and balanced growth they are somewhat more resistant to the extremes in weather. Biodynamically grown vines tend to express more of the place they are grown so there may be more of a farm-to-farm variation rather than a vintage-to-vintage".
Of course, I realize that the Biodynamic approach requires a lot more patience and a psychological shift in the mindset of the farmers and cultivators when it comes to seasonality and testing than traditional methods that are more harmful to the agricultural ecosystem of the land. Composting also plays an essential, yet tedious role in the formula that requires continuous adjustments, at least in the early stages, that eventually necessitate the need to integrate into lifestyle shifts versus just seasonal approaches. However, I have to applaud Marchesi and the rest of the Montinore team for being as committed as they have been to this resource-friendly technique.
While the rest of the wineries also held some charm for me on this trip and I enjoyed meeting the families running those and hearing more about their history as well as the trials and tribulations that they all face in this modern day world so impacted by our climate and economic crisis, Montinore definitely stood out to me as one that has been consciously working on the conservation of resources for the longest, most importantly they'd been doing this well before anyone had been paying attention.
In 2020, it'll be pretty safe to say that if you come over to my home at one point or another you’ll likely experience some Montinore wines.
Upon further reflection, this trip to Portland, while 98% for rest and recharging, was quite representative of what much of this past year’s journeys at The Nourish Foundation and Consciously Studios have been comprised of. We’ve met so many like-minded individuals and organizations all working to try to create better tomorrows in various sectors. As we continue to move outside of our immediate circles and the easy wins, I truly can't wait to see what 2020 has in store.