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CapitalPress.com
November 27, 2015
Oregon
New grape crushing facility opens doors in Medford
By CRAIG REED
For the Capital Press
MEDFORD, Ore. — There
was ground available for a
vineyard and a facility avail-
able for a winery so the deci-
sion to go into grape growing
and crushing was easy for the
Naumes family.
The family, one of the larg-
est pear growers in Southern
Oregon’s Jackson County, has
been in the orchard business
for over 100 years. So while
getting into the grape business
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In 2013, Pinot Noir, Char-
donnay and Grenache grapes
were planted on 60 acres, a site
that had previously been an
apple and pear orchard. Grapes
were harvested off 15 acres of
that ground this past fall.
The crush facility in north
Medford was originally a pear
packing plant, but the fami-
ly had stopped packing there
about 20 years ago when the
business consolidated three
packing houses into its pres-
ent-day facility. A year-long
project renovated it into Nau-
mes Crush & Fermentation
and began the process of turn-
ing grapes into wine in August.
“We recognized the rapid
growth in the wine industry in
Southern Oregon and that there
would soon not be enough
crush capacity for the region,”
said Laura Naumes, chief op-
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“We had a background in the
juice concentrate business and,
although not exactly the same,
there are a lot of similarities so
we felt somewhat comfortable
making the decision to enter
the custom crush foray.”
Medford has two other
custom crush businesses: Pal-
let Wine Co. opened in 2009
and Barrel 42 opened in 2014.
They were both reportedly
booked to capacity last year.
Chris Graves was hired in
May to be the winemaker at
Naumes Crush. Graves is a
graduate of the University of
California at Davis Viticul-
ture and Enology Program. He
worked at several wineries in
California for 10 years before
moving north to the Medford
area.
“This is nearly as good of a
crush set up as you’re going to
get,” Graves said of the equip-
ment that was installed in the
winery. “The places I worked
in California didn’t have the
technology that we have here.”
One piece of equipment is
ODP
picks
pot
policy
point
person
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
Craig Reed/For the Capital Press
Chris Graves, the winemaker at Naumes Crush & Fermentation in Medford, Ore., punches grapes in a tank at the facility in mid-Octobor.
Graves says the facility that opened in August processed about 150 tons of grapes this fall.
an optical sorter that automat-
ically selects the right grapes
for the winemaking process.
Graves also said the heating
and cooling of the stainless
steel tanks can be controlled,
even remotely, giving him an
edge in making better wines.
He added the facility also
has a state-of-the-art laborato-
ry that is able to quickly and
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lyze a lot of samples, in turn
helping to determine the best
wines.
Naumes Crush processed
about 150 tons of grapes from
eight southwestern Oregon
sources this fall. Graves said
the facility easily has the po-
tential to process up to 500
tons of grapes.
“It was a good year with
good grapes,” the winemaker
said of the 2015 crush. “South-
ern Oregon wines are getting
better. It’s neat to be a part of
this movement.”
Laura Naumes said she was
pleased with the recent crush.
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on a Friday and were crushing
the following Monday,” she
said. “We had very few, minor
problems. The equipment ran
smoothly, our cellar staff was
incredible and our clients were
a joy to work with. We look
forward to at least doubling
our crush next season.”
Sunny Jones is the point
person for all things cannabis
at the Oregon Department of
Agriculture.
After 10 years with the
agency, the former pesticide
investigator took a newly
created position Nov. 16 de-
signed to connect marijuana
businesses and other agen-
cies with the right informa-
tion and sources at the agri-
culture department.
The agency has its hands
in multiple stages of marijua-
na cultivation and production,
from weights and measures
to food safety. If you manu-
facture cannabis edibles, for
instance, you need a food
license from ODA. If you
want to portion out marijuana
for commerce, you need a li-
censed measuring device.
“We count it as one of
the 250 different agricultural
commodities produced by Or-
egon agriculture,” said Bruce
Pokarney, ODA’s spokesman.
Due to agency overlap
in regulation of marijuana,
ODA needs open commu-
nication lines with other de-
partments, including Oregon
Health Authority and the Or-
egon Liquor Control Com-
mission.
So, earlier this year, the
epartment asked the Legisla-
ture for a dedicated position,
a liaison of sorts, to coordi-
nate cannabis policy, Pokar-
ney said.
Her task include attend-
ing governmental meetings
on cannabis and responding
to marijuana business oper-
ators’ inquiries about what
the ODA requires of them,
among other duties, Pokar-
ney said.
Agri-Business Council changes its name Corp to take over as CBARC director
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
The Agri-Business Coun-
cil of Oregon, which puts
up crop identification signs
along highways and intro-
duces children to agriculture
through its Adopt a Farm-
er program, is changing its
name to Oregon Aglink.
Executive Director Geoff
Horning said the new name
better reflects what’s be-
come the non-profit organi-
zation’s primary focus: con-
necting rural producers and
urban consumers.
“As Oregon’s urban hubs
and statewide population
continues to grow and at-
tract newcomers, it’s es-
sential to continue to focus
our communications on the
importance of local ag to
their daily lives, and to con-
nect farmers and producers
to those of us who rely on
them.” Horning said in a
prepared statement.
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Funding
maintained for
federal ARS
By GEORGE PLAVEN
EO Media Group
In a surprise announce-
ment Nov. 19, Valtcho Jeliaz-
kov — the man hired to re-
place Steve Petrie as director
of Oregon State University’s
Columbia Basin Agricultur-
al Research Center — told
growers he has resigned after
one year on the job.
Mary Corp, regional ad-
ministrator for OSU Exten-
Oregon Wheat Growers
sion Service, will take
League.
over the position start-
Jeliazkov discussed
ing Nov. 23. Corp will
new developments at
continue to head up
the station in 2015 be-
university outreach in
fore revealing he is
Umatilla, Morrow and
stepping down as di-
Gilliam counties.
The news came as Mary Corp rector to focus on his
own research projects.
members of a liaison
Jeliazkov, a native of Bul-
committee between farmers,
CBARC and the federal Agri- garia, joined CBARC in De-
cultural Research Service met cember 2014 after working
at the Pendleton station for as director for the University
an open house and program of Wyoming agricultural ex-
updates. They were joined periment station in Sheridan.
by Dan Arp, dean of the OSU However, Jeliazkov said he
College of Agricultural Sci- wanted to free himself of
ence; Tom Shanower, associ- administrative duties to ad-
ate area director of the ARS; vance what he described as
and Blake Rowe, CEO of the “innovative” research.
48-1/#18