September 9, 2016
CapitalPress.com
7
LIVE brings added dimension to wine
There’s a lot going on at
Ayres Vineyard. There are
the grapes, of course: 18.5
acres of them, mostly Pinot
noir, spilling down a grassy
slope overlooking the peaks
of the Coast Range. And
then there’s the cellar, a pur-
pose-built winemaking facil-
ity directly adjacent to the
vineyard.
But this high, south-fac-
ing saddle in the Ribbon
Ridge AVA just outside New-
berg, Ore., is home to more
than just a business. It’s also
where winemaker Brad Mc-
Leroy and his extended fam-
ily live — kids, dogs, even
in-laws, all making a home
among the vines.
Their business marks the
culmination of a long career
in wine, which took McLeroy
from his family’s wine shop
in Kansas City all the way to
the Willamette Valley.
“I came ... in the early
’90s, and I loved it. I thought
to myself, ‘Oh my gosh, peo-
ple live this way?’ So in 1993
I moved to Portland, went to
culinary school, and started
working at wineries. And my
fate was sealed.”
Ribbon Ridge AVA is the
smallest of the Willamette
Valley AVAs, and one McLe-
roy says is characterized by
drier, warmer conditions and
a persistent breeze that keeps
mildew pressure down and
minimizes frost in the early
season. “Daytime temps are
a little warmer, so we ripen a
little earlier. Some years the
faucet comes on in the fall,
and it’s nice to get ripened
before then.”
Those conditions, cou-
pled with sandy, clay- and
fossil-studded soil, produce
a darker expression of Pinot
noir characterized by dark
fruit, earth, and baking spice
components.
All of Ayres’ grapes are
used in their estate wines.
With the exception of a small
“fun whites” block, the acre-
age is planted entirely to ive
different clones of Pinot noir:
Dijon clones 3, 115, 667,
777, and Pommard.
With the vineyard abut-
ting the home where Mc-
Leroy and his family live,
chemical use is kept to a bare
minimum. “We don’t use
pesticides or herbicides; this
is where my kids and dogs
play,” says McLeroy.
Ayres is certiied by LIVE,
an independent certiication
board that promotes wine-
growing and winemaking
practices that tread lightly
on the environment, protect
wildlife, and treat workers
fairly. Originating in the Wil-
lamette Valley in 1996, LIVE
relies on science-based stan-
dards for viticulture as well
as enology, making it one of
the only third-party certii-
cation program that encom-
passes the vineyard as well as
the cellar.
To maintain his certiica-
tion, McLeroy must keep a
log of everything he applies
to the vineyard, host an annu-
al inspection, document any
soil amendments, and adhere
to a set of industry best prac-
tices for human resources.
“It might cost a little more to
farm this way, but I think it’s
Margarett Waterbury/For the Capital Press
Pommard Pinot noir basks in the summer sun at Ayres Vineyard. The vineyard drops fruit each year — “a bad business decision” but one
that ensures focused, concentrated lavor, winemaker Brad McLeroy says.
worth it,” McLeroy says.
McLeroy has seen his fair
share of change in the Willa-
mette Valley wine communi-
ty during the past 15 years.
“There are some rumblings
right now of bigger entities
moving in, but you can’t ight
change. I’m not going to say
the party’s full.”
But McLeroy isn’t too
concerned about the com-
petition, at least not in an
immediate sense. “Family
is irst and foremost for us.
We’re just going to keep our
heads down and sell the next
vintage.”
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V16-4/#7
By MARGARETT WATERBURY
For the Capital Press
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