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CapitalPress.com
September 8, 2017
Vineyard produces rootstock for other vineyards
By ALIYA HALL
Capital Press
Aliya Hall/Capital Press
Chris Shown of Brigadoon Wine Co. The winery is named after the
1954 movie “Brigadoon.”
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL
JUNCTION CITY, Ore.
— Brigadoon Wine Co. is
more than just a vineyard.
The Shown family-owned
business also produces scion
wood and rootstock for other
vineyards.
Established in 1992, Briga-
doon opened with the encour-
agement of the eldest Shown
son, Matt, who graduated
from Oregon State Universi-
ty in horticulture. He worked
at a winery in New Zealand
before taking more classes
at Chemeketa Community
College. Now he’s the family
winemaker.
“He was looking for some-
thing that would offer both
a mental and physical chal-
lenge, and thought that wine-
making might provide that,”
Chris Shown, Matt’s father,
said.
A grafted rootstock. Vineyard owner Chris Shown was born into the
wine business. His father operated a winery in the Napa Valley of
California.
Chris was born into the
wine business. He worked
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for his father’s Rutherford
Vineyard in California’s
Napa Valley, and has ap-
plied that experience to
Brigadoon, even though it
is smaller and produces pri-
marily Pinot noir instead of
Cabernet.
The name of the winery
came from the 1954 movie
of the same name, in which
a small village in a valley
appeared only every 100
years.
“First time we saw the
property it was January. It
was cold and foggy out in
the valley; we drove up the
driveway in our old soc-
cer-mom van, an old Dodge
Caravan. As we got up the
driveway we got above the
fog, came through the gate
and basically had a beauti-
ful, little valley open up to
us. It was Brigadoon,” Chris
Shown said.
Initially, the Showns
bought their plant material
from Oregon State Univer-
sity, but have now switched
to Washington State Univer-
sity.
They buy what is called
“foundation block,” which
is what the start of rootstock
is grounded on. This is mon-
itored carefully and screened
for viruses on a regular ba-
sis.
Once the plants are in the
ground, they are considered
a mother block. These blocks
are tested twice a year by the
Oregon Department of Ag-
riculture to ensure that the
winery is selling only clean
and virus-free material.
“When we started, I
thought it would be interest-
ing to grow the rootstock on
a trellis. It was a good idea,
but prohibitively expen-
sive. We made the decision
to start with a small area,
cut the trunks and let the
vines grow into the ground.
That’s how 75 percent of
the world does it, and what
a difference,” Chris Shown
said.
There was a definite
learning curve for Shown
in the beginning because
of the expense and the lack
of knowledge about which
rootstock would grow well
in the Willamette Valley.
Shown described the process
as akin to “throwing mud
on the wall and seeing what
sticks.”
After the trial-and-er-
ror approach, the Showns
could pick out which plants
worked for them and what
the market was seeking.
However, Chris Shown
said the most important
thing they have to offer is
isolation.
“We’re surrounded on
three sides by timber, and
the disease pressure and in-
sect pressure is less than so
many other vineyards and
nurseries. We benefit from
that,” he said.
One rewarding aspect of
selling rootstock was when
Chris Shown discovered that
plant material he grew was
being planted in a vineyard
owned by musician Dave
Matthews.
“It was so cool,” he said.
“That’s what makes you feel
good.”