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About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 2017)
10 CapitalPress.com September 8, 2017 Oregon’s wine industry by the numbers Number of wineries 2000 139 2015 Top grape varieties Syrah: 2.2% Riesling: 2.6% Chardonnay: 5.6% 702 Pinot gris: 12.9% Number of vineyards 2000 480 2015 1,052 Pinot noir: 62.3% Other: 14.4% By MARGARETT WATERBURY For the Capital Press Location of vineyards 1. North Willamette Valley: 57.6% 2. Rogue Valley: 15.5% 3. South Willamette Valley: 10% 4. Columbia Gorge/northeast Oregon: 9.9% 5. Umpqua Valley: 6.6% 1 4 3 5 2 Wine average bottle price (750 ml) Oregon: $16.07 Washington: $9.76 California: $6.68 Oregon wines made from estate-grown fruit: 52% Oregon vineyards certified sustainable: 47% Wine retail volume growth from 2015 to 2016 Oregon: 13.5% Washington: 3.1% California: 2% Economic impact • Number of wine-related jobs in Oregon: 17,100 • Wages paid in wine-related jobs: $527 million • Wine-related tourism revenue: $208 million • Charitable donations made by Oregon’s wine businesses: $11 million • Statewide economic impact of the Oregon wine industry: $3.35 billion Source: Oregon Wine Board Alan Kenaga/Capital Press BUYING or SELLING Vineyard Property? Your best pick is More than 1,080 rural property listings from 70 rural property professionals. • Ag Businesses • Berries • Crops • Dairies • Farm Properties Winemakers, distillers get into the spirit • Hobby Farms • Large & Small Acreage • Livestock • Nursery/Greenhouse • Orchards & Vineyards • Ranch Properties • Recreational / Resort • Rural Residential • Timber Buyers can search by type, price, location, acreage, bedrooms, baths, crops, livestock, water, irrigation and more. BROKERS: Contact your FarmSeller sales rep today 1-800-882-6789 farmseller@capitalpress.com V17-2/#13 Distilling and winemaking have been linked for hundreds of years, but most wineries balk at the cost and logistics involved in starting their own in-house distillery. Now some Oregon wine- makers are bridging that gap by partnering with local distill- eries to make brandy from their wines. Winery licenses allow win- eries to possess distilled spirits for sanitation and fortifi cation purposes without applying for a Distilled Spirits Permit or paying federal excise tax on the spirits. Many winemakers fi nd the prospect of making brandy from their own wine enticing, especially when confronted with a batch of wine that didn’t turn out exactly as hoped. But contract distillation can be cost- ly, so winemakers should care- fully examine their goals for contract distillation. “It’s a part of our business because we like getting to help people make something deli- cious,” says Andy Garrison, distiller at Portland’s Stonebarn Brandyworks and Trail Distill- ing in Oregon City. “But if they don’t have a goal in mind and are distilling just to get rid of bad wine, it can be a bit of throwing good money after bad.” Tad Seestadt, owner of Ran- som Winery and Distillery, echoes that sentiment. “What- ever comes out of the still is a refl ection of what you put in,” says Seestadt. “It’s not a magic wand you pass over the wine and you have a beautiful Co- gnac-style brandy.” Making a good brandy or fortifying spirit means produc- ing a high-quality, non-sulfi ted wine without signifi cant fl aws, although Garrison mentions that winemakers do have op- portunities to cut costs, since wine for distillation doesn’t Margarett Waterbury/For the Capital Press Distiller Andy Garrison processes Pinot noir pomace from a winery partner at the Stonebarn Brandyworks distillery. need to be aged in oak, fi ltered, cold-stabilized, extensively racked, or stored for very long. “It can also be a great way to utilize saignée or press cuts that don’t fi t your wines’ profi le,” says Garrison. “With good planning, we can be distilling weeks or months after the wine is done fermenting, which re- duces the risks from not adding sulfi tes.” At Anne Amie Vineyards, winemaker Thomas House- man has been producing for- tifi ed products for more than 10 years. At fi rst, he bought commercial brandy for forti- fi cation, but eventually, he de- cided he wanted to use his own wine to make the fortifying spirit for port-style wine and Muller-Thurgau dessert wine. “So we started making extra wine” and sending it to local distillers to turn into brandy, says Houseman. Anne Amie experimented with several wines, ultimately settling on Muller Thurgau as their fa- vorite varietal for distillation. “It makes a really clean, nice, pretty brandy,” says House- man, “it’s really aromatic. And I think it’s a great story. I have a dessert wine fortifi ed with its own brandy from the same grapes. I don’t think anybody’s making a fortifi ed Muller-Thur- gau dessert wine with its own brandy anywhere else in the world.” When it comes to select- ing a partner, Houseman says the best thing winemakers can do is taste the distiller’s exist- ing products. “If you like their product, chances are good you’re going to like the result.” Then, be prepared to play an active role in the process, but rely on your distilling partner for technical advice. “I’m not a distiller,” says Houseman, “I don’t know how to make good brandy, so you work with somebody you trust.” Winery-distillery collab- orations are still relatively uncommon, but Garrison pre- dicts growth in the high-qual- ity ready-to-drink segment may buoy the trend. “Spirit for Port-style dessert wines is still most of what I distill, but there is more interest in vermouth and lighter, aperitif-style forti- fi ed wines. With the wine-in- cans trend, imagine vermouth spritzers made with all estate grapes, or 100 percent Pinot noir sangria.”
