Applegater Fall 2017
The winemaker’s process:
An interview with
Herb Quady
BY DEBBIE TOLLEFSON
Herb Quady grew up on his family’s
winery in central California, which
specializes in sweet and aperitif wines, with
a “compulsory” love for muscat. But after
a chance exposure to the world of Rhone
varieties through Randall Graham, founder
of Bonny Doon Vineyard in California, he
got hooked on making table wines. After
completing a viticulture and enology
degree at California State University-
Fresno, he found his way to southern
Oregon. While working as the winemaker
at Troon Vineyard, Herb and his wife,
Meloney, founded Quady North in 2006.
We asked Herb a variety of questions
about wine, including the effects of climate
change on grapes. Here are his answers.
When do you start developing a plan
for a particular wine you are going to
make? After the grapes are picked or
before?
Ideally, we want to start developing
the plan very early. After spending a few
vintages in the Applegate, I had made some
observations that I could use to develop
my vineyard. I used trellis systems and
orientation in order to grow fruit that
would make wine in a particular style.
That was a great way to go. However, there
have been a few times when we’ve come up
with a plan as the fruit was heading to the
winery. That stuff happens, and you just
have to roll with it.
If your plan evolves, what information
do you use for development of a particular
wine? What information affects the final
outcome?
I like to talk a lot to different people
who work out in the marketplace. My
most popular wine was first made at the
suggestion of what was then my Portland
area representative. He thought he could
sell a reasonably priced alternative white
from Rhone grape varieties. From that
suggestion, I tried to imagine what people
might like in a white wine, in a general
sense. From my experience, people seem
to really gravitate toward bright, balanced,
fruit-driven white wines, no matter the
variety. That meant picking grapes on the
earlier side to retain acidity, fermenting in
stainless to emphasize the fruit, fermenting
cold to retain aromatics, and bottling early
to capture esters. [Description of “esters”
from Wikipedia: “Some of the aromas
perceived in wine are from esters created
by the reaction of acids and alcohol in the
wine.”]
Do you use the same general plan year
to year or does it change?
We make both terroir-driven wines
and concept-driven wines. With a terroir-
driven wine, we want the wine to show the
character of the place and the vintage, so
we try to keep the wine making as simple
and consistent as possible. This is how we
make our single-vineyard varietal wines.
With concept wines, like our Rosé and
Pistoleta, we adjust the plan in order to
stay true to the concept so that the wine
stays consistent from year to year.
You grew up in the wine business, so
how has your wine style evolved from
earlier wines or wines that your family
made?
When I first moved to southern Oregon
in 2003, I had a sort of “California-esque”
mentality. I had learned that vines needed
to be stressed in order to produce wines
of concentration. I didn’t realize that
our area has a lot of natural stresses: cold
winters, shallow soils, low-nutrient soils,
and dry, arid summers. This is different
from most parts of California. I changed
pretty quickly to focus more on vine
health after observing that the best wines
in the cellar came from the most balanced,
healthy vines. My family in California
specializes in dessert and aperitif wines,
which is a unique specialty. However,
making sweet wines is all about balance.
You have to balance sweetness with acidity;
otherwise the wine is cloying. In table
wines, even though the wine might not
have any residual sugar, you still need to
pay attention to balance. In this case, the
sweetness comes from fruit and oak, while
the drying effects come from tannin and
acid. These need to be kept in balance for
a table wine to be enjoyable.
You have been doing this a long time.
What still excites you about creating
a wine? Is there a particular variety of
grape or blend that you are looking
forward to creating?
One thing that’s exciting for me
is selling my fruit to other talented
winemakers. The more winemakers we can
get excited about southern Oregon fruit,
the better. It’s really fun to see what they do
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with it. Even
though it’s not
particularly a
great business
strategy, I love
experimenting
with different
varieties or
wine styles.
Lately we’ve
had a lot of
fun making
sparkling
wines. The
whole reason
to do this is
for the fun
and challenge
of creating. If
we stop letting
ourselves have
fun, it’s not
worth it.
What is
your insight
about climate
Herb Quady, owner of and winemaker at Quady North, grew up in
change and
central California with a “compulsory” love for muscat.
the Applegate
Valley?
This is a great question. I’ve only struck me was how delicate they were at
been here for 13 years, so some of my 12.5 percent alcohol, which is reminiscent
understanding comes from the growers of older Bordeaux wines. These days,
who have been here longer than that. I that same fruit makes a lovely, but much
know that a lot of the older vineyards richer, red wine, which usually finishes in
were established without irrigation because the upper 14 percent range. The changing
there was more rain during the summer. climate certainly allows us to keep pushing
In my first few vintages, I had to become the envelope. We certainly wouldn’t have
an expert on deacidulation because our considered grenache and tannat to be good
acids were much higher than they are now. bets a decade ago, but now they make solid
I think this is because even in “warm” wines every year.
What is scary is the unpredictability. In
vintages, like 2004, night temperatures
were cooler than they had been in recent other regions of the wine world, especially
vintages; hence, acid wasn’t respiring as in Europe, they have been experiencing
very extreme weather events like frost and
quickly as it is now.
The years from 2012 to 2016 were very hail during the growing season. California,
warm and characterized by early bud break, as we know, has just emerged from a serious
which made vines more susceptible to drought. For us, it could be more forest
spring frost, which continues to be an issue fires, spring frost, and drought that could
in the valley despite the warming weather. prove to be serious challenges.
Debbie Tollefson
It’s really hard to say what this means
debbie.avrealty@gmail.com
for growing wine grapes in the valley. Wine
grapes can perform well in a relatively broad The Quady North tasting room is located at
range of temperatures. What changes is the 255 East California Street in Jacksonville.
style of wine that’s made from them. I tried For more information, call 541-702-2123,
some beautiful old merlots made from the email info@quadynorth.com, or visit their
Layne Vineyard in the 1980s, and what website at quadynorth.com.
Hope Harrison, choir director for
Voices of the Applegate, offered a summer
session of singing with choir members and
anyone who might be interested in getting
together once a week to sing during the
months of July and August. We had a great
turnout and enjoyed a variety of songs,
including “I Will Sing My Song,” “The
Bare Necessities,” and “Sixteen Tons” in
two-part harmony, as well as a wide range
of music from the handbook, Get America
Singing Again, which contains about 50
of the favorite American songs we learned
in school. Our grand finale was to sing in
local nursing homes.
Our regular fall rehearsal session will
begin on Wednesday, September 6, and
we will rehearse every Wednesday evening
until November 15. Our concerts will be
held on Friday, December 1, at 7 pm at
the Old Presbyterian Church, 405 East
California Street, Jacksonville, and Sunday,
December 3, at 3 pm, at Applegate River
Lodge, 15100 Highway 238, Applegate.
For more information, call Joan Peterson at 541-846-6988.
