NATION/WORLD
Friday, June 5, 2015
WINE: Takes several years for a newly
planted vineyard to begin bearing fruit
Continued from 1A
Walla AVA was an attractive choice
for its unique geology, geography
and climate — what the French call
“terroir.”
“The Walla Walla AVA and its
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guished themselves,” Collier said.
“It was just a very easy decision
to decide we wanted to work with
them.”
The local vineyard will be
named after Pierre Pambrun, chief
trader at the Hudson’s Bay Co. post
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to Willamette Valley Vineyards
founder, Jim Bernau.
Pambrun Vineyard will be part of
a much larger development of vine-
yard properties known as SeVein,
led by some of Walla Walla’s most
recognized winemakers: Norm
McKibben, of Pepper Bridge
Winery; Chris Figgins, of Figgins
Family Wine Estates; and Marty
Clubb, of L’Ecole No. 41.
About 10 years ago, the partners
bought more than 2,000 acres of
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Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
with the idea of boosting the wine
industry around Milton-Freewater.
They developed irrigation and water
rights needed to support growing
vineyards in what is otherwise an
area of little rainfall.
“We knew the potential there,”
McKibben said.
Though the Walla Walla AVA
straddles the Oregon-Washington
border, SeVein’s vineyards are
located entirely in Oregon. The
cornerstone property, Seven Hills
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and oldest commercial vineyards.
Nine wineries have now bought
land in SeVein, including Willamette
Valley Vineyards. Figgins said they
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winery from Oregon’s west side.
“For them, it was kind of love at
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Collier said she visited the site in
January, and closed on the purchase
in April for $736,250. That includes
both the price of the land and the
cost of water rights for Pambrun.
In addition to the vineyard, Collier
said they plan to build a winery and
tasting room at Pambrun. They
will start out with mostly Cabernet
Sauvignon before adding Merlot
and Cabernet Franc to the list.
However, Collier said it takes
several years for a newly planted
vineyard to begin bearing fruit. That
means if Pambrun starts planting
Photo contributed by Willamette Valley Vineyards
Jon Meuret, of Maison Bleue Winery in Walla Walla, was recently
named consulting winemaker for the new Pambrun Vineyard in
Milton-Freewater.
next year, as anticipated, it likely
won’t be able to harvest until 2019.
Until then, Collier said they will
source grapes from the nearby Seven
Hills. The winery has already named
Jon Meuret, founder of Maison
Bleue Winery in Walla Walla, as
consulting winemaker, overseeing
everything from farming practices
to barrel selection and bottling.
“He’s one of Washington’s most
highly acclaimed winemakers,”
Collier said. “He’s very well
respected in the industry, and just
wonderful to work with.”
In addition, Willamette Valley
Vineyards has an option through
2016 on another property in SeVein,
where Collier said they would like to
plant a second vineyard in the area.
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long term,” she said. “We’re putting
a lot of investment out there. We just
believe in it that much.”
Duane Wollmuth, executive
director of the Walla Walla Wine
Alliance, said the development is
just another sign of the attention and
recognition the Walla Walla AVA is
getting from outside the region.
“The quality of wines here is
very excellent, and on par with the
leading wine regions of the world,”
he said. “The land potential here is
fantastic for vineyard development.”
Collier pointed to the region’s
hot days and cool nights, which
she said helps the grapes to ripen
and balances their natural acidity.
The rocky basalt soils around
Milton-Freewater are also surpris-
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drainage and forcing the vines to
struggle just enough to where they
concentrate resources on the fruit.
She said Pambrun Vineyard
should only add more awareness of
Walla Walla’s and Milton-Freewa-
ter’s wine potential.
“It will certainly bring in new
customers, new visiting guests and
hopefully more talent,” she said. “It
just gets everybody excited to be a
part of it.”
———
Contact George Plaven at
gplaven@eastoregonian.com
or
541-564-4547.
SITZ: USC alumni include the creators
of ‘Mad Men,’ ‘Scandal,’ and ‘Chuck’
program for aspiring writers.
Michelle said it was a validating
Television was reintroduced to moment for Wil.
“I didn’t really have any other
the Sitz household when the family
JRWD1HWÀL[DFFRXQWZKHQ:LOZDV friends that wrote,” he said.
“So it was nice to be a part of a
13 or 14 years old.
As Wil began catching up on community.”
When it came to looking at
various TV shows, he began to turn
colleges, it was Los Angeles or bust
his attention toward scriptwriting.
Scriptwriting was mostly a solo for Wil.
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endeavor for Wil, but he would
occasionally share his work with school he applied to, he also sent
applications to Loyola Marymount
others.
:LO ZDV LQ D ¿OP FOXE ZLWK University and Chapman Univer-
Andy Sherman, a longtime friend sity with the intention of eventually
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who will also graduate Saturday.
As a part of the mandatory
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a class project, Sherman said Wil writing samples Wil needed to
always had the best scripts, writing include with his USC application,
parodies of literary classics like “Of he included a 10-page script to a
Mice and Men and Zombies” and sitcom in the vein of “Friends.”
“Romeo and Juliet and Monsters.”
After he let Sherman review the
As he advanced through high script, Wil sent off the application
school, Wil continued to hone his knowing the competitive admission
writing skills, culminating in accep- process.
tance to the University of Iowa
When Wil was accepted, friends
Young Writers’ Studio, a summer and family were not surprised,
Continued from 1A
knowing the years of dedication he
put into the craft.
When Wil starts classes in the
fall, he will join some esteemed
company that have graduated from
the program in past years.
Alumni include the creators
of “Scandal,” “Chuck” and “Mad
Men.”
Arriving to his interview for
this story in a “Buffy the Vampire
Slayer” shirt, Wil literally wears his
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2WKHULQÀXHQFHVLQFOXGH³7ZLQ
Peaks,”
“Arrested
Develop-
ment” “Enlightened,” and “The
Comeback.”
Although Wil has a ways to go
before he can add “hit TV show”
to his resume, he’s starting to build
up a small library of unproduced
scripts.
In addition to 10 scripts for his
original sitcom, Wil has also started
writing dramatic scripts, including
a spy thriller with a transgender
protagonist.
CON
GRA
TS
ECHO GRADUATES!
HOME
OF THE
COUGARS!
Echo Hills Golf Course
East Oregonian
Page 9A
U.S. might deploy
missiles in Europe
to counter Russia
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
Obama administration is weighing
a range of aggressive responses to
Russia’s alleged violation of a Cold
War-era nuclear treaty, including
deploying land-based missiles in
Europe that could pre-emptively
destroy the Russian weapons.
This “counterforce” option is
among possibilities the administra-
tion is considering as it reviews its
entire policy toward Russia in light
of Moscow’s military intervention
in Ukraine, its annexation of
Crimea and other actions the U.S.
deems confrontational in Europe
and beyond.
The options go so far as one
implied — but not stated explicitly
— that would improve the ability
of U.S. nuclear weapons to destroy
military targets on Russian territory.
It all has a certain Cold War
ring, even if the White House
ultimately decides to continue
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testing of a ground-launched cruise
missile with a range prohibited by
the treaty.
Russia denies violating the
treaty and has, in turn, claimed
violations by the United States in
erecting missile defenses.
It is unclear whether Russia
has actually deployed the suspect
missile or whether Washington
would make any military move
if the Russians stopped short of
deployment. For now, adminis-
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continue trying to talk Moscow
into treaty compliance.
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cials have used obscure terms like
“counterforce” and “countervailing
strike capabilities” to describe two
of its military response options,
apparently hoping to buy time for
diplomacy.
The Pentagon declined to make
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available to discuss the issue. A
spokesman, Lt. Col. Joe Sowers,
said, “All the options under consid-
eration are designed to ensure that
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advantage from their violation.”
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hearing in February, Defense
Secretary Ash Carter noted his
concern about Russia’s alleged
violation of the 1987 Intermedi-
ate-range Nuclear Forces, or INF,
treaty. He said disregard for treaty
limitations was a “two-way street”
opening the way for the U.S. to
respond in kind.
The standoff speaks volumes
about the depths to which U.S.-
Russia relations have fallen. And
that poses problems not only
for the Obama administration
but also for the NATO alliance,
whose members in eastern Europe
are especially leery of allowing
Russian provocations to go unan-
swered.
Western leaders are meeting
Sunday and Monday for a G-7
summit — from which Russian
President Vladimir Putin has
been excluded — where Russian
aggression will be a key topic.
On Friday, Carter plans to meet in
Germany with American defense
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out a counterstrategy to Russia’s
military intervention in Ukraine
and to reassure allies worried about
Moscow. The treaty issue is not a
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aides said regional nuclear force
issues could come up.
The U.S. and its Western part-
ners have tried to use economic
and diplomatic leverage against
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including Ukraine. But they also
recognize that Moscow still plays
an important role in international
affairs, including the nuclear talks
with Iran that are among President
Barack Obama’s highest foreign
policy priorities.
China suspected in massive
breach of federal personnel data
WASHINGTON (AP) —
China-based hackers are suspected
of breaking into the computer
networks of the U.S. government
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identifying information of at least 4
million federal workers, American
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The Department of Homeland
Security said in a statement that
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Management and the Interior
Department had been compro-
mised.
“The FBI is conducting an
investigation to identify how and
why this occurred,” the statement
said.
The hackers were believed to
be based in China, said Sen. Susan
Collins, a Maine Republican.
Collins, a member of the Senate
intelligence committee, said the
breach was “yet another indication
of a foreign power probing success-
fully and focusing on what appears
to be data that would identify
people with security clearances.”
A spokesman for the Chinese
Embassy in Washington called
such accusations “not responsible
and counterproductive.”
“Cyberattacks conducted across
countries are hard to track and
therefore the source of attacks is
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Zhu Haiquan said Thursday night.
He added that hacking can “only
be addressed by international
cooperation based on mutual trust
and mutual respect.”
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to be named because he was not
authorized to publicly discuss the
data breach, said it could potentially
affect every federal agency. One
key question is whether intelligence
agency employee information
was stolen. Former government
employees are affected as well.
“This is an attack against the
nation,” said Ken Ammon, chief
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those carried out by nation states
for the purpose of espionage. The
information stolen could be used
to impersonate or blackmail federal
employees with access to sensitive
information, he said.
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ment is the human resources depart-
ment for the federal government,
and it conducts background checks
for security clearances. The OPM
conducts more than 90 percent of
federal background investigations,
according to its website.
The agency said it is offering
credit monitoring and identity
theft insurance for 18 months to
individuals potentially affected.
The National Treasury Employees
Union, which represents workers
in 31 federal agencies, said it is
encouraging members to sign
up for the monitoring as soon as
possible.
ECHO HIGH SCHOOL
Graduation: Friday, June 5 at 6 p.m. • Echo School Gymnasium
400 GOLF COURSE RD. • ECHO
WWW.ECHO-OREGON.COM
CALL 541-376-8244 FOR TEE TIMES
Congratulations Class of 2015!
Congratulations
from City of Echo
& Fort Henrietta
RV Park
Colby Baker
Ameta Barzee
Savannah
Colson
Jon Dorn
Dustin Goldie
Elizabeth
McCarty
Madyson Moore
Haley
Shockman
Bailey Srofe
Danny Tappo
Noah Taylor
Paeli Thorne
Stephen Walker
Robert Wirtz
Gabrial
Zacharias
Echo High School - Class of 2015
Congratulations & Best Wishes
~Donn Walls & all at
Hermiston Realty
2372 N. 1st St., Hermiston
541-567-2121
Good Luck Echo Seniors!
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