Care of Elk Cove Vineyards
INTRO:
In the Willamette Valley, there are three basic soil types:
VOLCANIC BASALT (Jory): Rich, moist and relatively fertile (for vineyard soil, that is), volcanic soil is best exemplified by Jory, the reddish dirt found in the Dundee Hills of the Willamette Valley. Pinot noir grown in Jory soil tends to taste like cherry pie: Fruity, sweet and spicy.
These volcanic soils originate from the rich volcanic heritage in this part of the country over millions of years, and primarily from the Columbia River Basalt floods of some 12-20 million years ago. These soils cover from 300 -1000 feet above the valley floor.
SEDIMENTARY: Dry and brittle sedimentary soil makes for deep-rooted vines and structured, dark wines with more of a Dr. Pepper flavor profile: black fruit, cola and chocolate. The McMinnville, Ribbon Ridge and Yamhill-Carlton District sub-appellations of the Willamette Valley are all known for their sedimentary clay soils, primarily Willakenzie. The coarse-grained, ancient marine and younger glacial sediments native to the area are some of the oldest and youngest soils in the valley. These soils drain quickly establishing a natural deficit-irrigation effect.
In the Willamette Valley, there are three basic soil types:
VOLCANIC BASALT (Jory): Rich, moist and relatively fertile (for vineyard soil, that is), volcanic soil is best exemplified by Jory, the reddish dirt found in the Dundee Hills of the Willamette Valley. Pinot noir grown in Jory soil tends to taste like cherry pie: Fruity, sweet and spicy.
These volcanic soils originate from the rich volcanic heritage in this part of the country over millions of years, and primarily from the Columbia River Basalt floods of some 12-20 million years ago. These soils cover from 300 -1000 feet above the valley floor.
SEDIMENTARY: Dry and brittle sedimentary soil makes for deep-rooted vines and structured, dark wines with more of a Dr. Pepper flavor profile: black fruit, cola and chocolate. The McMinnville, Ribbon Ridge and Yamhill-Carlton District sub-appellations of the Willamette Valley are all known for their sedimentary clay soils, primarily Willakenzie. The coarse-grained, ancient marine and younger glacial sediments native to the area are some of the oldest and youngest soils in the valley. These soils drain quickly establishing a natural deficit-irrigation effect.
Wholly Mammoth roamed the Dundee Hills during the ice-age floods
Photo: dvs from Vermont, USA
'Wooly' (left), is reflective of the ice age floods which shaped Willamette Valley soils so long ago.
These soils cover up to 300 feet of the valley floor with typically shallow topsoil's.
The topsoil is beautiful, dark, sedimentary soil called Willakenzie (the name coming from a blending of the Willamette and McKenzie rivers). This is “younger” soil for the Willamette Valley, from the Missoula Floods (glacial, alluvial soil), about 14-16,000 years ago which formed Lake Allison (AKA Lake Willamette). Normally, this soil would be considered too rich for viticulture because the vines grow too easily. The plant puts its energy into growing up, not down, vines not roots, and that’s not the recipe to produce great wine. But it’s a very shallow layer - in some vineyards as little as eighteen inches - with sandstone beneath. The shallow topsoil doesn't retain much water in the summer, so the youngest vines are almost immediately, heavily stressed for moisture. What does this impart to the wine?
“It’s one of the more tannically structured in the Willamette Valley,” says Marcus Goodfellow of Matello Wines. “The flavors are focused around red fruit, and I think loamy earth characteristics. Strawberry and cherry are the base and it builds from that. Tannins and acid are always pronounced, which is very similar to what you find in Burgundy.”
There’s a tension between the acidity and the tannins. It’s that tension that personifies the “iron fist in a velvet glove” that makes great Pinot Noir. But these are wines that are in it for the long run: “The pronounced acidity and tannins are maybe not what you’d think of for dinner tonight. This is a wine that will age well.”
That they do—not being so readily drinkable as their peers down the road in Yamhill-Carlton. It takes a few extra years for that structure to mellow (the word "patience" frequently comes up in reviews) but the payoff is brilliant: plenty of spice and floral aromatics, elegant but focused fruit flavors. Expect big results from this compact AVA.
LOESS: A powdery volcanic soil, shallow and ashy, loess is windblown, silty loam that was left behind by retreating Ice Age glaciers 12-15,000 years ago (AKA Missoula Floods). It drains quickly and erodes easily, requiring careful vineyard management. The flavor profile of pinot noirs grown in the best-known Willamette Valley loess, Laurelwood, is bright red fruit with notes of earth and white pepper.
STUDY GUIDES:
The Dirt on Willamette Valley Soil Types (OregonLive)
Part 1 - Willamette Valley Wineries Association (Geologic History)
Photo: dvs from Vermont, USA
'Wooly' (left), is reflective of the ice age floods which shaped Willamette Valley soils so long ago.
These soils cover up to 300 feet of the valley floor with typically shallow topsoil's.
The topsoil is beautiful, dark, sedimentary soil called Willakenzie (the name coming from a blending of the Willamette and McKenzie rivers). This is “younger” soil for the Willamette Valley, from the Missoula Floods (glacial, alluvial soil), about 14-16,000 years ago which formed Lake Allison (AKA Lake Willamette). Normally, this soil would be considered too rich for viticulture because the vines grow too easily. The plant puts its energy into growing up, not down, vines not roots, and that’s not the recipe to produce great wine. But it’s a very shallow layer - in some vineyards as little as eighteen inches - with sandstone beneath. The shallow topsoil doesn't retain much water in the summer, so the youngest vines are almost immediately, heavily stressed for moisture. What does this impart to the wine?
“It’s one of the more tannically structured in the Willamette Valley,” says Marcus Goodfellow of Matello Wines. “The flavors are focused around red fruit, and I think loamy earth characteristics. Strawberry and cherry are the base and it builds from that. Tannins and acid are always pronounced, which is very similar to what you find in Burgundy.”
There’s a tension between the acidity and the tannins. It’s that tension that personifies the “iron fist in a velvet glove” that makes great Pinot Noir. But these are wines that are in it for the long run: “The pronounced acidity and tannins are maybe not what you’d think of for dinner tonight. This is a wine that will age well.”
That they do—not being so readily drinkable as their peers down the road in Yamhill-Carlton. It takes a few extra years for that structure to mellow (the word "patience" frequently comes up in reviews) but the payoff is brilliant: plenty of spice and floral aromatics, elegant but focused fruit flavors. Expect big results from this compact AVA.
LOESS: A powdery volcanic soil, shallow and ashy, loess is windblown, silty loam that was left behind by retreating Ice Age glaciers 12-15,000 years ago (AKA Missoula Floods). It drains quickly and erodes easily, requiring careful vineyard management. The flavor profile of pinot noirs grown in the best-known Willamette Valley loess, Laurelwood, is bright red fruit with notes of earth and white pepper.
STUDY GUIDES:
The Dirt on Willamette Valley Soil Types (OregonLive)
Part 1 - Willamette Valley Wineries Association (Geologic History)