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Biodynamic vineyards don’t necessarily look different from other vineyards. Cooper Mountain Vineyards in the Fall.

Wine Pairing Weekend Group Dives into Biodynamic Willamette Valley
This month, our Wine Pairing Weekend group is celebrating Oregon Wine Month by diving into Biodynamic Wineries from the Willamette Valley. Jade Helm, a member of our group, organized samples from a number of wineries so we could explore the variety of biodynamic wines from all over the Willamette Valley. Take a look further down in this post for links to many more posts on biodynamics in Willamette Valley.  I’ve written multiple posts on biodynamics (here, here, here), so I’ll spare the details here and jump right into Willamette Valley and Brick House Vineyards.

Willamette Valley AVA, Oregon – Russian Doll of AVA’s
Our group is posting on wineries located in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. If you’re not familiar, here’s a primer. American Viticultural Areas (AVA’s) are specific delineated regions in which wineries and grape growers feel the wines have some unifying qualities. AVA’s are approved by the Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) of the US Dept. of Treasury. So when you’re looking a bottle of Oregon wine and it says “Oregon” on the label, you know the grapes could have been grown anywhere in the state. If it says “Willamette Valley AVA“, that’s good news because the grapes come from a region well known for quality, even though it’s still quite large at 3.3 Million acres. To further delineate individual regions, sub-AVA’s inside the larger Willamette Valley AVA (approved in 1984) were defined based on soil type and local topography. Chehalem Mountains AVA includes about 1600 acres of planted vineyards, approved in 2006. Finally, Brick House Vineyard is located in the Ribbon Ridge AVA , which is located inside the Chehalem Mountains AVA. Ribbon Ridge is the smallest AVA in Oregon, with 3,350 acres in total area, with 500 acres planted.

Willamette Valley AVA courtesy of Oregon Wine Board

Chehelam Mountains AVA, inside Willamette Valley AVA. Ribbon Ridge AVA is the dark spot on the bottom left corner. Map courtesy of Chehelam Mountains Winegrowers

Look carefully just below the center of the image, Brick House vineyard and winery are marked. Image courtesy of oregonpinotnoirwine.com

Brick House Vineyard
Brick House Vineyard is a second career for owners Doug Tunnel and Melissa Mills. Both were successful journalists and Doug had spent a significant part of his career as an international correspondent. He fell in love with wine while stationed in Europe (funny how that works!) and started to think about having his own winery.

Doug’s background as a journalist shines brightly on the Brick House website. He gives a remarkably concise and compelling explanation of organic and biodynamic viticulture, including the all-important “Why”. Take a minute and enjoy his short piece on their website. Now, take an additional three minutes to hear Doug personally tell his story, courtesy of the Skurnik wines youtube channel.

Brick House is organic and Demeter (biodynamic) certified. All grapes are estate grown, produced and bottled by Brick House Wine Company. Ingredients are not required for wine labeling, but I enjoyed seeing the ingredients listed on the back of the bottle: organic grapes, sulfites.

You may be familiar with the Slow Wine guide as an annual guide to Italian wines of note, published by the Slow Food organization. You might ask what that has to do with Oregon? In 2018, the guide expanded to include wineries which met their criteria in California and Oregon! Brick House was one of 50 Oregon wineries chosen for inclusion in the guide. They were given a snail award, to “signal a cellar that has distinguished itself through its interpretation of sensorial, territorial, environmental and personal values in harmony with the Slow Food philosophy”.

Disclosure: Brick House provided the wine as a sample. No other compensation was involved, all opinions expressed are mine.

Brick House Ribbon Ridge Chardonnay 2016 (sample, $28 SRP) 12.6% abv
Eye: Clear, medium lemon color with legs
Nose: Clean, medium+ intensity. White flowers, fresh underripe pineapple, citrus and chalk. A touch of coconut far in the background.
Mouth: Dry, medium+ flavor intensity. Medium acidity, medium body, medium alcohol. Nice, creamy texture with flavors of citrus and pineapple. Mouthfeel has that nice roundness of oak without overt flavors, very nice. Tart flavors of citrus and pineapple linger in a nice medium+ finish.

Enjoying a taste of Brick House Chardonnay while grilling the chicken for dinner

Brick House Chardonnay with Harissa Marinated Chicken with Red Grapefruit Salad
On advice from one of the other bloggers in our Wine Pairing Weekend group, I’m giving “Ottolenghi – The Cookbook” a trial run, courtesy of our local library.  I chose this recipe, as I could cook the chicken on the grill, and I knew Julie would love pairing the chicken with a grapefruit salad.  The full recipe was reprinted by the BBC Ottolenghi harrissa chicken with grapefruit salad in case you’d like to give it a try. The only modification I made was cooking the chicken outdoors on the grill. I gave it an initial sear over direct heat, then moved the chicken over to indirect heat until it reached an internal temperature of 165° F.

The pairing was spot-on. The Brick House Chardonnay had texture and mouthfeel from fermentation and aging in oak, but no perceptible “oaky” flavors which often get in the way of pairing with food. The harissa marinade/sauce was very flavorful but not overly hot/spicy. The sweet & acidic sauce over top was a nice addition.  The grapefruit salad was refreshing and the additional touch of fresh avocado seemed in keeping with the rest of the dish. While the ingredient list seems long, the meal came together pretty easily. The marinade is made the day before, so cooking day is pretty easy!

Wine Pairing Weekend Writers Highlight Biodynamic Wineries in Willamette Valley
If you see this soon enough, please join our chat on Twitter. We chat on Saturday May 11 at 10am CDT. Just look for the hashtag #winepw and join in. Do you have curiousity,thoughts, or opinions on biodynamics? Join in!

• David of Cooking Chat has prepared “Salmon, Farro and Mushrooms with Winderlea Pinot Noir”
• Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camila is celebrating with “Simple Pleasures, A Birthday Cheeseboard, & Keeler Estate Vineyards’ 2017 Terracotta Amphorae Riesling“
• Jill of L’Occasion writes about “Peace, Bread, Land and Wine’: A Meal With Brooks Winery“
• Jennifer of Vino Travels will share “Biodynamic Wines of the Willamette Valley with King Estate“
• Lori of Dracaena Wines will present “Continuing the Biodynamic Legac “
• Jane from Always Ravenous pairs “Wild Alaskan Salmon with Herbed Ricotta and Oregon Pinot Noir”
• Pinny of Chinese Food and Wine Pairings combines “Biodynamic Grüner Veltliner and Pinot Noir from Johan Vineyards Plus Surf ‘n’ Turf Dinner”
• Linda of My Full Wine Glass shares “Ode to Oregon: Johan’s Biodynamic Expression of Place”
• Gwendolyn Alley from Wine Predator will present “Our land is our life and our life is our wine” — Cooper Mountain Pinot Paired with Duck
• Deana from Asian Test Kitchen has whipped up “Oregon Orange Wine Sparkles with Indian Curry“
• Wendy Klik A Day in the Life on the Farm discovers “Dammit!! These are some great wines from Willamette”.
• Lauren Walsh of The Swirling Dervish will tempt us with “Pork Loin, Mushrooms, and Fiddlehead Ferns Meet Biodynamic Pinot Noir from Bergström Wines”
• Martin of Enofylz Wine Blog brings us “A Taste of Cooper Mountain Vineyards at the Table”
• Jeff of Food Wine Click is pairing “Biodynamic Willamette Valley with Brick House and Harissa Chicken“
• Payal of Keep the Peas is presenting “Living off the Land: King Estate Pinot Noir + Mushroom Pâté”
• Rupal of Syrah Queen is sharing “Maysara Winery – Iranian Immigrants Achieving The American Dream”
• Jade of Tasting Pour will share “Thai Green Curry Rockfish and Montinore Estate Gewurztraminer”
• Nicole of Somm’s Table shares “A Hunt for a Biodynamic Williamette Valley Wine: Johan Vineyards Farmland Pinot Noir and Salmon“