“Pinot Noir is like a woman in a
tight t-shirt. If she’s had work done, it’s gonna show,” Mike Willison’s wry, mocking,
and unpredictably hilarious sense of humor combined with his contagious
vitality and passion was making this a tour like no other- and I’ve been on
plenty, mostly in Napa. Before we parted company, I dubbed him the “Anthony
Bourdain” of Rex Hill Winery. You don’t enter into this wine tour casually—you’re
in for a totally engaging experience on many levels!
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| Mike Willison of Rex Hill Winery in the Willmette Valley, Oregon |
We met on a cold, wet day in
Newberg, Oregon amidst thirty year old vines harvested three days prior to
learn predominately about the thin-skinned, hard to grow Pinot Noir. Since we
have a small Pacific Northwest vineyard of 120 Pinot Noir vines which we raise
biodynamicly and organically we drove the two hours from Adytum Sanctuary to
sit at the feet of the Master, Rex Hill Winery, who uses these methods, unlike
the majority of wineries stuck in the toxic Round Up, herbicide, and pesticide
game.
We knew we’d enhance our practical knowledge,
but little did we know it would be so fun! My husband Donn’s upbringing wasn’t
conducive to his development of a wine palate but he enjoyed an intellectual
and palate-initiating tour tasting fresh grape juice up to the point just past
a fermented fizz when he condemned it as ‘medicinal’ and passed it to me. This ‘non-drinker’s wine tour’ oxymoron was
actually a complete success from Donn’s standpoint: a profitable, fun day for a
teetotaler who plants vineyards in every home he owns—go figure…
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| Lovely, Vital Wines |
Mike explains, “Round Up is heavily
used in most vineyards. Here at Rex Hill we plant cover crops of vetch, red
clover, mustard, and buckwheat. The wasps will be attracted by the buckwheat
and eat the spotted wing drosphila( http://cisr.ucr.edu/spotted_wing_drosophila_cherry_vinegar_fly.html)
that use their tail hook to slit the grape, lay larvae, and seal it back up. Fruit is harvested unknowingly
full of these larvae. It effectively destroys the crop and is a problem not
only in California but now in the Pacific Northwest. We use biodynamic methods
for prevention.”
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| Spotted Wing Drosophila |
My parents pioneered crop-dusting in Cuba by
selling interest in it with airshows, wing-walking, and parachuting. They owned
two airports in the South and saved entire crops from devastation many times
over with sulphur and other pesticides and herbicides.
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| Cold day...wonderful wine & education...Rex Hill Vineyard |
There’s no doubt it
works, but Rudolph Steiner countered the Industrial Revolution with a return to
natural farming and methods your great grandparents used that flowed with the
rhythms of the Earth. We’ve taken the biodynamic, organic path at Adytum
Sanctuary, and we will plant buckwheat and pray for wasps to protect our young
vines. We mow and welcome the honeybees attracted to the abundance of
dandelions that others poison. We eat our weeds here- nettle, dandelion,
burdock, and yellow root… Our land has a rugged, unbridled beauty and all the
untidiness of an English Garden but soils are rich with earthworms and leaf
mold from 100 year old maple. Order and productivity shouldn’t be bought at the
price of sterilizing or harming the Earth that sustains us. Grasp the Nettle by Peter Proctor is THE
book on Mike’s desk at Rex Hill. It’s on its way to Adytum, thanks to a good
used book seller- it’s an expensive book so shop around.
I asked Mike what they do for moles, voles, and
rodents that can destroy a vineyard. He pointed to tall, metal hawk perches. Do
you see now? Just bring in the natural predator and forgo the poisoned worms,
pesticides, and herbicides. Other problems are approached preventively and
usually by spraying foliage with a preparation much like a homeopathic tincture
that raise immunity and nourish naturally to create a strong plant ‘child’. I
sense that’s how the vines are seen here- as children in need of loving care -
and I respect it. Because of these methods of nurturing the soil, Rex Hill’s
vines are too vigorous, producing too much vegetation.
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| Scott Henry Trellis System for Vineyards |
They employ a Scott
Henry (http://www.avalonwine.com/trellising-the-grape.php)
trellising system for several years to minimize luxuriant growth produced from
the vitalized soil and encourage more fruiting. This method works well to
minimize fungus and mold, and to allow as much sunshine and air circulation to
the fruit. Wine has been called liquid sunshine, and while Pinot Noir loves the
cool, cloudy Pacific Northwest climate with a variable diurnal temperature
range, the grapes need as much sunlight and air circulation as possible so the
Scott Henry system works here.
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| Beautiful Healthy Vines |
Of course, when transitioning vines
from the ravages of chemicals (Mike likened it to drug use) it takes years to
encourage them to find their true place, to reach deep into the Earth for
nourishment. Rex Hill has several rehab projects in the works including
removing heavily chemicalized hazelnuts from production from just-purchased
land, and turning the ravaged plots into a healthy, biodynamic, organic
vineyards- a three year process to achieve this designation.
Rudolph Steiner (http://www.rsarchive.org/Biodynamics/)
taught that the farm is an entire system where everything thrives; everything
is done with intention. Cosmic forces are utilized- planting, harvesting, and
applying tinctures by the moon. This land definitely feels alive under our feet
and there is evidence of recent mowing and a few mole hills.
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| Erica and Rachel, Rex Hill Interns |
Vineyard staff has
their own raised bed garden plots to play with. A few dogs accompanied their
owners to work creating a happy, complete ambiance. Everyone seems deeply
engaged here and invested in the outcome. Erica was only employed 3 days and is a complete natural, "We don't cover up the beauty of the grape- we just enhance it." She encouraged me to try some wines I normally wouldn't have...
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| Mike's little dog- Sumo |
Remains from the wine vats are composted and
spread to enrich the top soil. Grapes aren’t watered on a regular basis unless
they’re young. By allowing dehydration, roots are encouraged to delve deep into
the heart of the Earth and a smaller, more flavorful berry is produced- and
those minerals are drawn up into the concentrated fruit of the vine, and
ultimately into your glass. No wonder wine is such a healthy habit enjoyed by
centenarians, particularly the reds in moderation. Rex Hill had so many smooth
yet complex drinkable wines, moderation becomes a bit of a challenge!
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| Mike Teaches and My Teetotaler Husband, Donn, Tries a Few Wines |
Referencing again the tight t-shirt
comment, Mike goes on, “Make good fruit and you won’t have to work hard to
correct the balance once it’s harvested.” Oregon Pinot Noirs must use 90% Pinot
Noir grapes to be classified as such; other states are at 75% which explains
the edge Oregon wines have. Rex Hill's commitment to the philosophy of Rudolph
Steiner pays off in the glass. In short, the vineyard is full of children each
with their own personality and unique needs- none of which include drugs and
medication. Raise them love, respect, and integrity and you will be blessed
with great wine that doesn’t require manipulative, remedial “work” that will
show up in the finished product.
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| Gewurtztrminer 'Spicy' Grapes Smoky Tasting From Recent Fires |
They have some white wines as well
here. Strangely, the Gewürztraminer grapes absorbed the smoke from the summer’s
wildfires and we detected a ‘campfire’ essence in the developing young wine. Terroire
reigns supreme, from the Cosmic atmosphere down to the soil. The East Indians
have a saying, “…the scent of the hands” which alludes to food prepared with
loving care. You can taste the integrity, the love, and the caring in these
wines.
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| Avoiding Hot Spots by Churning and Mixing the Fruit |
Surrounded by tall, metal vats full
of young wine, we did have a rather interesting, impromptu conversation
centered on structured water and frequencies influencing it. The structured
water of the developing wine is surely absorbing the music which was played
quite loudly. It seemed incongruently
disconnected to the philosophy of Rex Hill, “like Bach should be playing,” I
suggested citing a study on Kirlian photography in which plants were shown to
recoil at raucous music and literally lean toward lovely music. In my feeling, beautiful,
classical music might be playing softly in the vineyard as well.
Later, I found this link: http://m-edition.com/archives/19. “Three
hours per day with psychedelic rock (acid rock) played through a loudspeaker on
the side of the chassis, preventing the growth and destroyed the squash plants,
green plants and corn in less than four weeks. Retallack played the music from
two different radio stations in Denver for two groups of petunia. The two radio
stations playing rock music and classical music. The newspaper “The Denver
Post” reported: Petuniaene who listen to rock music refused to flourish. Those
who listened to classic music developed six beautiful flowers. Towards the end
of the second week, leaned Petuniaene who were subjected to rock music away
from the radio and showed uneven growth. Petuniaene who listened to classic
music leaned all toward sound. Within a month, all the plants that had been
exposed to rock music died.”
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| Emoto's Amazing Work |
Since yeast ensures the wine
remains a living entity, and further recalling the work of Dr. Matsaru Emoto (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_dmYT83ZKY&feature=related)
who exposed water to words, music, and images producing changes in the
crystalized water tells me Rex Hill might consider the impact of music, words,
and intentions in their vineyard and in the developing wine in vats and barrels.
Wine is structured water. We are over 90%
water. If thoughts can change water, the power of words in music and the
violence or intensity of some music (yes even some classical music) needs
consideration. What a fun experiment to label some of the barrels with ‘love,
peace, and the ‘I hate you’ that was shown in the video. Do a blind taste test
of wines from the same vintage and see what happens. Play Mozart to the vines
in the rehab plot. It may very well take Steinhart’s work to another plane.
This spectacular video series takes
it a step further: Structured Water: the Future of Medicine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taQUrkB0nPQ The 6th video relates to this discussion
here. This may be the missing link that takes Rex Hill wines, which are already
fantastic and clearly made with the ‘scent of the hands’ to a whole new level.
We play beautiful music through outdoor speakers to our vines at Adytum. Working
inside of their intense aura of love and community is magical...a happy vine family.
What’s good for us is good for them.
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| Anthony, You've Met Your Match... |
Apart from the expected education
on a wine tour, we got off on other interesting tangents. But first, let me
introduce you more fully to Mike Willison, Tour Guide and the “Anthony Bourdain”
of Rex Hill Winery. Mike is so entertaining, he needs his own TV show but at
the same time, he’s so passionate and brilliant, he needs to write and keep
teaching on the biodynamic, organic method Rex Hill is committed to. Mike’s
tour is punctuated with so much sardonic, often unceremonious humor, he could
easily have been a stand-up comedian but combined with the raw edge and sheer
knowledge of Anthony Bourdain, he brings a potentially high-brow subject down
to earth and often with a variety of accompanying accents and funny gestures
from Australia, France, and Germany, and Italy. He’s well-traveled, well-read,
and generally has a great gift for teaching.
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| Mike and Kat at Rex Hill Winery |
Mike, “I’m not sure if you’re aware—and
this is important—if you want to speak perfect German, stand on your tiptoes
and arch your eyebrows.” The constant injections of fun made this a memorable
tour. He graduated UC Davis’ Viticulture and Enology program in California and
went to work as an intern at Rex Hill in 2007. He never looked back. He gave us
hope that we too might become great wine makers one day. “School doesn’t make
you a good vintner. It takes creativity, understanding the process, and how you
fit into the company’s culture. Here we take the raw materials and handle the
process from beginning to end.” This isn’t common as grapes are often sourced
elsewhere, and many farmers aren’t vintners.
He cited www.winebusiness.com
as a publication Rex Hill subscribes to.
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| Great Education, Stimulating and Thought Provoking |
Later, seated at the long table to
taste the culmination of their hard work, I asked if cork was sustainable.
Growing alder and fir at the plantation at Adytum, I see how long it takes a
tree to reach maturity…Mike said cork bark renews itself every 7 years but
shortages occurred during the rise of the Australian wine boom in the 80’s.
France and Spain have first dibs on corks; so many wineries went to the screw-off
cap which seems a better choice until Mike explained screw-off caps are hard to
recycle so corks remain... His inevitable humor creeps in once again, “The
minute I have a girl out for a nice dinner and order a wine with a screw-off
cap, I’m sleeping alone! There’s a sexy allure to the pop of a cork (he says
this complete with sound effects: middle finger in cheek) and it’s unlikely to transition
anytime soon unfortunately.” He tells us that a few restaurants in Portland,
Oregon have begun using wines on tap bypassing the cork and screw-off cap
altogether. (http://www.irvingstreetkitchen.com/)
Evidently the problem comes in with the distribution of the 6-gallon kegs. No
one wants to clean them, store them, etc. There
is a new service industry waiting to be born that will reduce the impact on the
Earth.
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| Rich Antiques, Fine Wines... |
We enjoyed the sensual aspects of
our tour and having our palate and mind enlivened with a variety of tastes and
descriptions- and the persistent contemptuous humor this time of British
tasters, “This smells like Starfruit… they wax poetically,” you’d swear Prince
Charles entered the room- the voices that come out of this man! Mike rails
against ‘talking poetry’ when you’re tasting, “Starfruit doesn’t have a smell!
If you want to talk poetry when you’re drinking wine, talk from things in your
own life!” ‘Fruitloops’ was Mike’s ‘poetically descriptive’ assessment of one of the
amazing selections in the tasting room and I’ll be darned if it wasn’t spot on!
He is bent upon taking the snobbery out of wine and bringing it into everyday
life ‘drinking in the middle of the afternoon out of a paper bag on the front
porch- your neighbors will never know’. We are smiling yet again…
He
knows his stuff and translated it well, but we came for the vineyard, the soil,
the lessons to be learned from Rudolph Steiner’s holistic approach and we left
inspired and more committed than ever. The great wine and entertaining lecture
were a satisfying, pleasant finish. Mike told me Rex Hill was ‘in it to win it’
and I’d say they’ve scored! They have a winning, sustainable, respectful model
others would be wise to emulate.
Hand-picked
Hand-sorted Family
owned 800.REXHILL
30835 N Hwy 99W, Newberg, Oregon 97132 REXHILL.COM https://www.facebook.com/REXHILLWinery?fref=ts
