PICNIC

My friend Jen just spend a few weeks in Denmark at a biodynamic farm. It’s run by Per and his son Kristoffer. Here are some of Jen’s descriptions:

‘It was run by this true hippie, Per, who had a fetish for odd hats and talked all about the “ether power” of his grains… I had a small cottage to stay in, and everyday we did various things around the farm. First we ate breakfast of make-your-own muesli. Then things like weeding, which was my favorite thing to do. Also tying up cucumber vines and caring for tomatoes in the greenhouse, and baking rye bread for smorrebrod. These are open-faced sandwiches that we ate for lunch everyday. The bread was made from Per’s rye and also this flour made of ground “Urland grass”… beyond that it was just honey, salt and water. Oh, and it wasn’t yeasted… I also had a few days off to ride a bicycle along the shore in search of ice cream. Danish ice cream cones are so oddly proportioned and delicious, with fresh, humungous waffle cones, small scoops of ice cream, delicate slices of strawberry, a drizzle of strawberry sauce, all topped with this raw, dense meringue, called “guf”… It’s interesting that such a small and heavily taxed country as this makes for a really well-maintained, wind-powered, and ecologically farmed economy.  Everyone is so happy there, too, and healthy seeming, the pace of things isn’t just slower, the attitude with which everything is done feels joyful, almost leisurely.  There’s definitely something strongly socialistic about Denmark, and though I admire it it brings out my understanding of the American in me, who is competitive, private, loud, individualistic.’

Sometime in the last two weeks the 47th av farm plowed their fields at Zenger. There are lots of stones in the soil, but that’s probably fine for the machine they use.

Leslie and I drove to some vineyards in the Eola hills to sample their wine. Amity, St. Innocent, and Cristom. I was also interested in pruning methods. We had been to Cristom in the fall, right before harvest and I had taken some photos of the vines. With all the foliage and growth it was hard to tell what was going on. Now in the spring it looks so bare and simple.

September

March

I’m looking for grapes. I want to do just one type of wine this year. Last year was just overkill, and I’m still suffering from that. Dozens of carboys, so many different decisions. If I can just have one wine to focus on; just as sometimes I wish I had only one cat, who could receive 5 times the love and attention! I checked out Utopia Vineyard yesterday. It’s on the very southern tip of Ribbon Ridge. Looks good. 500 foot elevation, nice slope with southern exposure, no irrigation, no fertilizers. It’s all Pinot Noir on about 12 acres. It’s run by Daniel Warnshuis, who worked in California wineries for 25 years but wanted to get away from the craziness.

I’ll try to look at a few others and then choose one. Harvest should be the end of this month.