The Harvest with Troon Vineyard shoot – well, sort of…
Our first stop on our Harvest Shoot tour was to Troon in Southern Oregon’s Applegate Valley. Our first stop was Troon Vineyard & Farm in Southern Oregon’s Applegate Valley. This relatively small vineyard is Demeter Biodynamic and Regenerative Organic Certified. They put their money where their mouth is when it comes to being beyond sustainable. Wine Enthusiast named them American Winery of the Year in 2022!
We were heading up to shoot some B-roll and then get harvest shots. They plan their picks according to the biodynamic calendar, and September 30th had been scheduled. Of course, Mother Nature gets her say, also. While the grapes were saying they were ready, the weather forecast had a rainstorm heading in overnight on the 29th. While it would be dry on the morning of the 30th, the grapes would still be wet and likely would have absorbed enough water that the juice would be diluted.
The rest of the weekend was predicted to be warmer and dry, so the pick was rescheduled for Monday the 2nd. The crew, who comes in with a vineyard management company, needs a bit of notice, so they couldn’t just wait and decide in the morning.
So, we won’t get harvest shots, but we will get some beautiful grape shots on the vine.
Garett Long
Director of Agriculture, Troon Vineyard
For this first day, Garett Long, the director of agriculture for Troon, took us out in the vineyard.
Garett joined the Troon Team in the fall of 2021 as their Director of Agriculture, right after our last visit to the vineyard. He has his Masters in Soil Science from UC Davis and spent time co-founding a company that analyzed soil for farmers and other producers.
But before that, before grad school, he worked as a “WWOOFer “(Don’t worry, I had no idea what that was either! It stands for World Wine Opportunities on Organic Farms). Where was this “WWOOFing” gig? It was on Apricot Lane Farms in California. You’ll be familiar with them if you have seen the documentary “The Biggest Little Farm.” While there, he had the opportunity to work with Alan York, who was the foremost biodynamic consultant in the country.
Garett devoted his day to helping us get great shots and giving us the background on what we were shooting.
The vineyard crew was working, breaking up the soil under the vines in a recently picked block. This block had reached the maturity point that they were ready to add permaculture, a permanent cover crop of wildflowers and grasses between the rows. This would be the last time this soil would be worked this way. Once the seeds go in for this cover crop, this block will be no-till.
Why is that important? This goes back to the mycorrhizal network that is in the topsoil. This network of microbial life works symbiotically with the roots of the vines and other plants, feeding them nutrients they can’t collect in exchange for sugars and carbs. It’s a pretty good trade! When you till, you disturb all this life, disrupting this exchange.
From there, we headed to the other side of the vineyard, where they were spreading compost, then on to see the sheep. This flock of 23 was resting under a tree, guarded by their sheepdogs, Belle and Beau, who greeted us. They had free reign on this little vineyard block that had already been picked. The area was surrounded by an electric fence, and they would graze there for a while before moving on to another block. After they are moved, the chicken coop would roll in, and the chickens would hunt and peck, eating up any bugs and parasites that might have been attracted to the sheep poop.
We bid the sheep farewell (they really didn’t seem sad to see us go) and headed to the food forest that Garett had designed and put in this year. This food forest had trees, many stone fruit, plus figs and persimmons, then shrubs like sunchokes, nitrogen-fixing plants, berries (blueberries, honeyberries, raspberries, golden raspberries (some of those were still on the vine, and Garett invited me to forage and graze for snacks with him.
Planted on contours, these trees and plants will grow, the trees shading and protecting the bushes and plants. Garett walked us down the curved rows, pointing out the various plants, all of which will grow together in harmony.
We then made our way to the vegetable garden, where there were flowers for the pollinators, greens, and cabbages just getting started while the tomatoes continued to thrive. Garett found us a couple of lemon cucumbers that we ate like apples. This fresh food graces their new Farmstand, and some of it finds its way to local restaurants like the Lindsay Lodge.
We made our way to the winery, where the interns were cleaning equipment on the crush pad, then into the winery, where their shiny new concrete tanks were lined up on one side. These new tanks were labeled and named after Dwarves from Tolkien (Durin, Balin, Thorin, and Gimli.) Other tanks (taller tanks) were named for Elves (Galadriel, Arwen, Legolas) plus men (Aragon, Boromir, Faramir. ) There were some smaller ones (Frodo, Pippen, and Merry) and a really tiny one named Gollum. Gandalf is, of course, also included. Their concrete egg in the next room with the barrels is named Smaug, and there was a large Dolia (concrete vessel similar in shape to a Georgian kveveri in an inverted egg shape) that was named Glaurung (the father of Dragons from Tolkien’s Silmarillion). I can’t express the joy it brought when we saw the labels. We are definite Tolkien fans, and the inclusion of Glaurung from the Silmarillion took the depth of this naming to a new level.
Then there are the amphorae, made by Andrew Beckham in the Willamette Valley. They are named for Greek Gods. Zeus and Hera are the two large amphorae.
Since the rain had held off so far, we decided to get some drone shots, and Garett left us to do that while he went to turn off some irrigation. We got some great shots of the vineyard and then headed to the biodynamic garden.
By now, the clouds had pushed in a bit, and the sky was stunning. We headed to the tasting patio. Garett told us we should end the day with a glass of wine!
Robin and Jennifer met us at the tasting room. Robin grabbed us some wine while we strolled out to take shots of their new Farmstand (which is friggin’ adorable!)
I sipped a glass of Piquette from Vermentino while Michael had a glass of the Druid white. The Druid triskelion is part of the Troon logo. Troon is also the name of a golf course in Scotland – another tie-in to the Druid theme.
After Robin brought us our wine and we chatted a bit, Jennifer joined us. She has a background in wine and in biodynamics. Garett soon joined us. There is nothing like finding people who like to geek out over the same things you do. So, we talked about wine and biodynamic and regenerative agriculture.
As we left, the first few drops fell from the sky. We had been joking at the end of the day that after postponing the pick, it had better rain! On our way back to Medford, the rain picked up even more. It was a gully washer!
Day 2
While we knew the harvest was postponed the following morning, we still hoped to get some lovely sunrise shots. Well, again, best-laid plans and all. The clouds, however, were beautiful as they slowly got brighter. There were no vivid colors but rather a gradual lightening of the sky. We caught the early morning gardens, grapes still dripping from the previous night’s rain, lasers periodically hitting the vineyard as a deterrent to the birds. There were geese down on the lake that flew off in bunches, squawking as they formed up into their V” and flying off with the lead goose, chiming a cadence for them to follow.
The interns, Kara and Yona, arrived to do punch-downs on the micro bins out back under the oak trees, testing for numbers to see if the fermentations had kicked off and set to punching down those that were ready.
Nate Wall, the winemaker, arrived to supervise and then spoke with us in the biodynamic garden, where they grow the plants for the biodynamic preps. This was a fascinating conversation, but you will have to wait for that!
Garett opened the fertility shed so we could shoot b-roll. (This is where they store the biodynamic preparations.) Then, he did one final interview to tell us about the exciting year at Troon. With the food forest planted and the vine replanting completed, the vineyard here is growing up. We can’t wait to watch it mature.
To learn more about Troon you can visit their website at https://www.troonvineyard.com/
or check out our articles on Crushed Grape Chronicles
Biodynamics and Troon Vineyard on Discovering Wine Country Season 1
Troon & into the Umpqua – Day 3 of the Scenic Route 2021
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