VINEYARD
Illahe Vineyard was first planted in 2001 with 22 acres of pinot noir. Today it is a 50-acre vineyard with seven varieties and over 40 acres of pinot noir. When it is completely planted, we will have about 65 acres under vine. Illahe Vineyards also uses estate fruit from the Glenn Creek Vineyard in West Salem.
Varaties and Clones
Pinot noir: Like most other Willamette Valley vineyards, including our neighbors Croft, Freedom Hill, Firesteed, and Amalie Robert, we have planted most of our site with the king of grapes. In the first years of production, we sold pinot noir to Evesham Wood, Cristom, Joe Dobbes, and Firesteed.
We have four clones of pinot in our various blocks: Dijon clones 777 and 115, Pommard, and Wadenswil 2A. These clones are the best match for our site and each carries a special aromatic tendency and composition that we want in our blends. All our vines are grafted to either 101-14 or 3309 rootstocks, which devigorate the scion.
Riesling: Planted in 2002 and 2004, the king of whites dominates the central upper two acres of the vineyard. We have four clones: 12, 2, 239, and the VanVolkinburg clone. We have sold fruit to Lynn Penner-Ash and made an estate riesling.
Pinot gris: We have one acre of gris at the Glenn Creek vineyard and three acres in their first year at Illahe. The Glenn Creek site has produced for Terrapin Cellars, who receive excellent reviews on their balanced, fresh white. We look forward to development of the pinot gris program at Illahe.
Grüner veltliner: This Austrian cult classic takes up two acres at Illahe and was only in its third year in 2007. The variety’s high acidity will make grüner a perfect candidate for aging. Lowell has been making grüner since the ‘80s with the help of Earl VanVolkinburg at Vitae Springs, and some of the 1990s are still strong and alive today. Our 20 case production this year will expand to at least 50 in 2008!
Tempranillo: Our acre of tempranillo has gone into a highly sought-after table wine at Evesham Wood and a dynamite port for Terrapin Cellars. This year will be the first year of port production for Illahe.
Lagrein: So far, our entire mature, one-acre production of Lagrein has gone to Remy Wines to form part of her list of Italian varietals. An unsung hero of northern Italy, this red is packed with color, tannin, and deep, sultry aromas.
Siegerrebe: Betty McKibben from neighboring McKibben Ranch has a monopole on the five-gallon production from our row of siegerrebe. In the future, Illahe may actually have enough of this wine to pour some of this sweet, aromatic, early-ripening hybrid of the north for visitors.
Viognier: Our viognier comes from Plagmann Vineyards near Albany. Terry’s spectacular fruit in 2007 enabled us to craft a thoroughly enjoyable, action-packed wine.
Vineyard Site
Illahe Vineyard is planted on a south-facing slope. The slope ranges from about 4% near the bottom to over 20% near the top. The top of the vineyard is at 480 feet elevation, and the bottom 250.
The vines are planted to magnetic north except on the steeper eastern blocks where they are planted east-west and northwest-southeast for tractors and implements.
Illahe is a warm site that experiences slightly earlier budbreak and flowering than many other vineyards in the Willamette Valley. The grapes achieve maturity even in cooler vintages. Two obvious reasons for this are the southerly aspect of the vineyard and the moderate elevation. The vineyard also has excellent drainage during cold snaps, and it’s just to the south of the Van Duzer winds which begin in the late summer that cool other vineyards in the evening, slowing maturity.
“Illahe” is a Chinook Jargon word for soil, and the variety of soils on the property give the wine complexity. The overall character of the soil is that of Willakenzie-type sedimentary clay. The specific types include bellpine, wellsdale, dupee, and patches of jory. These types depend on soil depth and composition, which is mostly clay, silt, and loam.
During our excavations, we noticed wide variations in coloring. We found purple and grey claystone, orange and red clay, veins of iron, and lighter, organic taupe and yellow clay at different depths. The topsoil has three different color characteristics (as reflected in the label) fanning out from the top to the base.
Viticultural practices
Illahe is a LIVE-certified, Salmon Safe vineyard. We use cover crops on most of the vineyard. We do extensive green pruning and conduct plant topping. We prune by hand and harvest by hand. We use sulfur spray to control for powdery mildew and botrytis.
We aim for balanced production and optimal ripeness. This includes a program of minimal or no irrigation, leaf pulling to decrease shade, and dropping all green clusters after veraison.
One of our goals at Illahe is to reduce the use of fossil fuels throughout the year. As we continue to develop, we hope to begin using horses at the vineyard and run our tractors on biodiesel, yet our most immediate concerns are making wine and finishing our production facility. We have begun solar energy production and will be equipped with rainwater harvesting capabilities when the winery begins harvest 2008.