Vineyards

Abbey Ridge Vineyard near sunset (photo by Matt Giraud)
All of our vineyards are grown with utmost respect for the environment and with the thought in mind that these vines will continue to nourish our children and their children and their children for many generations to come. To that end we do not spray any nasty petrochemicals on our vines nor do we support the world vision of Monsanto. Instead we prefer a world with goats, chickens, geese, honey bees and healthy kids… and we have all of these and more at Cameron Winery.

Growing perfect wine grapes requires lots of time and human energy. With 1200 vines per acre (and 2400 vines of nebbiolo per acre) it is a mammoth job to prune, sucker, shoot-thin and position canopy on each and every vine. And then comes the tractor-work including mowing, cultivating, spraying, hedging and hauling. Before we even get to make a batch of wine, countless thousands of hours have already gone into the process. It is no idle saying that “the wine is made in the vineyard!” And that is why at the best small wineries you will generally find the winemaker out in the vineyard during the growing season.

What we spray is also a reflection of our determination to respect the environment and the healthy bodies of our crew. Mildew is generally the biggest risk for grape-growers in Oregon. To combat it, we first spray Stylet oil (a type of mineral oil) early in the growing season to literally suffocate the mildew and then later we apply wettable sulfur (elemental sulfur) which breaks the life cycle of mildew. Between these sprays and a robust stripping of leaves in the fruit zone, we are able to produce beautiful disease-free fruit even in challenging vintages.

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