Cameron Winery -- sustainably farmed, non-irrigated, Oregon pinot noir and chardonnay

Measuring Brix isn’t just important for winemaking. The consistency and quality of premium canned tomatoes (such as San Marzano) relies on careful measurement of the Brix of tomatoes at harvest (to determine ripeness) and in the final product (to determine sweetness and thickness). Here we proudly present “What’s a Brix?”, written by my wife Teri, and featured on page 67 Ken Forkish’s fabulous new book, The Elements of Pizza.

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The remarkable wines produced from the Clos Electrique terrior owe their unique qualities to amazing clones of Pinot noir that I collected and planted in the Dundee Hills in 1984. This writing is an homage to the pioneering efforts of early winemaking pioneers Paul Masson and Martin Ray as well as succeeding generations of Californians who kept alive the Burgundian Pinot noir clones and the stories about them.

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It has come to our attention than Donald Trump vociferously denounced Oregon Pinot noir at a recent campaign rally. We sent our team of crack reporters out to garner the details.

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In the fall, as grape clusters are nearing their state of perfection, it is rain and the temperature associated with it that I keep a vigilant eye on. Depending on the year, “the ripe zone” for Pinot noir can range from several days to 2 weeks. In the latter part of September 2013, The University of Washington Department of Meteorology predicted a major storm rolling into Oregon. Thanks to a heads up from their website, we scheduled picking for 5 consecutive days, and brought our grapes in just before several inches of warm rain nearly destroyed the 2013 crop.

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The next time that you are wondering why one vineyard produces lofty mind boggling wines and another right near it does not, consider the clones!
In Burgundy, the most famous vineyards are composed of an enormous number of different clones within the same small plot of land. The idea, worked out over centuries, is that a vineyard which possesses the most genetic variation will produce wines of the greatest complexity.
Fortunately many of the old clones brought to California by pioneer grape growers still persist in select vineyards across California and Oregon.

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While Nebbiolo and Pinot noir share many traits in common, both from an esthetic and geographic point of view, you cannot use techniques developed for making Pinot noir in the production of Nebbiolo! So I go to northern Italy to learn how to make Nebbiolo just like I went to Burgundy many years ago to learn how to make Pinot noir.

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The answer to the collapse of honey bee colonies turns out to be fairly straight-forward: profligate use of a class of insecticides known as Neonicotinoids. These chemicals are extremely toxic to bees; they are water soluble and therefore systemic in the plant and do not break down quickly in the environment; millions and millions of pounds are being pumped into our environment each year. You can take personal action to help protect the bees and prevent living in a world that exists solely on gruel.

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Wine, especially local wine, provides an embodiment of the relationship between man and the weather around him. 2011 was a cool summer with a wet autumn and very late harvest and the wines reflect that. 2012, remember that heat in August? That was followed by a little rain in early September to recover the vines and picture-perfect harvest and the wines reflect that. The wines are in essence a picture of the year that was, and how fun is that?!

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We have started a campaign to fund another great idea and all you have to do is give us money! To encourage your generosity, we’ve vinted up a slew of incentives for every budget. Check out our our gripping presentation by clicking “there’s more”.

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During the golden October of 2013, a new section of Clos Electrique was born.

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