The beautiful Willakenzie winery and tasting room
were designed by the same architect who designed Domaine Drouhin, King
Estate, and Domaine Serene's facilities.
If Bernard and Ronni LaCroute are correct,
then the intangible passion and commitment they and their winemaker, Laurent
Montalieu, bring to WillaKenzie Estate will become tangible in their wines.
After all, terroir at WillaKenzie Estate is as much about the character
of its people as it is the character of its soil.
"People make a huge difference in the terroir," says Bernard,
"because every decision that people make has an impact on the wine.-wine
is made as much by people as by the soil and climate."
And with that philosophy in mind, every decision made by the people at
WillaKenzie is taken with the goal of improving the overall quality of
the wine in the bottle.
"That's really the whole point of what we do here," says Laurent,
"to nurture the organic life of the soil." Because at WillaKenzie
they believe that the health of the soil directly translates into the
taste of the wine.
"There is a little capsule at the end of the vine's microscopic roots,"
explains Laurent, "that supports fungus and bacteria and microorganisms
that have a sort of symbiotic relationship with the soil. The more you
nurture and promote that life, the more diversity of microorganisms you
are going to have and the greater diversity of minerals that are going
to be extracted from the soil and then expressed in the wines through
the vascular system of the vine."
To aid this natural process, natural farming-sustainable viticulture-is
a vital part of WillaKenzie's approach to winegrowing.
"I tell you, some people think we're nuts the way we farm this vineyard,"
chuckles Bernard, "but in order to make great wines you have to have
great grapes, and you can only get great grapes if you have very healthy
vines. We are committed to organics because we believe it will make a
difference in the wines," says Bernard.
So at WillaKenzie, there are no herbicides; fertilizers are only organic
compost and fish emulsion; new vines are mulched to encourage early root
development; in-row cultivation is done even on the steepest slopes; low
yields are strictly managed, and as many farming practices as possible
are done by hand.
Bernard and Laurent carefully use irrigation in the well-drained WillaKenzie
soils to help manage the vine's ripening ability. "The vines are
like human beings, a little stress is a good thing, a lot of stress is
damaging," says Bernard. "We believe in irrigation, but for
quality, not quantity."
Soil moisture is carefully monitored using ground probes that measure
moisture content at different depths. Solar panels on each probe power
radio transmitters that send the data every 15 minutes to a computer monitoring
system. This enables remarkably precise management of water to encourage
ripening.
For instance, last year some of the older blocks were given just enough
water to increase hang time by a few more days. Or if the weather is dry
after harvest, the vines will get a soak in order to help build a carbohydrate
reserve for better buds at the beginning of the next year.
Once in the cellar, WillaKenzie's wines are subject to a different kind
of human influence. "The same commitment we have in the vineyard
is carried through to the winery," says Laurent, "and that is
part of what creates a kind of WillaKenzie character in our wines."
Expressing the character of the soil is the ultimate goal of Laurent's
winemaking.
"The winemaking here is very hands-off," he says, "in order
to nurture the qualities of the grapes that we've worked so hard to grow.
Any interference that I would have to do would be detrimental to the expression
of the soil."
"There is a broad spectrum of flavors that
come with WillaKenzie soil," he continues. "Our wines have all
the darker fruit components typical of this soil, anywhere from cassis
to the blackberries, to a kind of pruney component."
"What I think is a little more characteristic of WillaKenzie Estate,"
he explains, "tends to be the complexity of the nose. It's not an
obvious nose where you can easily find all those aromas I just described.
Rather it has things that are sort of melded inside, with kind of mushroomy,
compost-like, earthy components."
Bringing these natural characteristics to a balanced fruition is the biggest
challenge in producing WillaKenzie's Pinot noir.
"What we're trying to do with Pinot noir is very difficult,"
says Bernard. "We want to produce a powerful wine with a good tannin
structure, but soft, round, supple, and silky."
Laurent describes it this way: "I think we're getting the structure,
we're getting the power. How to make them approachable, early on-that
is the challenge!"
Just as the vineyard is carefully measured and monitored in order to give
better understanding of the vine, Laurent is equally attentive to studying
the winemaking.
"We're trying to understand the phenols* better," says Laurent,
"and especially trying to understand how the maturation of phenols
is occurring. I think this is where new advances can be made"
Working with test-lots of fruit, Laurent is testing, measuring, and studying
the progression of phenolic maturation and the effects of different extraction
methods. The research work began three years ago, but will continue well
into the future. "We're working with many variables and being highly
experimental with our tests, trying to learn what works best."
This measured approach at WillaKenzie may be reflective of Bernard's background.
Having spent many years in the technology world, Bernard and Ronni decided
in the late 1980s that a vineyard and winery would be the perfect "retirement"
project.
As a native burgundian, Bernard naturally wanted to grow Pinot noir, and
quickly understood that Oregon offered great prospects. When they saw
a 420 acre site that met their requirements, they purchased it at the
beginning of 1991.
Planting began in 1992 and only finished this year. "We are really
focusing on using the best areas of the property to plant," says
Bernard. And in keeping with their naturalistic values, only 3 trees were
removed during the entire process.
"We kept the trees and left the pasture," explains Ronni, "with
the result that
we don't have a monoculture. The natural cycle of predators remains intact.
We have lots of hawks in the tall trees to help control the rodents, and
coyotes and owls and other wildlife help keep the balance."
Recently, an additional vineyard in the Red Hills, on Jory soil, has been
planted to the new burgundian clones of Pinot noir. "It will be a
new challenge," says Ronni, "to see what this soil and the new
clones gives us."
For Pinot noir, WillaKenzie normally releases two premium bottlings: Aliette
and Pierre Léon.
"Since 1995 the Aliette has been mostly from a specific area of the
vineyard," explains Laurent, "so it is mostly a vineyard designation."
The wine has predominantly come from the oldest
Pommard vines, though other sources are sometimes included, even adding
a little less than 10% of Clone 777 for, as Laurent says, "a new
twist."
The Pierre Léon offers Laurent a broader canvas on which he can
paint his Pinot brush. "The Pierre Léon has been a blend from
all the different components that I have to play with," he says.
The result is a wine styled differently from Aliette.
"It's a bit more rugged, a little more muscular with the tannins,"
he says. "With those tannins it will probably need a little more
time than the Aliette, to get that optimum balance we're striving for."
In addition to the normal releases, WillaKenzie has started doing small
bottlings of single clone wines. "Each clone has different characteristics,"
says Ronni, "so what we now have is a whole variety of different
wines, all out of the same Pinot noir grape."
Learning about the flavors of these clones is fun for Laurent and the
LaCroutes, but also an essential part of their evolving education about
what the site and the vine can offer.
"In Burgundy, they blend different clones all the time," says
Bernard. "Having them here will add some complexity to the wines,
there's no question about that."
Another aspect of their education is learning what the soil is giving
them each year. "We don't have that many vintages behind us, but
we are beginning to see more areas within the vineyard starting to have
their own characteristics," explains Laurent.
As a result, in the 2000 vintage two new wines will be released in addition
to the Aliette and Pierre Léon. These bottlings will come from
specific vineyard areas, reflecting both the site and the clonal expressions.
Clearly, the energy, commitment to sustainable farming, to research and
learning, plus the careful use of technology, reflect a shared passion
for Pinot noir and the making of fine wine.
"We're always trying to improve everything that we're doing, looking
for better ways, because we are doing this out of passion," says
Ronni.
Bernard agrees. "My experience in other businesses is the same: if
you are not passionate about something, don't bother-don't even do it;
don't get involved."
The passion for WillaKenzie is clear. Ask Bernard why someone should pick
WillaKenzie wines, and he doesn't hesitate: "Because I think we make
the best Pinot noir that can be made!"
Ask Laurent the same question, and he nods in
agreement. "We feel we are making the very best effort possible to
produce the best Pinot noir possible- Period!" And, he adds proudly,
"We're not limiting that to Oregon."
Bernard
and Ronni La Croute
After a successful career in high tech,
Bernard Lacroute decided that growing Pinot Noir in Oregon would be a
satisfying way to return to his Burgundian roots. A Wine Spectator ad
for land, (thankfully, they are not in the vineyard land rating business
or the 95+ points would surely have doubled the price!) led Bernard and
his wife Ronni to purchase a 420-acre cattle ranch in Yamhill, Oregon
in January 1991.
In 1992 they started planting vineyards
on south facing slopes to replace pasture, blackberries and poison oak.
They built a multi-level gravity fed winery in 1995. Today over 100 acres
of mostly Pinot grape vineyards painstakingly arranged around the untouched
native majestic Douglas firs grace the Willakenzie soil after which the
winery is named.
Winemaker Laurent
Montalieu created the popular Bridgeview Vineyards wines for seven
years previous to joining Willakenzie. He is one of the few Oregon winemakers
to produce Pinot Meunier and Gamay Noir, wines with quite the cult following.
A
gravity feed processing facility in Willakenzie's new plant assures gentle
handling of the grapes for finest quality wines. The name of the winery
comes from the soil type that dominates the winery's 195 acres of vineyard
land. The winery employs sustainable
viticultural practices at the Estate.
The tasting room and offices at Willakenzie
are set in a spectacular valley viewed from a flagstone patio and garden
behind the winery. It's a 45 minute drive out from Dundee, but well worth
it on a beautiful day.
This is the best guide, bar none, to Oregon's
wines. Insightful articles, interesting reviews, in depth interviews- you'll
find them all here. Worth every penny if you're interested in Oregon wine.
A
gravity feed processing facility in Willakenzie's new plant assures gentle
handling of the grapes for finest quality wines. The name of the winery
comes from the soil type that dominates the winery's 195 acres of vineyard
land. The winery employs 
