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Celebrating the Abundance of Local Foods, Season by Season
H
KEVIN CHAMBERS DIDN'T HAVE A Y
PLA S TO BECOME A VI T ER-BUT
HIS I SATIABLE CURIOSITY A 0 aVE
OF ADVE TURE LED HI DOW TH
PATH TO CUTIING-ED E WI E A G
BY KERRY NEWBERRY
S OlUe pairings are undeniable: wine and chees ,rain and Oregon, hounds in th
vineyard. As I crest a rustic country road, neatly lined with luxuriantly green
tendrils of vines, 1 spot a trio oh aggincrtails. Th greeters. introduc 'u t m b
grape-grower and winemakeI' Kevin Chambers. quiver with furry delight. Th hairie t
and largest. a sa]t-and-pepper-coloredAkita, is aptly n ed Grizzl.; her sid .k.I k
Labradors are Cody and Robin. Our afternoon ag ncla: M and r th sun dappled
Resonance Vineyard, t II stories. ,md taste wine.
Chambers, hjs dogs, and 1sta d basking in the summer glow, soaking up a Jun 1 of
colors stretchin cr bet, en LIS and High Hea en Ridg ,th dividing line b ll-l< n earth
and sky t1'aight ahead. His stOI b'-an in Eug n .
When Chambers arrived at the University a Oregon in the 19. as. h tudi d jour all m
and radio broadcasting becaus he wanted to be the n X1 'I alter Cr nkile. He ha til
voice.
"I have the voice," he laughs. 'I en he wa:m 't studying. hamb I' honed hi d ba i
skills with his roommate well into tb, lwilight hours. heir topic: wine." renach Ro
or Malbec Rose. the matters we'd bant r always graVitated to Will." explains Cham I
EDIBLE PORTLAND FALL 2001!
C
During Chambers' senior year of college, a friend suggested he hambers spent the next eight years on whal he calls, "the play(
apply for a job at a local wine shop, Of Grape and Grain. Selling sniff, snort, and spit circuit." tasting legenda.ry win s play,
win fit. d upon graduation, when Chambers was offer d and hobnobbing \ 'th celebrated writers and winemakers subv.
a giO' writing news for a local radio show, he turned it down. nationwide. One ofthe most memorable wines he tasted: A 1961 mlc.':
In tead, he took his boss at he wine shop up on an offer to open Chateau d 'Yquem, considered one the greatest Sauternes. This praci
and m<wage a new store. ''I'm takin the wine route." Chambers French dessert wine is a medley of thre grapes. raisined by the biod
recalls himself saying at the time. "And I've never left the benevolent fung'us, Botrytis cinerea, also known as noble rot. a
industry since." "1 II never forget it," Chambers croons. "1 used to take copious Stcir
notes every time I tasted. This one simpl read: There are prac1
lU1981, Chambers parlayed his wine knowled e into words,
wines, then there is d quem. Then I sat tbere, enthralled. '. lofoI
wTiting freelance article ,and ultimately, a weeki wine column
Pu h
for The Regi ter-Guard. which h syndicated in 1983. His Then, in 1989, Chambers shifted to the production side of wine
i..nter
work a a columnist soon brought him attention in the wine m king, joining Chateau Benoit in th illamette ailey as
suhj(
communit . which recruited him to be a wine judge. Dir ctor of far eting. As pan of his job. Chambers managed
Toda
F I' t stop, the Oregon State Fair-at that time, a significant grape contracts. whi h is how he found hi pres nt vineyard
in August of that year. "I visited h l'e and I fell in love wit11 the biod'
event for the wine industry. The judges that year included
plac , ' h says. "T thought it was magical." Chamber casually Inad
an esteemed columnist from the Chicago Tribune, Master
mentioned to the owner that h 'd love to ha e th property orgal
of Wine David Lake, and writer and contributor to The Oxford
should he e er decide to sell. The own r called him Jus four rnp]
Companion to Wine, Harriet Lembeck. Even though bambers
months later. that i
,\'as admittedl star-struck b his fellow judges, his palate
I
prep.
couldn't be swa 'ed by them, and he ended up gran ing high Durin' the sammer of 1990, the Chambers rami! moved
cal~n
scor s to a Chardonnay deemed unworthy by his brethren (he from Eugene to the south rnWillamette Vaile ,and everyone
spra
considered the wine a bold statement by the winemaker). To his took on the task of learning to drive a tractor and farm their
surprise. tll next morning. one of the judges who had disputed land. "I've taught myself all about 'ticulture, soil science,
1
Chambers' decision asked him to participate in the first all and soil microbiology," says Chamber . "\Vhen 1 ant to know
American wine competition in ew York Cit . "Twen ,-three something, I get obsessive about it." Through his res arch.
at the time, I had never been east of Idaho," Chambers says Chambers learned about biodynami wine making and cid d
gleefully. to try his hand at it. "When I was young man," h sa s. "I ami.:
a.ndJ
acres
lime
Ii' I
., I 1
'ec I}
oun
e'ol
I'ch,
FALL SPECIAl:. EVE T
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HARVEST DINNER CELEBRATION September 28
The GREAT PUMPKIN Event October 25
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Eastbank HA KSGIVING REUNIO MARKET November 25
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Saturday Marter al PSI Thunda
II rdnr dl\Y Mllr1: I O~U'nroum Thur4da
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For even! details. market directions and hours, call or Visil our webs,t
34 I EDIBLE PORTLAND FALL 2008
d the bassoon because everyone else
d the clarinet. rt· pa11 of m moniker,
ert the dOl11i aant paradigm, break the
. mbers views the philo 'ophy and
tiees intuited in 1924 b the founder of
Iyn.:un.ic agriculture, Rudolf Stein r, as
de. I a the last chapter of his lect ures,
. er emphasizes that biodynamic
·tiees aren't the final answer. "Take Ihis
rmatlOn and play with it. Experiment.
the envelope." is how Chambers
preIs his mentor's words on the
eet.
y. Resonance is one of 0 certified
~namic vineyards i th niled States.
dltion to meet ina all th . standards of
nie farming. Chamb rs i required to
llo\' additional agriclJtural methods
include botanical teas. compost
arations. and following an a trological
ndarto determine times for planting,
~'ing, and hal e (jnlY •
nhe canines str tch and rise as
we stride atop a aentle slope to
Resonanc ard' s outhful block,
xoftlloPinot oirclon ade vii
Pommard. that \ er planted on seven
: in 2006 and will be picked for the first
this fall. Chamber weeps one arm LO
dt. orchcstrati th (rees, and notes.
t of our brush her is wild herri
thaI red peakinU' through?"
IltI s Onaoll farms. in luding
onance. ha 'e transition d from fruit
. rds. hazelnut farms, or wildly rampant
kberry briars into vineyard rows. Some
v' wild briar and peal' essence lingers
e aromiltics and taste of the wines. "I
this notion Ma (Kram r [ . ne writed
of ~omewhereness to d cribe terroir, "
Chambers. Tenoir i a French term
tlturing a taste of plac . "1 r ally do
\'f' that at the pinna Ie of wine making,
chi ve an expression of place. "
ers \\ave~ to the sky as we walk
ad:v dirt crumbl ing beneath our
crossing the ancient amhill and
kenzie soil. to a bi ck of 01 er vines.
sDlock\\'a~ plaJlted in 1987," he says.
~I vears old and a pure block of the
nal WadensviI Pinol air root tock.
ted and rare."
P ointing ahead, Chambers notes a radionic tow rand
th n we step toward a barrel compost, which provid s
(alongwi h hree other barr Is) the only fertilizer us
at Resonance. hambers kneel on a assy patch. lifting a
board off th op. as the hounds and I crowd aro tnd neatJ
circled light ay brick, II' ming a beautiful pUe of de p,
dark compo t. "Basically, a mixture of cow manure from the
cows you saw at the bottom of the hill. with nettle, hoI's taiJ.
and e g shells." he explains. (The ot.her compost barrels holcl
preparations containin cr different medicinal plant: yarrow.
chamomil ,and dandelion. to comply with biodynamiC
practices.) After it's decomposed for a year, the compost is
spread under the vines building structure and microbial
acti 't inthesoil.
We then weave tbrough old vine pommard, planted in 1981,
which is gnarled and twisted like coastal cypress tr bent to
the wind. The grap leaves arch and tilt toward the sunlight,
slow dancing to warm. ra 's. The perfume of a grape vine
captivates-it's subtle and mysterious, yet. intoxicatingly
s ductive. "Stick our nose in a blossom and breathe deep] "
11amb rs sugcrests." an you smell it? I've always struggled to
describ the p rfume of the grape vine: 'pic . sweet-ob .ously, D
it's floral." After a few moments of silenc ,he cominu : "It
sm lls like a ult n's princess."
W stand atthe western part of the vineyard. immersed in the
old st block, 27 year deep-the same vines that entranced
bambers during hi-' firs isit 19 .years al/o. What w 're Lo kin"
at i old Vlne GeWlU"ltraminer, with tmnks so l..'llurly. you CUt't
resist lightly Lraci ng wood to tangled t ndrils. awar of time.
"Tbese c rtalal have personality:' s tes hamber.
Wb.i1 R sonance fruit ha filled wine bo tles ryears. in :;:006.
Chambers took the leap into vintage wine making. True to his
adventurous an uti g-edge spiril. b d cid d to co-f rment
hi old-vine wurztr miner with hi Pinot oir CltlfS atthe
Ciirlton'l in makers Studio, which op ned its door with the
explicit l1'oa1 of providing a creative, state-of-th -arL facility {or
artisan produ rs craft.i.ng boutiqu wines (it a also the fir t
irtery regi teTed \\·th the U.S, reen Building Council). When
f llowvintners at the tudio saw what Chamb rs was doin a ,
they were sure it was a mistake and shoul d to top the orting
table befor his clusters married. Chambers quickJ} as ured
them tllltt that was, ind ed, what h want d to d ."Ar you sure
about that?" they asked increduJously." 0," he calmly replied.
e e ever certain abou anything?" And it is preci 1 this
abilit to furge ahead with a kind of uncertainty that has nabl d
Ch, rob rs t sue essfulJy naV'igate uch an. un rtain path. ,.p
Beguiled b grape vines. Kerry Newberry writes about wine nd .000 for
region<l! publications She swirls. sips and lives In Portland, Oregon
