(This article was originally published in my Food Politics column at the TheFasterTimes.com.)
The wines at Belle Pente (beautiful slope), a 70-acre farm off a dusty road in Carlton, came highly recommended by Russ Raney.
The grapes here are organic and the winery is biodynamic; winemaker
Brian O’Donnell is a recent member of the Deep Roots Coalition.
Coincidentally, I’d read a brief article in the Oregonian
a few days earlier about how Brian and his wife Jill have begun
diversifying their vineyard by raising goats and Highland cattle.
Below: Sheep and chardonnay at Belle Pente

Belle Pente is not easy to find, nor is
there a tasting room, per se. But we had called ahead and so Brian was
expecting us. As we drove up a gravel road, we sped past the
O’Donnell’s farm and cellar, it turns out. (After visiting a few of the
bigger area wineries that day, we’d come to expect a sign, if not a
parking lot.) It wasn’t until we’d reached the crest of the beautiful
slope (from which we had a magnificent view of the valley) that we
realized Brian had been waving us down from his tractor.
“Vineyards are inherently a monoculture,” Brian told us, as he poured us a glass of dry Muscat from 2007.
He and Jill are trying to change that by adding livestock and native
plants to their winemaking repertoire. They’ve had the goats for
fifteen years—they got them originally to clear the land of broadleaf
weeds so they could minimize the use of herbicide, but they also milked
them, making cheese for home use. Whereas the goats prefer broadleaves,
the sheep like grass—so both animals help maintain the vineyard, while
also adding to the “manure mix.” Ultimately, the grass-fed sheep are
sold at auction for their meat. “They turn our pasture grass into food
for humans,” said Brian.
The chickens, which are a relatively recent addition, eat the annoying cutworms (which
had been nibbling on the tender new growth of the vines at night)—the
eggs, said Brian, are a nice side benefit. (They sell the surplus to
neighbors.) The Highland cows are also brush eaters; their manure goes
into making some of the biodynamic preparations, so the O’Donnells have
no need to import it. (Eventually the cows, too, will be sold for
meat.) In an attempt to restore as much of an indigenous natural
habitat of the region as possible, he’s also begun planting native grasses
such as Blue Wildrye, Tufted Hairgrass, and Slender Wheatgrass in the
aisles between the vines. Brian also supplements the animals’ diet with
white grape skins, which aren’t fermented.
This sort of integrated farming
is a key tenet of biodynamic farming. It’s also a smart prevention
strategy. “Introducing (or restoring) biodiversity is a key to
maintaining a healthy, thriving vineyard environment that will
ultimately require fewer costly interventions in terms of pest and
disease control,” Brian said.
The Muscat was crisp and floral. Belle Pente is one of only three Oregon winemakers to make a Muscat,
a wine that’s typically found in Northern Italy (sometimes in the
Alsace). The grapes for this vintage come from a vineyard down the road
in the Yamhill-Carlton District, where the vines go deep into the soil,
past thick stones and marine sediments.
We tried a 2007 Pinot, which had a minerally character, and a 2006 pinot gris reserve, which, Brian told us, had a a more Alsatian style. Next we sipped the Murto—a
jammy pinot that’s sourced from an estate in the Dundee Hills where the
soil is volcanic. It had a spicy kick and a deep earthiness; I could’ve
easily had a full glass. Or two.
Since I wasn’t driving, I also wasn’t spitting as my boyfriend and
Brian so elegantly were. (I have yet to master the art of elegantly
spitting. Plus, when a wine is so delish, spitting seems like a
travesty—even if it is early afternoon and you haven’t eaten lunch yet.)
So forgive me, because this is where my notes lose their precision.
I did scribble in my notebook that we talked about the principals of
biodynamics, which include lunar cycles, preparations (spraying the
vines with silica and highly concentrated compost) and integrated
farming techniques. I asked Brian how a New Yorker like him ended up on
a remote vineyard in Oregon (he fell in love with wines while working
for Intel and HP in Mountain View, California in the 80’s), and, as we
tasted more wines—an Estate Reserve Pinot Noir with dark black fruit and an excellent estate grown Chardonnay
that had just the right balance of oak (it’s barrel fermented but with
old oak—a 50/50 mix of French and Oregon oak)—we discussed other
risk-taking winemakers such as Branco Cotar in Slovenia and Gravner in Italy. (Gravner, Brian said, is “pushing the envelope.”)
Though
there is something exceedingly romantic and right about drinking a wine
in the region where the grapes are harvested, I had to ask: where can I
find Belle Pente wines in New York City? Surprisingly, they are
distributed to 15 states—including New York. Among the NYC restaurants
who carry it are such foodie destinations as Cru, Gramercy, and 11
Madison. Still, unable to resist, we bought a few bottles for friends
and family before thanking Brian and bidding him farewell.
The Belle Pente Vineyards at Dusk (courtesy of Belle Pente)