Wine Beserkers Featured Winery - Dominio IV

Greetings Berserkers!

Welcome to the Labyrinth of Dominio! Thanks to Todd and Seth for getting me involved in this Featured Winery project. Now let’s get the ball rolling, shall we?

Here is the Dominio IV offer:

the Still Life of a Technicolor Bat Pondering Ptolemy - $65 plus shipping/taxes
1x 2010 ‘Still Life’ Viognier ($22)
1x 2008 ‘Pondering Ptolemy’ Pinot Noir ($32)
1x 2009 Technicolor Bat (77% Tempranillo/23% Syrah) ($20)

These are current releases and should give you a good sense of DIV wines in their primary period of development.

an Old Man Looking East at Tapis under a Midnight Sky - $100 plus shipping/taxes
1x 2007 ‘Tapis’ Pinot Noir Reserve ($44)
1x 2005 ‘Old Man looking East’ Syrah ($35)
1x 2005 ‘Midnight Sky’ Tempranillo ($32)

The second three pack is comprised of library releases, which are shining brightly, just now beginning to show more mature nuances.

Technicolor Tapis of Still Life under Midnight Skies - $157.25 plus shipping/taxes
1x 2010 ‘Still Life’ Viognier ($22)
1x 2008 ‘Pondering Ptolemy’ Pinot Noir ($32)
1x 2009 Technicolor Bat (77% Tempranillo/23% Syrah) ($20)
1x 2007 ‘Tapis’ Pinot Noir Reserve ($44)
1x 2005 ‘Old Man looking East’ Syrah ($35)
1x 2005 ‘Midnight Sky’ Tempranillo ($32)

This six pack is the best of both worlds!

Please email seth@dominiowines.com for the order form or use the link below:

Alternatively, feel free to call Seth for order support and for information on reorder discounts: 541-954-8958

We look forward to sharing more about Dominio and pushing the conversation to the limits of your imagination!

A bit of history and a brief introduction to Dominio IV:

Four people. Four seasons. Four varietals.

Whereas most wineries in Oregon’s Willamette Valley specialize solely in Pinot Noir, we have gone to great extents to bring you four quality varieties: Pinot Noir, Tempranillo, Syrah, and Viognier.

We grow most of our grapes ourselves in Mosier, Oregon to ensure that they are cultivated with Biodynamic™ techniques that don’t just sustain, but strengthen, the land. What we don’t grow, we contract from sustainable wine growers in Oregon who share our farming values.

Sometimes the only reason to do something is to see its beauty in the end. When you are done, you walk away feeling better than if you had not done that something. That is why we started farming Biodynamically in 2001. It was a beautiful proposition that lead us to further understandings about our farm and ourselves.

Our wines are the results of this kind of journey. In each of them is a character that speaks its own language, sometimes dressed in exotic gowns, sometimes earth-covered overalls, and sometimes silky robes… but always uniquely its own.

Dominio IV consists of:
Patrick Reuter: Winemaker/Owner
Leigh Bartholomew: Vineyard Manager/ Owner
Liz and Glenn Bartholomew: Three Sleeps Vineyard Owners.

The Story:

In our mid-twenties, Leigh and I drove past a farm on the banks of the McKenzie River. There was a faded white farm house, a front porch, and a woman who stepped outside in the morning light. We drove past, but the image stayed with us. There it was: the slow drip of life, the old horse that no one rode but everyone fed.

After living in Tokyo and Seattle, we moved to the smaller side of places: Chilean bodegas, New Zealand open skies, and the rocked walls of French vineyards. U.C. Davis set our clocks to the exact time, the international tick of the grape vine. But like anything else, you know something better after you have done it for your self. So we moved back to Oregon, looked at the ground, looked at each other, and said, “How about here?"

Then came the maps, the soil surveys, and wild-eyed glee of hopping a fence with shovel in hand to see and smell the soil. After a few barbed-wire rips in the pant leg inseam, we found an east-facing slope in Mosier, Oregon and set out to plant what it wanted: Tempranillo, Syrah, and Viognier. We stayed where the wine jobs were in the Willamette Valley, moved Leigh’s parents into the vintage 1977 double-wide on the property and gave it a go.

Welcome, Patrick

I’ve been buying your wines since you were at the Carlton Wine Studio, and I’ll visit again this spring.
Except for the Midnight Sky, I already have all the wines. (Sorry, just the grape I don’t appreciate).

I highly recommend these wines to everyone.

P Hickner

Thanks Peter! Make sure to contact us prior to your trip and we’ll find some time for a visit!

Best of luck! Interested in a trade?

Absolutely! What do you have in mind? Thanks Todd!

Is pickup in Mac available? I work in Dundee and live in Forest Grove

Absolutely.

The sixer.

Thanks for the orders thus far! To try and drum up some conversation, thought I’d get into Shape Tasting, which is an interesting way of tasting wines.

Here is a link to a few examples, including the 2009 Technicolor Bat, to get an image in your head.

http://on.fb.me/zkilmt

The basics are simple: taste like you read, left to right. The X axis measures time on the palate and the Y axis shows palate width. Round shapes show fruit density whereas lines are acid. Dots and stars are tannin and structure. The colors reflect the types of flavor and aroma elements perceived in the wine.

It’s not about replacing written tasting notes. Rather, this makes them more multidimensional and dynamic. Not sure how off the wall this might appear, but it is a way for me to better remember the character of the wine. Does anyone else do anything like this, in addition to writing tasting notes?

If this is interesting and you want to see more, check these videos out:

http://www.viddler.com/v/2b7cca11
http://www.viddler.com/explore/consciouswine/videos/75/
http://www.viddler.com/v/cea26b31
http://www.viddler.com/v/6ab774ef

Cheers!

Patrick – I’m interested to take a look at this. However, I cannot access Face Book on my corporate laptop. Any chance of accessing this through a different link, like your website?

If I buy these wines, does it mean that I believe in Biodynamics?

Jay,

That is a thoughtful question, one, that can (and should?) be asked of many Biodynamic producers. But you’re the one that makes that decision.

My short answer is: No.

I love the Peter Wasserman saying: Dogma Kills Pinot. But this could be said to apply to all cultivars. Dogma is not something we believe builds character in the wines. Good sites, meticulous farming and intelligent decision making builds character in wines. The way we see it is that many BD farmers are simply more involved, which obviously benefits the microbial balance of the soil, the vine ecosystem and the fruit borne of it. We are believers in the tenets of Biodynamics, but we also understand that good grapes can come from sites that are not farmed with Biodynamics. That being said, not all of the grapes we craft into wine come from Biodynamic grapes. Furthermore, the winery is not certified Biodynamic.

Now for the long answer:

We started down the biodynamic path after tasting many BD wines while working in Burgundy at Armand Rousseau. The BD wines all seemed to have a purity and energy to them that shined through. Why? We didn’t know what it was, but the wines felt more honest, more involved, more clearly demonstrative of place. More dimension? More depth of flavor and aroma? Or is it a belief that helps to color our perception the exact kind of colors we like? Obviously, we’re still trying to figure it out. There isn’t something that we can put our finger on in terms of what BD farming lends to the fruit, all we know is that it was something we wanted to cultivate in our own wines.

After searching for sites throughout Oregon, in 2001, days before we purchased the Estate Three Sleeps Vineyard, we rose early in the morning to spray BD 500. It was an enlivening experience and one we decided to commit to continue making. We have farmed in the biodynamic tradition at Three Sleeps ever since. This is where I source Tempranillo, Syrah and a bit of the Viognier.

When it comes to Pinot Noir from Oregon, we are delighted in the extraordinary choices of sites and farmers. All of our Pinot farmers are sustainable hybrid, generally with an organic mentality but often venturing out into the realms of BD, mostly grounded in a natural approach. We source from Maresh, Stermer, Bella Vida, Holmes Hill, Vitae Springs, Willakia as well as from Archery Summit. As you might be able to discern from this list, not all of the sites are managed with BD practices, but they are all farmed meticulously (some more than others…)

Now for a quick quip I believe is related and important in connection with this question: Yeasts.

Yeast are an interesting animal to work with. As you all know, they actually do all the heavy lifting, so it is important to know who you are working with. We are big believers in the native ferment. That is to say, what is on the grapes, in the winery, and in the air usually gives us more complexity. BUT, we do like to throw in a couple of ferments each year that are targeted yeast strains to help build up the wineries flora. So there, I’ve said it…

We are believers in Biodynamics, but we also rejoice in the spice of life!

I’m interested to hear what the Berserker perceptions of Biodynamics are? Is it good? Bad? Black? White? Grey?

Thanks for your question Jay, look forward to hearing back from you. I’m sure I’ll come back in a few hours with some more thoughts on the subject.

Cheers!

To put it another way, sometimes you can get a really good stretch of the muscles from yoga, without a transcendental meditative experience…

Good day to all! I thought maybe a bit more technical data might be of interest, so…Here are the tech sheets!
I’m more than happy to discuss further, please let me know.

2010 Viognier “Still Life”

Region: Rouge Valley
Vineyards: Sundown Vineyard; Fort Miller Vineyard
Soils: Metamorphic derived and alluvial
Aspect: east
Slope: 3-5%
Farmed: LIVE
Certification: yes
Varietal: 100% Viognier
Clones: 197

Picked: Hand picked Oct. 20th 2010
Brix: 24.5 degrees – 25.5 degrees

Fermentation: Stainless Steel 1-3 ton lots and barrel fermented sur lies
Cold Stabilization: 1-2 days

Wine Chemical Analysis: pH 3.37; TA 7.2; alcohol 13.7%; RS 6.5 g/L
Aging: 8 months in neutral French oak barrels and stainless steel tank; 1 month in stainless steel tank marrying tank; 2 months in bottle.

Wine Tasting Notes: This wine has an aromatic balance of floral components like tropical flowers, orange, and fruit components such as apricots, and white peaches. The mouth feel is broad and round with a long line of acidity that pulls the peach and citrus flavors far out into the pallet. This wine has 5-7 years of wonderful changes in store for it as it ages, but is easily enjoyed now with it fresh fruit characteristics.

Production: 302 cases
Release Date: May 25, 2011
Pouring Recommendations: Ready to drink shortly after opening


2009 “Technicolor Bat”

Region: Columbia Gorge

Vineyards: Three Sleeps Dominio IV Estate
Soils: Van Horn
Aspect: East by East by Northeast
Slope: 3-5%
Farmed: Organic, Biodynamic
Certification: Demeter – biodynamic
Varietal: 77% Tempranillo 23% Syrah
Clones: Temp = 01, 02, 03, LBLB Syrah = 887, 174, Syrah Noir
Picked: Handpicked Oct.14st- Oct. 25th 2008
Brix: 24.5 degrees – 25 degrees
Fermentation: Stainless Steel 1-3 ton lots
Cold Soak: 3-5 days
Hand punched, with alternating pump-overs

Wine Chemical Analysis: pH 3.87; TA 6.2; alcohol 14.2%
Aging: 18 months in French and American oak barrels; 4 month in stainless steel tank; at least 8 months in bottle.

Wine Tasting Notes: This wine has dark fruit characteristics of black raspberry, black currents and Elderberry with a sweet floral aromatic and brown sugar. The wine has a mouth feel of fine tannins with a broad structure characteristic of Tempranillo. The acidity is similar to mountain fruit, juicy with an intensity of fruit that mirrors the aromas.

Production: 529 cases
Release Date: March 2012
Pouring Recommendations: Ready to drink shortly after opening and will continue to develop well over 12-36 hours in the open bottle.
2008 Pinot Noir “Pondering Ptolomy”

Region: Willamette Valley
Soils: Jory
Aspect: South and southeast
Slope: 3-5%
Farmed: Organic / Biodynamic
Certification: non
Varietal: 100% Pinot Noir
Clones: Pommard
Picked: Hand picked Oct.15st- Oct. 29th 2008
Brix: 24.5 degrees

Fermentation: Stainless Steel 3-5 ton lots
Cold Soak: 3-5 days
Hand punched, with alternating pump-overs

Wine Chemical Analysis: pH 3.55; TA 6.3; alcohol 13.7%
Aging: 10 months in French oak barrels. 45% new French oak, 35% one year, 20% two year old barrels

Wine Tasting Notes: This wine is from one of Oregon’s main soil types, the volcanically derived Jory soil. Intense concentrated fruit pull and twist the pallet like fresh mountain berries. Dark fruit characteristics dominate the spectrum of Pinot fruit expressed in the aromatics.

Production: 835 cases
Release Date: May - 2010
Pouring Recommendations: Ready to drink shortly after opening

2007 Pinot Noir “Tapis”

Region: Willamette Valley

Vineyards: Ana (Dundee Hills) Stermer Vineyard (Yamhill Carlton)
Soils: Jory
Aspect: South and southeast
Slope: 3-5%
Farmed: Organic
Certification: non

Varietal: 100% Pinot Noir
Clones: 777 and Pommard

Picked: Hand picked Oct.7st- Oct. 21th 2007
Brix: 23.5 degrees

Fermentation: Stainless Steel 1-3 ton lots
Cold Soak: 3-5 days
Hand punched, with alternating pump-overs

Wine Chemical Analysis: pH 3.70; TA 5.8; alcohol 13.5%
Aging: 10 months in French oak barrels; 1 month in stainless steel tank; 9 months in bottle.

Wine Tasting Notes: 25 year old vines from the Dundee Hills Ana vineyard make up the majority of this wine which gives a strawberry liquor note surrounded by floral aromas of rose petal. The texture is abundantly smooth and will age gracefully for the next 5-8 years.

Production: 75 cases
Pouring Recommendations: Ready to drink shortly after opening

2005 Tempranillo “Midnight Skies”

Region: Columbia Gorge

Vineyard: Estate Vineyard “Three Sleeps”
Soils: Van Horn fine sandy loam
Aspect: East by northeast
Slope: 3-5%
Farmed: Organic / Biodyanamic
Certification: Biodynamic pending

Varietal: 100% Tempranillo
Clones: Tempranillo 01, 02, 03, LBLB

Picked: Hand picked Oct.1st- Oct. 7th 2005
Brix: 24.7 degrees – 25.3 degrees

Fermentation: Stainless Steel and Oak Fermentors 1-3 ton lots
Cold Soak: 3-5 days
Hand punched, with alternating pump-overs

Wine Chemical Analysis: pH 3.94; TA 6.2; alcohol 14.35%
Aging: 15 months in French oak barrels; 7 months in stainless steel tank; 7 months in bottle.

Wine Tasting Notes: This wine commences with aromas of anise and sweet brown sugar in combination with earth spiced berries such as marion berry and huckleberry. The natural acidity is deeply integrated with an abundance of fine textured tannin. This tannin is the basis of ability to pair with foods rich in fats and powers its evolution in the glass over many hours. The tannins are ripe and nutty and fill the mouth with a wash of texture. The wine finished with earthy notes, berries, and sweet black licorice. This wine can be enjoyed presently with proper decanting, but has the distinct propensity to age 9-15 years.

Production: 353 cases
Release Date: March 15, 2008
Pouring Recommendations: Decant in a broad vessel. The wine changes dramatically with 3-5 hours of exposure to ambient air.

2005 Syrah “Old Man Looking East”
(I can’t find a tech sheet, sorry!)
Region: Columbia Gorge, from the Estate Three Sleeps Vineyard, Mosier, Oregon

From where did this Syrah come? This is obviously not from the wind swept steps of eastern Washington or Oregon. No this Syrah comes from the middle ground between two great forces; the marine influences of the Pacific and the continental climate of the great Columbia Basin. Herein lies some of the differences you may be experiencing. Mosier, Oregon is tucked into the oak forested hills on the east side of the Cascades. This little slice of climate is not as hot as the east and warmer than to the west; a fair bit drier than the Willamette Valley and wetter than the grasslands of the Columbia. This wine is a fusion of white pepper, chocolate, black berry, and juiciness called “pop”. There is something originally Syrah about this “old man”; something that makes you think of the Northern Rhone but not exactly….something we will come to know as Mosier.

Glad you have a Viognier in the mix, Patrick

I appreciate your comments, Patrick. My experience with most converts to biodynamics is that they really care about the soil and the weather and the vine and the fruit, and if they get results from their biodynamic practices, it is most likely a result of their hyperinvolvement in all of these aspects of the vineyard and not really a result of the biodynamic practices per se. I’d be interested to hear exactly what you’re doing that you consider biodynamic – are we talking burying the rams horn during full moon and stuff like that?

I am very much a skeptic. Show me hard scientific data. Until then, biodynamics might as well be biorhythms or snake oil (or BD500).

Thanks for the thoughts Jay!

We aren’t converts, but started out on day 1 with BD.

I come trained in soil science from one of the country’s most scientifically analytical and for a lack of a better phrase, “big Ag” schools (UC Davis). So the analytical approach to the vineyard is definitely not lost on us. We use science to inform our decisions as much as possible. But sometimes the scientific approach does a great job at answering the question asked, but not as good a job of asking the question.

So BD asks a lot of really quirky questions. Remember, as well, that BD is not a system which can be teased into “control” and “segments” as the scientific method requires. This is a holistic spiritual farming philosophy. Look at who is practicing BD in the wide world of wine http://forkandbottle.com/wine/biodynamic_producers.htm. Does any of this wine standout to you?

It seems as though most BD vine farmers are not concerned with hard-proof, whereas skeptics are. This is a big disconnect. We don’t market our wines as Biodynamic, we gently mention it because we feel it is important to us and informs the ways we go forth in the vineyard and the winery, as much as it is feasible. In the greater world, it is followed by some because it has yielded better wine from healthier soils within a more diverse and robust vineyard ecology. For others, the spirituality of it is problematic and that is fine.

But back to the question: where is the hard scientific data? I’m not sure it exists, yet. But what has been studied?

In one recent WSU study comparing three compost piles, one with conversional herbicides and pesticides, one organic, and the last biodynamic, there WERE differences in soil microbial life. The BD compost had a greater degree of microbial life. Furthermore, the study has found that biodynamic farming systems generally have better soil quality and equal or higher net returns per acre than their conventional counterparts. Another WSU study found that biodynamically treated composts produced higher temperatures, matured faster, and had higher nitrate content than control compost piles inoculated with field soil. (I’ll dig around for the link…)

I think a good analogy is found in the convergence of Buddhism and the neuroscience. Something profound happens in the brain during meditation. Neuroscientists wants to study it and explain it. Buddhist asked the question by creating it through an ancient practice. So it is not so interesting to me how bizarre the practice is, but rather what we can learn from the result of the practice. I will gladly bury cow horns during lunar cycles in pursuit of a greater scientific understanding of the vineyard ecology.

Cheers!

So if you bury a formerly living cow’s horn in the ground, there’s more microbial growth? That’s not exactly shocking is it?

Sorry, Patrick – you’re not going to convince me. I am, however, convinced that Steiner was a complete nutjob. You might do some digging around here, because there have been some pretty interesting discussions about Biodynamics. Here’s a good starting point:

https://wineimport.discoursehosting.net/t/biodynamics-is-a-hoax-blog/21925/1

this one is pretty amusing, too:

Thanks Todd! High elevation is the key for our Viognier sites. Viognier is a particular white wine that thrives on crispness, like a cool Autumn night. While its grapes are happy in Mosier, we have also discovered that one of its finest homes lies not too far south in the Rogue River valley of lower Southern Oregon. The elevation, of approximately 2,200 ft., is key here; this high in the mountains, warm days quickly turn into brisk evenings. Such temperature shifts seem to capture freshness in the grapes and make for a spectacular Viognier. Thus, we contract some of our fruits from Fort Miller and Sundown, sustainably run vineyards near the quaint town of Talent.

In my ‘portfolio’, Viognier is the evangelist announcing the benefits of a diet based solely on fruit and flower.