Guardians of the Red Mountain sounds pure Lord of the Rings. So too the ritual planting of a sacred cow horn to thwart the dominance of the chemical Dark Lord. Easy on the Tolkien there. The biodynamic Hedges Family Estate is set not in some mythical Shires but in one of the prime viticultural sites of Washington State in the north west USA.
Mountain? More of a long mound apparently, coloured by reddish cheat grass in spring before the grapes take centre stage – true object of the family’s self-styled guardianship. This is as hot and dry as it gets with cool nights, the soil a mix of clay, loess and rocky granite, making it perfect for creating stellar, tannic red wines; Hedges are a rarity among their peers in going down the biodynamic route.
This means their five vineyards are farmed according to the eco-forward tenets of the Austrian philosopher, Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925). Probably the most divisive of these recommends the use of ‘preparation BD500’, where horns are filled with ox manure and buried in October to stay in the ground throughout the dormant season. The horn is later unearthed, diluted with water and sprayed onto the soil.
However wacky it may sound the proof is surely in the wine quality and the 2020 vintage of La Haute Cuvee, their first certified biodynamic wine, is supple and savoury with masses of ripe blackcurrant under its tannic shield.
I am tasting it alongside a trio of other Hedges reds (including a stunning Syrah ‘Les Gosses’) at a Pacific Peaks & Vines roadshow in Manchester, showcasing the wines of Washington and Oregon. I’m in the amiable company of the brand’s travelling ambassador, Christophe Hedges, who runs the estate with his winemaker sister Sarah. She led the charge to biodynamic practice and natural fermentation; in a region of ‘big’ wines theirs possess a certain Old World finesse.
Maybe put that down the influence of their French mum Anne-Marie. She and husband Tom harvested their first vintage in 1987 before purchasing 50 acres on Red Mountain two years later to plant mainly Bordeaux varietals. These days (from their French chateau-like base) they are adapting to climate change by employing drought-resistant grape varieties and careful irrigation in an area that gets only eight to nine inches of rain a year.
All in stark contrast to Oregon, the other state participating in Pacific Peaks & Vines. There a more temperate, rainier microclimate close to the ocean is more suitable for the cultivation of Chardonnay and especially Pinot Noir. I was particularly impressed at the Manchester Side Street tasting by examples from Willamette Valley stalwarts Stoller.
Between them Oregon and Washington account for seven per cent of US production volumes, exports to the UK are growing but still tiny and we are talking premium prices, an average of £40 a bottle.
If Willamette Pinot remains my target tipple I can now see the attraction of both ‘twin peaks’ of North Coast viticulture
Cherry pie is on the menu in the real-life Twin Peaks
And you thought Twin Peaks was just a hugely acclaimed TV show, created by David Lynch, who died last month. It’s also coincidentally the name given to wineries in Western Australia, California’s Sonoma and Mallorca while its star, Kyle MacLachlan himself dabbles in the wine trade with his private label, Pursued by Bear.
I’d like to think his Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon offers hints of cherry pie on the nose. That pie, in the company of “damn fine coffee”, was the chosen treat of MacLachlan’s character, Agent Dale Cooper.
Naturally, on our last visit to Washington State, we sampled both in the hotel that stood in for the Great Northern Hotel in David Lynch’s surreal TV series. We had been based in Yakima, epicentre of the Yakima Valley wine and hop-growing region, an hour’s drive to the west of Red Mountain.
The Salish Lodge was our lunchtime stop-off heading further west towards Seattle. After the desert climate of Yakima, we hit big rain crossing the Cascades range. The mountain murk was so dense we couldn’t even get a view of 14,411ft Mount Rainier, the USA’s fifth highest and one of the world’s great standalone peaks (we glimpsed it later from the equally iconic Space Needle in Seattle).
After slaloming down forested switchbacks it was a relief to reach Salish Lodge perched on the brink of the Snoqualmie Falls, one of Washington’s big visitor draws. The famous waterfall there, swollen by those rains, was in full spate as the clouds cleared enough for a proper view from the terrace path of, where we were booked in for lunch at its Attic restaurant.
First though we had to investigate this luxury inn’s Twin Peaks souvenir shop. Echoing some Lynchlike plot twist, one of the stars of the original and the recent follow-up series, Harry Dean Stanton, had died the previous day.
It was a mark of respect to a great actor that, after oysters, clams and stone hearth fired pizza, we had to find room for that pie.
What are the secrets of biodynamic wine?
Biodynamics is often referred to as ‘super-charged organic’. Rather than simply reducing chemical inputs, biodynamic production is a proactive attempt to bring life to the soil with the use of natural composts and organic preparations.
It’s more than just an agricultural system, rather an altered world view that then impacts on the practice of agriculture. Winemakers drawn to this philosophy tend to be creative, spiritual types, deeply connected to their land and always experimenting to see what works best.
Demeter biodynamic certification is the reward for going down this radical route, which forbids chemical fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides or fungicides. Instead insect life and spiders are encouraged to control pests; manure encourages organic growth. After hand-harvesting the grapes the wine is produced in a gravity-fed cellar without winemaking additives. Ambient yeasts are used, with no or scant sulfites and no fining.
More controversially all significant vineyard activities – soil preparation, planting, pruning, harvesting – are done in accordance with the influence on earth by the moon, stars and planets. Finally, the aspect that can spark scepticism – the use of nine preparations 500-508 (a bit like homeopathy), using plants such as nettles, dandelion and chamomile, to be applied in powdered form or as sprays. And then there is the afore-mentioned Preparation 500.
One French winemaker of my acquaintance wrote of the Steiner strictures: “It is important to understand that 50 percent is symbolic and 50 percent is real… it all helps focus.”
All of which reminds me of a memorable trip to Ted Lemon’s Littorai winery in Sonoma, California. In Ted’s absence his young deputy confessed to not being a total convert to biodynamics (the perfection of the Pinot Noir was proof enough for us). And yet, as he put it, “It sure does make you pay attention.”
The damn good wines of Hedges Family Estate sure grabbed mine.
• A range of Hedges Family Estate Wines is available in the UK from Guildford-based sustainable merchant Wine & Earth.
