A new generation of Oregon winegrowers is spawning a grass roots, community oriented organic winegrowing movement, making a big splash. Instead of wineries leading the charge for organically grown grapes and wines, this time it’s hands-on growers and viticulture professionals collaborating to launch the state’s first ever organically farmed wine event, the Organically Grown Wine Conference, held March 22 at Alexana Winery in Newberg in the Dundee Hills AVA.

In a significant move underscoring the growing importance of organic viticulture, Alexana Estate Winery is set to host the inaugural Organically Grown Wine Conference on 22 March 2025. The event aims to highlight the impact of organic farming practices on the quality of fine wines.

Dr. Madaiah Revana, Alexana Winery Houston-based cardiologist Dr. Madaiah Revana has all bases covered: Bordeaux-style Revana wines in California’s Napa Valley, Burgundy-style Alexana in Oregon’s Willamette Valley and the Corazon del Sol Rhône programme in Argentina’s Uco Valley. He is the first Indian vintner in the US to own three vineyard estates, and wineries in three distinctive regions.

Why Oregon I asked? “I always enjoyed Burgundy,” answered Revana in our phone conversation from his base in Houston, Texas, “and I had heard of Willamette’s similarity with Burgundy.” Serendipitously, he met Lynn Penner-Ash, co-founder of Willamette’s renowned Penner-Ash Winery, who encouraged him. “This property became available and I jumped at it,” he said of the Dundee Hills location, a prime sub-appellation in the heart of Willamette.

Revana acquired the 80-acre property in 2005. “It was a forest, there was nothing there. We started from scratch, cleared the land, planted vineyards, then built the winery,” he said. Fifty-five acres were planted to 11 clones of Pinot Noir, two of Chardonnay and one of Pinot Gris. “First harvest, we sold the fruit.”

What makes the estate special is the 18 different types of soil ranging from Dundee’s signature red soils to marine sedimentary soil, as winemaker Tres Burnes informed me when I met him on my recent visit to Willamette. On a cool summer morning, we were seated on the terrace, taking in the expansive 180-degree panorama of the vineyards stretched over rolling hills and rugged terrain. Burns pointed at the hodge-podge of 18 soils in the middle block, a result of landslides over thousands of years. This geological diversity is what gives the wines its structure, complexity and age-ability.

While there is Chardonnay and Pinot Gris produced at Alexana, its Pinot Noir is the star of the portfolio with seven different bottlings, three of which are soil-specific, while others are clone-designate (as reported on the label).

We began our tasting with a 2022 Pinot Gris expressing brilliant acidity and moved on to the flagship Estate Pinot Noir, the ethereal and  spicy 2019  and a savoury 2021, both expressing the classic Willamette sous bois and barnyard on the nose. We visited older vintages, the 2011 Block 8 and 2014 Block 6, both pale-hued in an Old World style, yet showing bright fruit on the palate and supple tannins.

Willamette wines continue to score top ratings in US wine publications. Alexana’s Estate Pinot Noir both 2010 and 2018 made Wine Spectator Magazine’s Top 100 and ELV’s 2012 La Source ranked number three with a score of 98 points in the 2015 issue of Wine Spectator Top 100 wines in the world. (ELV’s Isabelle Meunier was the winemaker of the 2012 vintage with Parr and Moorman selecting the final blend.)

Oregon’s production output contributes a mere 1.5% to US total wine production with California contributing 90%. Yet, Oregon wines are responsible for 20% of the scores of 90 points or higher.

“So we’re in this little pocket,” Burns commented. Small production but high quality is what brings in high scores. “So it’s an outsized ratio of quality to production, we have quality but a higher price point than other regions.”

Revana is bullish on the Willamette region and in 2019 acquired 65 acres across from Alexana, naming it Kinney. “Like children, I love them all,” he commented of his three wineries. “But Napa, where I started, will always be my favourite.”