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Home / Washington Business - September/October 2005 / Made in Washington: Producing Freshness Since 1982 |
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Made in Washington: Producing Freshness Since 1982 |
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Written On: September/October 2005 |
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Written By: Story and photos by Shawn Sullivan |
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In the midst of rolling hills containing little or no vegetation, Badger Mountain Vineyards stands out as the only patch of green as far as the eye can see. Nestled on the side of Badger Mountain, the mountain from which the vineyard takes its name, Bill Powers cultivates 73 acres of land between apple orchards and housing developments. At 79 years old, he still plays a significant role in producing wine by walking through the vineyard and inspecting every vine.
Powers operated his own apple and cherry orchards for more than 30 years, but, in 1982, he took a chance and entered into the wine industry. The gamble paid off — Badger Mountain now produces more than 28,000 cases of wine each harvest, and ships them to 48 states. Powers prides himself on the quality of the wines made by Badger Mountain. In 1988, he made the move from bottling wine from other vineyards to growing his own 100-percent certified organic grapes.
"I started producing certified organic wines in 1989," Powers said. "In order to maintain my certification, I cannot use any chemicals whatsoever." Instead of using conventional fertilizers to increase production, Badger Mountain uses its own grapes as fertilizer. "It may be a little more expensive to run an organic operation, but, truth be told, my vineyards produce about the same amount of grapes as other non-organic vineyards."
Badger Mountain currently produces more than 20 varieties of wine and is one of the few wineries in the country that produces low-sulfite wine. Winemakers began using sulfites as a preservative more than 3,000 years ago — a process still used by winemakers today. Badger Mountain decided to make its wine without sulfites because a small percentage of people have allergic reactions to them. "We started making non-sulfite wine because 5 percent of the people in the United States are allergic to sulfites, and another 5 percent think they are," Powers said. "By not using sulfites in winemaking, we must be extremely careful with our sanitation." Part of Badger Mountain's extreme caution towards sanitation includes a rigorous inspection of all grape bunches to ensure only the highest quality grapes are used.
The typical harvest time for grapes depends on the type of grape, type of wine and the fermentation process. "All of our tanks are refrigerated to hold a constant temperature," Powers said. "By controlling the temperature, we extend the fermentation process from 4 days to 14 days." Badger Mountain uses this control method to serve two purposes — to keep the fruit flavors in the wine and to ensure the wine ferments more evenly.
The way wine is fermented varies depending on the type of grapes. White wines are fermented in stainless steel tanks and red wines in oak barrels. "Red wines take longer to develop because of tannin, a natural chemical found only in red grapes," Powers said. "If you try and drink red wines before they age, it will taste extremely bitter." Tannin depletes naturally over time, typically within one or two years.
Another aspect of winemaking entails an even spread of temperature throughout the vineyard all year long. "Housing developments have sprung up around the vineyard over the last few years, which blocked the airflow and in turn caused uneven temperatures throughout the vineyard," Powers said. "To combat this problem, we placed large windmills to blend the air to keep the temperature level on the entire area." To run these windmills, Badger Mountain utilizes Chevrolet 454-cubic-inch industrial engines. "If someone in the vineyard wears a hat while the windmills are operational, their hat will blow off," Powers said. "Even if they are 10 acres away."
The new housing development also brought birds into the vineyard, a problem he solved by covering half of the vineyard with special netting used to deter birds from eating the grapes. "We use netting as a solution to the bird problem because we can't use chemicals," Powers said. "By using the nets, we keep both the grapes and the birds healthy."
To produce wine of the highest quality, the grapes must have the appropriate level of sugar. "We measure the amount of sugar in our grapes by using a refractometer," Powers said. A refractometer works by measuring the discoloration in the liquid squeezed from grapes. The measure of sugar content is known within the industry as bricks. "Every two bricks of sugar contained in a grape are equal to 1 percent alcohol by volume," Powers said. "Most wine drinkers prefer an alcohol content of 11 percent by volume, so we don't harvest our grapes until they contain at least 23 bricks of sugar." Bill Powers begins measuring sugar content of his grapes a few weeks prior to harvest time. "I pick 25 bunches of grapes from random areas and squeeze them together," Powers said. "I then take that mixture and place it into the refractometer to determine if they are ready for harvest."
Harvest usually starts in late September through October, and most of the wines are ready for consumption a few weeks later — with the exception of the reds. During a typical growing season, Badger Mountain harvests 75 percent of its crop, leaving the remaining 25 percent on the vine to be used as compost the following year.
The result of Badger Mountain's care and dedication to viticulture is astounding. Every wine competition it enters throughout the year, ends in either a gold or a silver award, and its popularity is increasing every year. "We maintain a steady 15 percent growth annually," Powers said. "We started with the production of five different varieties, but now offer more than 20." Each year, Badger Mountain perfects its system of wine production, and with each passing year, its wines taste even better.
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