Embedded in the Lopez Island Vineyards

July, 2009

Andrea Lechner, a devotee of viticulture and a freelance wine writer, is currently working hard at the Lopez Island Vineyards in Washington State, USA. She is kindly going to take time out to send us reports on the goings on at this small, family-run, community owned winery on the northern tip of one of the San Juan Islands.  

Andrea was born and bred in Argentina, and had an Anglo-Argentine education. She finished studying for her Wine and Spirit Education Trust Diploma three years ago and went travelling for six months in order to visit New World vineyards. On her return she decided to work in viticulture and also to become a freelance wine writer. She got a job in a vineyard near her home in Oxfordshire, East Hendred Vineyard, where she still works part-time. Having seen Lopez Island Vineyards in 2006 and fallen in love with the San Juans, she decided to return and work there one day. The climate is very similar to that in southern England, and Madeleine Angevine is also the main grape variety at East Hendred. 

Lopez Island Vineyards was established by Brent Charnley in 1987 when he decided to go back to Lopez Island and plant a vineyard after studying viticulture and vinification at UC Davis in California. He had spent time on the island while growing up and found the perfect spot for vines on the north end. 

On a balmy Saturday afternoon my hostess, Karleen and I walked down the trail towards Iceberg Point. A grass snake briefly stopped us before reaching the ideal picnic destination, high on the rocks above the ocean. Buttercups and deep purple camas flowers combined randomly on both sides of the path, but higher up the rock surfaces were bare. We sat down next to a shrub, sheltering from the hot midday sun, and ate deep red sockeye salmon with crackers and cream cheese. A sailing boat bobbed lazily in the breeze, and once in a while a jogger came into view, zigzagging down the trail. My hostess had taken me for a short hike down the southern tip of the island, keen to share one of its many unspoilt beauty spots. After the picnic we walked up to the monument, and, while enjoying the breathtaking view, we witnessed an unusual phenomenon – the sun creating sparkles which seemed to be dancing upwards from the water surface. Like an upside down firework display, silvery beams jumping in all directions. 

A week after arriving on the island, work at the vineyard was beginning to take a more predictable shape. The weather was mostly benign, and apart from a couple of rain drenched days, usually warm and sunny. Lopez Island Vineyards are 100% organic, which is why one of the most arduous tasks involves weed removal by hand. Hoeing was not something I was particularly used to, so I was grateful for the help of two hefty lads – Cedar, one of the vineyard owner’s many children, who hummed chain-gang melodies to keep us going, and Giacomo, a New Yorker of Sicilian extraction, who looks just out of a Shakespeare comedy – short pleated skirt, thigh-length woolly socks, knee pads and a broad rimmed hat. Leapfrogging through the rows, chattering away, we completed the task by the end of the afternoon. 

We are tending vines of differing ages, some well-established twenty year olds, some experimental new varieties. The main two planted on the island are Madeleine Angevine and Siegerrebe, and the happy marriage of the two has produced a crisp and vibrant off-dry wine this year, which is selling out rapidly. Many visitors choose to buy a bottle of Wavecrest White and sit outside, enjoying the vineyard’s formal garden while sipping the wine. Not only is it a perfect aperitif, but it combines beautifully with Dungeness crab, a local delicacy. 

The tasting room is part of the winery, yet the layout is so clever that you would hardly notice. A natural barrier divides the gift shop from the labelling machine, and the neatly arranged bottles on display from the oak casks beyond. 

For a $3 fee you can taste seven wines, including the recently released Wavecrest Ruby Blend (45% Chasselas, 30% Sangiovese, 25% Riesling) which is causing a bit of a sensation; a fruit wine made of 60% apples and 40% pears – organic fruit picked on Lopez and in the neighbouring Orcas Island- which at 11% alcohol is almost like a stronger still cider and absolutely delicious; a dessert wine made either from blackberries or raspberries, and the remaining ones all made from fruit picked in Eastern Washington, in the Yakima Valley, and brought over by the winemaker and vineyard owner, Brent Charnley. 

All wines are made in situ, and the reds really stand out. There are currently four on offer, a 2006 Merlot, a 2007 Malbec – also virtually sold out – a delightful Bordeaux blend (known in the US as Meritage) made of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot and 12% Malbec, and one not currently featured in the tasting, a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from a small AVA (American Viticultural Area), Red Mountain. At $35 a bottle, it warrants a tasting session all to itself. It is a complex wine with plenty of ageing potential, showing wonderfully crunchy tannins, crisp acidity and pronounced fruit intensity – raspberry on front palate, with hints of dark chocolate, mint, and some lovely blackcurrant undertones on the finish. Absolutely sensational paired with steak, as I discovered one evening after hours. 

Working in a small vineyard such as this is extremely rewarding, and the sense of awe is magnified here by its extraordinary natural surroundings. On a clear day it is possible to see the snow-capped mountains of the Cascades on the mainland, Mount Baker taking pride of place. Just outside the tasting room there is a small patio with an arbour, a few tables and chairs set out for picnics. The vines begin only a few metres further, making it possible for visitors to sit on the grass and admire the neat rows ahead. The horizon is framed by a line of fir trees, uncanny in their almost identical overall height, creating a perfect theatrical backdrop. 

Only a few hens, venturing outside their coops, break the silence of a perfect sunny afternoon. As I get on my bicycle for the ride home Jessie, the vineyard dog, looks up. Tomorrow cannot come soon enough. 

Lopez Island is one of the San Juan Islands in Washington State.

Vineyard Website: www.lopezislandvineyards.com