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Resonance Vineyards is owned by Kevin and Carla Chambers, and in 2006, Kevin made the owners' first wine- the Resonance Vineyard Pinot noir 06. In 2007, Kevin made a white wine blend of Gewurztraminer, Pinot gris, and Muller Thurgau from vines planted in 1981. Kevin and Carla Chambers are known in the Valley for their vineyard managment firm, Results Partners. Throughout the Willamette Valley, the Chambers manage over 800 acres of fine vineyards. Their work is unuversally praised. To have your vineyard managed by Kevin is considered a mark of quality among vineyard owners. Resonance Vineyard was biodynamically certified by Demeter USA in 2006. Quite unusual for Oregon, the Resonance Vineyard vines are grown on their own root stock. Because Oregon Pinot noir is very susceptible to Phylloxera, a tiny insect that destroys roots, most wine vines are grafted onto Phylloxera resistant root stock. Kevin uses biodynamic methods to keep his self-rooted vines healthy. He believes that self-rooted vines make better wine.
The Chambers use many biodynamic practices to manage their vineyards, including the use of horn manure (horn Manure is cow manure that has been fermented in the soil over winter inside a cow horn); horn silica (horn Silica is finely ground quartz meal that spends the summer in the soil inside a cow horn); and compost preparations made from six well known medicinal plants - yarrow, chamomile, stinging nettle, oak bark, dandelion and valerian. These humus-like substances are added to the composting material in minute amounts where they radiate their effects throughout the heap. The compost made from these herbs help to guide and regulate the decomposing and humus forming processes in the soil and make plant nutrient substances (sulphur, potash, nitrogen, calcium, silica, phosphorous) available in precisely the form needed for healthy plant growth. The Biodynamic Organization of the UK has detailed info on biodynamic farming.
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