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60 p r a c t i c a l w i n e r y & v i n e ya r d S e p t e M B e r 2 0 1 4 w i n e r y d e s i g n A lexana Winery is the northern s i s t e r o f R e v a n a Fa m i ly Vineyards in Napa Valley and Corazon Del Sol in the Uco Valley of Argentina. Dr. Madaiah Revana had been thinking of developing another winery when a meeting with winemaker Lynn Penner-Ash in a Houston, Texas, wine bar kindled his interest in Pinot Noir. He began looking at various proper- ties in the Willamette Valley, Ore. In 2007 Revana acquired an 80-acre property on the western slope of Ore- gon's Dundee Hills, sight unseen, based solely on the recommendation of Penner- Ash. Thirteen acres of the vineyard had been planted to Pinot Noir and 3 acres to Pinot Gris. Extensive soil analysis deter- mined that there are actually 18 distinct soil types in the vineyard. Portions of the vineyard fit the profile of Dundee Hills while others display characteristics more closely resembling soils of the Yamhill/Carlton or Eola Hills AVAs. Plantings were expanded under vineyard manager Evan Bellinger of Results Partners in collaboration with Penner-Ash, who signed on as Alexana's winemaker. Careful consideration was given to matching clonal selection with the vari- ous soil types, slope and orientation. There are 46 acres of Pinot Noir, 3 acres of Riesling, 3 acres of Chardonnay and 2 acres of Pinot Gris planted today. Vine spacing is 4 feet x 7 feet (approximately 1,500 vines per acre). The wines were initially created at Penner-Ash Cellars, located less than 3 miles away. Dr. Revana's long-term goal, however, was to have his own facility. Initial design work for a combined win- ery and tasting room began in April 2008. A few months later, with the start of the economic downturn, the project was put on hold. The project was revived in the fall of 2010 when the decision was made to develop the project in phases. Because the wine was already produced at Penner-Ash with enough capacity to allow this arrangement to continue, there was no immediate need for construction of a winemaking facility. The Alexana tasting room began as a small storefront in Carlton, Ore. Christie Shertzer, tasting room manager, became the de facto project manager for Dr. Revana, facilitating day-to-day decisions while also coordinating the winery's marketing approach and tasting room responsibilities. Because the use of estate fruit was central to the Alexana concept, it was important to reinforce the connec- tion between the tasting experience and the vineyard. The first phase included the tasting room, administrative offices and an apartment for the owner. The three-level LEED Gold-certified structure was com- pleted for Thanksgiving 2011, with phase two completed for the 2012 harvest. Site challenges The very thing that made the site ideal for growing wine grapes made it particularly challenging for construction of a building. The property encompasses a diverse and complex series of soils spread over steep slopes and rugged terrain. During my first visit to the site with Penner-Ash, Revana unrolled a set of preliminary plans that had been prepared by another architect. The proposed build- ing was located in what seemed a logical place just below the road that skirted the upper portion of the site in an unplanted portion of the property. But the terrain was extremely uneven and bumpy. Either a novice excavator had been practicing with a bulldozer or these were classic signs of a condition called "soil creep." Kevin Foster, a geotechni- cal engineer, was engaged to perform more in-depth soil analysis. He con- cluded that there was evidence of recent, and potentially on-going, landslide activity in his first visit to the property. He confirmed my concerns that if a win- ery was built in that spot, it was unlikely to remain there. The general area where Dr. Revana wanted to build his winery was unfortu- nately right at the edge of where the sedi- mentary layers emerge from a large AlexAnA Winery Laurence Ferar, Ferar & Associates, Portland, Ore. BY Gravity flow with flexibility The winery building is nestled into an oak grove at the top of the vineyard site. A large crush pad roof matches slope of earlier tasting room phase. Deck of owner's apartment on top floor has commanding view of the vineyard and coast range. Chiller (right) is surrounded by concrete screen wall to minimize noise. Ground-mounted solar array was relocated onto winery roof when the second phase was completed. AeriAl Photo: AndreA Johnson