The Story of a Hill

A Visit to Worden Hill Farm

As the Willamette Valley gains international recognition for its wines, we want to discover other Oregon producers renowned for their quality. In our second edition of “Beyond Pinot Noir” we visit the Worden Hill Farm. Worden Hill has yielded a number of crops and products over the centuries. Throughout the Nineteenth Century and into the mid Twentieth Century, walnuts, prunes, and berries comprised the majority of the agricultural industry in Dundee. Then, 1962 brought the Columbus Day Storm, uprooting trees and eliminating entire prized orchards. After which, many orchards were cleared and replanted to filberts or vineyards.

Domaine Roy’s Dundee Hills Iron Filbert Vineyard on Worden Hill Road reflects this history. Originally a walnut orchard, it was replanted with filberts after the Columbus Day Storm. When we purchased the property in 2012, we planted it to its latest incarnation, with 13.5 acres of Pinot Noir and two acres of Chardonnay.

Since vines were introduced to the Willamette Valley just over 50 years ago, Worden Hill has been an integral part of the Dundee Hills AVA. Dick Erath of Erath Winery, one of the five founding fathers of the Willamette Valley, chose Worden Hill as the site to plant his vineyard in the early 1960s, making it the location of the first vineyard in Dundee Hills. The Worden Hill is now home to numerous top tier vineyards, renowned wineries and boutique hospitality venues.

This edition of our quarterly newsletter highlights a different angle of the Worden Hill. We are delighted to showcase our neighbors and friends, Susan & Wolfgang Ortloff. Moving from Zurich in 2007 to take over their family’s property, they have been raising pigs, (and 3 beautiful daughters!) on their whimsical 13 acres Worden Hill Farm. The Ortloffs sell their pork to some of the best restaurants in the Willamette Valley and Portland such as Thistle, Nostrana, Ned Ludd, Ava Gene’s and Clyde Common.

The idea of waste management is what first inspired the Ortloffs to establish their farm. Nowadays, the Ortloffs also feed their pigs whey from award-winning Briar Rose Creamery, grain from Wolves & People and Deception breweries, and whisky mash from Branch Point distillery. This varied and rich diet is not only environmentally conscientious but also makes for healthy pigs, and the healthier the pig, the better the meat! Over at Domaine Roy & fils, we have also started incorporating waste into our ecosystem. This year, we integrated the pomace of pressings, mixed in with organic hay and cow manure, in our compost.  

In addition to nutrition, the Ortloffs also strive for breeding diversity. A few breeds of pigs are found on the farm: Duroc, Red Wattle, Berkshire, and Hampshire. They favor an array of breeds, their beliefs being that mixing breeds makes for better, healthier pigs. Our Winemaker, Jared Etzel, also favors diversity. In our vineyards, he chose to plant over 12 clones of Pinot Noir. In his opinion, this allows for more complex blending options in the cellar. Different clones will add different flavor profiles to wine. For example, Pommard clone will give more structure while Wädenswil will bring elegance and 943 will add concentration and color to the wine. 

Chef Chase Williams of the Black Walnut Inn accompanies us on our field trip to teach us about butchery. The first thing he does is remove the leaf fat, explaining to us that this dry white fatty substance is ideal for baking. Continuing, he separates the front portion, the pork shoulder from the neck and other shoulder muscle - the coppa. He then carves out the back portion, the ham, which he will cure part of to make speck and use the rest as breakfast ham for the guests of the Inn. Next, he moves onto the biggest middle part of the animal. He cuts off the flank and we can’t resist giving it a quick pan searing which we simply season with coarse Oregon coast sea salt made by Susan and Wolfgang themselves. As we savor the flank, Chase carves out the ribs, the meat outside the spine - the loin - and the meat inside the spine - the tenderloin. What is left is the belly, which will be used to make breakfast bacon.

Reflecting on the day, we feel privileged to be a part of the Worden Hill community of growers and producers. For centuries, the soil, the land, and the site of Worden Hill has made it bountiful and fecund, yielding delicious nuts, berries, grapes, wine, pigs, and pork. We thank you for taking the time to celebrate the bounty and collaborative spirit of our hill.