Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Thursday 8 June 2017
Winery or ‘weedery’: Vineyards rip up grapes, switch to pot

GILLIAN FLACCUS liquor license, however,
Associated Press could get a recreational
JACKSONVILLE, Ore. (AP) marijuana license, she said.
— Bill and Barbara Steele In the nearby Illinois Valley,
moved to this sleepy cor- Katherine Bryan is tackling
ner of Oregon to start their these challenges as she
own winery after success- launches a marijuana busi-
ful, high-powered business ness with her son.
careers. She owns Deer Creek Vine-
Now, more than a decade yards with her husband,
later and with award-win- but her pot operation will
ning wine to show for their be called Bryan Family
hard work, they are adding Gardens and will operate
a new crop: marijuana. on land next to the vine-
Oregon’s legalization of yard.
recreational pot two years “We want to be as trans-
ago created room for en- parent as possible be-
trepreneurial cross-polli- cause when you’re under
nation in this fertile region the federal government
abutting California’s so- In this April 5, 2017 photo, vineyard owner Katherine Bryan laughs as she discusses the wines umbrella for your wines,
called Emerald Triangle, a available for tasting at Deer Creek Vineyards in Selma, Ore. you have to be very, very
well-known nirvana for out- Associated Press careful,” Bryan said.
door weed cultivation. She plans to grow several
Recreational marijuana land to grow 30 medi- amazing growing region,” ness Kenyon & Associates, hundred marijuana plants
cannot be sold legally in cal marijuana plants last Barbara Steele said. based in southern Oregon. with a focus on organic
California until next year. year, and this year they It’s hard to know exactly “The ‘weedery’ and the cultivation and an eye to-
But a few miles north of are growing double that how many in the wine in- winery. I think that’s huge, ward a high-end market.
the border in Oregon, a amount to be branded dustry are looking at pot and we see it developing.” They already have some
handful of winemakers are with the same label as
experimenting with pot in their wine. They started
hopes of increasing their with seeds in plastic cups
appeal among young under incubators in their
consumers and in niche laundry room, and pride
markets. themselves on a “seed to
“Baby boomers are drinking smoke” philosophy.
less. Millennials are coming This year’s crop also is
into their time, economi- for medical use, but the
cally, where in 2016 they Steeles are seeing the ben-
were the fastest-growing efits of the expanding mar-
consumers of wine, both in ket from legal recreational
dollars and volume,” said pot. Their weed was re-
Barbara Steele, who runs viewed alongside one of
Cowhorn Vineyard & Gar- their white wines in Stoner
den in rural Jacksonville Magazine, an Oregon
with her husband. cannabis publication.
“They’re looking for an “That conversation is possi-
experience of ‘wine and ble here because our qual-
weed.’” ity — the agricultural possi-
The Steeles leased their bility — is so high. This is an In this April 4, 2017 photo, Bill and Barbara Steele walk through their vineyard outside Jacksonville,
Ore.
Associated Press

here, but there’s plenty of But that enthusiasm comes buyers lined up and are
buzz surrounding the sub- with a caveat. Marijuana installing greenhouses and
ject. is still federally illegal, and lighting as they await ap-
Some vineyards are ripping wineries must keep their proval of their recreational
out portions of grapes in wine and weed businesses license.
favor of marijuana plants separate or risk losing a “I get $2,000 a ton for my
or leasing land to private federal permit that allows pinot gris grapes, whereas
growers. Others are talk- them to bottle and sell I can make potentially
ing about wine-and-weed wine. $2,000 or more per pound
tourism, including high-end That means establishing of cannabis,” Bryan said.
shuttles that would stop at two distinct lots for tax pur- “We have 31,000 plants
local wineries for tastings poses and keeping two li- out here for grapes, so I’m
and at marijuana farms for censes with the state, said pretty sure I can handle 300
glimpses of how pot is pre- Christie Scott, alcohol pro- to 500 cannabis plants.”
pared for market. gram spokeswoman for Mark Wisnovsky, of Valley
“There are a few wineries the Oregon Liquor Control View Winery in Jackson-
In this April 4, 2017 photo, tiny marijuana seedlings push out of
the soil in cups kept in a growing room owned by winemakers setting up very large rec- Commission, which also ville, says some vintners are
Bill and Barbara Steele at their winery, Cowhorn Vineyard & Gar- reational grows right now,” licenses recreational mari- upset because of the stig-
den, outside of Jacksonville, Ore. said Brent Kenyon, of the juana. Vineyards that grow ma associated with mari-
Associated Press marijuana consulting busi- grapes but don’t have a juana. q