First-time nominee Herb Quady’s Pistoleta perfect for a ‘summer evening porch sit’
By Angelina Caldera
An area winemaker recently brought home a prestigious international award. Herb Quady’s white wine blend Pistoleta earned top honors in the Global Fine Wine Challenge results announced Dec. 5.
The Challenge is an annual invitation-only competition open to the top 120 wines of each competing country: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States.
The best selections across 22 classes are made by representatives from each participating country, and the selected wines are transported to Sydney, Australia, for blind judging.
Sean Sullivan, a wine expert, writer of the Northwest Wine Report, and former wine reviewer for Wine Enthusiast, nominated Quady North’s white wine blend Pistoleta.
Quady is founder and owner of Quady North vineyard near Ruch in the Applegate Valley and, along with Nichole Schulte, co-owner of Barrel 42, a wine-making facility in Medford.
Quady was surprised to learn he won the superlative award, since Australia is highly competitive in similar wine blends in this international competition. He says it’s been validating to be the recipient of praise from professionals and peers throughout the business, which gives the winemaker reassurance he’s on track to have mastery of his craft.
Pistoleta joins Arsenal
Pistoleta is a versatile blend of viognier, marsanne, roussanne, and grenache blanc that appeals to a broad audience. Bring this refreshing, smooth, medium-bodied, wine with the warmth of honey and the zest of citrus notes would go well with a freshly caught crab dinner, or to accompany barbecued trout. If you want to sip and relax, Pistoleta is wonderful for a “summer evening porch sit,” Quady suggests. This wine pairs well with flavorful, spicy dishes.
The Pistoleta — the Spanish word for pistol — label has two pistols facing one another. It plays off the name of Quady’s red wine, Arsenal.
Quady values his reputation for consistency and seeks to maintain this by making the winery’s products accessible to those who cannot visit the vineyard. Pistoleta is sold at supporting retail stores, including Ashland and Medford Food Co-Ops, Albertsons, Safeway, Harry and David, and Costco.
A custodian of the land
If Quady could change anything about the wine industry, it would be to reduce its environmental impact and make it more inclusive. Quady North would like to grow in the upcoming years by being a “custodian of the land … almost exclusively because it’s the right thing to do,” he said.
Quady North estate vineyards are certified organic and abide by the nonprofit LIVE sustainably grown standards (LIVE — Low Input Viticulture and Enology — is a rigorous certification process supporting environmentally and socially responsible vineyards).
The wine industry’s most prominent environmental liability is the production and importation of glass. Quady would like to use more kegs and invest in materials that are easy to recycle. Regulations require tracking the winery’s carbon footprint. Quady North aims to reduce its carbon footprint, while being aware they have expanded that footprint by shipping Pistoleta, a rosé, and GSM (a Rhone blend) to 12 states.
Quady is on the board of directors for LIVE, which aims to diminish carbon emissions and strives to achieve equity in the industry. Quady also works to regulate species diversity, habitat quality, groundwater and runoff. Sustainability is not only about maintaining biodiversity, Quady said. He wants to see more heterogeneous environments in this growing industry, to make it more viable and rewarding.
Took a chance on himself
The job that brought Quady to the Oregon wine industry nearly 20 years ago was short-lived. Quady was let go after nine months due to budget cuts. He had moved his family to Oregon from California for the job, he invested in it, but it didn’t produce the outcome he sought. After that, he decided he wouldn’t rely on others to determine his future, but rather to invest in his potential and take a chance on himself.
The ideas he had about his career path changed and fostered the idea to open Quady North with his wife, Meloney, in 2006. He still recognizes, as a business owner, that he has to make sacrifices for facets of the process that are out of his control, in order to maintain consistent quality. Early on, a virus that reached the grape vines destroyed some but not all of their vines, and he made the decision to have the variety pulled, although the crew planted those grapes the day their daughter was born. This vineyard, Eevee’s Vineyard, was named after their daughter.
The values he gained from this initial hardship in the industry were the catalyst for what Quady North is today. He also attributes his success to the help he’s received along the way from his partners, other growers, and his family. It has taken a combined effort to build Quady North from a few barrels to a winery with international appeal.
Angelina Caldera is a student at Southern Oregon University.
April 13 update: Spelling of Sean Sullivan’s name corrected.
