edibleportland.com | 11 The border between Art and Science as disciplines is not easy to map. Still, for Kim Hamblin and Dan Rinke, co-founders of Art + Science- Cider + Wine Company, fermentation curves are a natural pairing for the business owners' artistic mediums. Each Art + Science product label is an original piece of Hamblin's art (of which there are currently more than 35). As we sit down at their tasting room on Roshambo ArtFarm in Sheridan, dozens of Hamblin's cut paper assemblage pieces adorn the premises. Driving onto Hamblin and Rinke's hilltop, 40 acres in the shadows of the Oregon Coast Range, there are signs you have crossed into a new paradigm, one that Lewis Carroll would have enjoyed. At the base of the hill is an empty festival village centered around its oversized brick kiln, a small stage ensconced in flowers, a noncontiguous garden where green fibers are permitted to become wood and a cottage with a window for wine service. Welcome to the whimsical world of Art + Science Cider + Wine. Farming & Fermenting After eyeing it for several years, Hamblin purchased the property in 2006 before meeting Rinke. "I was a real estate stalker," she says. There was no plan to become a beverage artisan or amateur music festival director at the time of purchase. Nor was there a plan to fall in love with the vineyard manager and winemaker at Johan Vineyards. Rinke and Hamblin met at a crowded industry event where a local distiller gave up his seat next to Rinke to Hamblin. As Hamblin describes, they bonded over a drink and science, specifically the role of potassium in winemaking. "Potassium is a sexy word," Hamblin remembers. The substance of their days was quite different then, with Hamblin working as an artist and realtor and Rinke farming and making wine. Still, in their operation today, the marriage of such skills fits. Rinke, a Wisconsin native, spent several years working in wine distribution and sales before pursuing a degree in viticulture from Fresno State University. "Why viticulture over enology for your degree?" I ask Rinke, waiting for a philosophical response about farming and grape quality. Instead, like many important things in life, the decision involved a conversation over a cigarette. "I went to a wine dinner with Michel Chapoutier for work…as soon as dinner was over, I went over to the bar to have a smoke. Michel was French so, so did he." When Rinke explained that he enrolled in an enology degree program, Michel scoffed, "Wine makes itself. You should go and learn how to grow grapes." Monday morning, Rinke heeded the words of the famed Rhone producer and changed his major. "The French influence!" Hamblin chimes in. I asked Hamblin if she grew up with any cultural connection to wine or fermentation. “Besides stealing my mother’s alcohol? No…I didn’t even really like cider.” Cider had not impressed Hamblin until the taste of a Cidrerie du Vulcain helped turn her interest to apples (thank you, Mr. Perritaz!). “I knew with this 40 acres, I had to farm something,” Hamblin recalls. With the high cost of grape planting and the site being cooler than other parts of the Willamette Valley, fruit trees made more sense. Rinke’s work at Johan Vineyards yielded occasional access to excess vine cuttings, so the couple also interplanted Gruner Veltliner, Savagnin, and an assortment of unknown red grapes among the fruit. Today, Rochambo ArtFarm consists of 15 acres planted to a clonal menagerie of pears, quince, plums, apples and grapes. Rinke refers to the interplanting as "mixed species farming" designed to promote microbial and biotic diversity, a philosophy which birthed Symbiosis, their barrel-aged cider-wine coferment made from Gruner Veltliner and foraged apples. Each harvest is supplemented with both purchased and foraged fruits. "In the early years, I was not as skilled of an apple huntress as I am today," Hamblin explains. These days, the couple spends a lot of time in nature searching for the right flavors and fruits to build out their ciders, perries and co-ferments. There is an energy and life to the Art + Science product that one can find reflected in the property's crevices. Hamblin refers to her growing style as "ecological gardening," a method that acknowledges that the human relationship to nature is often unsavory. There are myriad bee species observing the interview, so I ask how the aviary population is managed—a popular topic among Willamette Valley wineries seeking a greener reputation. "Just leave them something…People complain about not having any bumble bees, and I'm like, well, did you mow everything down around them?" Hamblin and Rinke go on to explain how commercial Mason Bees are sold in small cardboard cylinders, but the two of them prefer to leave their critters the real thing, an abundance of tall, hollowed plant stems for burrowing, a practice which has obviated their need to bring in commercial pollinators. "Leave them alone, and they know what to do." The result is a piece of property upon which Rinke, Hamblin, and their visitors act as co-op members of the surrounding life. Festival Season The first time I tasted Art + Science two years ago and witnessed their piece of the sky at dusk, I began to search for an excuse to return to that hill. Visitors to Roshambo ArtFarm can come for the fermented drink and stay for the concert series.] Chatter in the Valley quickly surfaced about the legend of the multi-day 'Wildwood Music Festival,' which Hamblin and Rinke started from scratch on Roshambo ArtFarm in 2010, with an inaugural headliner: Charlie Parr. The homemade campout festival was volunteer-based and grew each year until the pandemic led to its halt in 2020. The event numbered about Illustration: Kim Hamblin
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