12 | EDIBLE PORTLAND SPRING 2025 1500 attendees in its final year. Many of my Willamette Valley viticultural peers volunteered on at least one occasion. They described the experience with reverie, the Valley's own little Woodstock. Like the Art + Science brand, this contribution of disseminating music, art and fermented beverages on their land was not in the plan. Still, it became a core of their identity in the community. During the summer of 2022, Rinke and Hamblin decided it was high time to bring a version of Wildwood Music Festival back to life via a limited concert series, continuing to offer the option to camp on the property for a small fee. Returning each summer, the event is open to all ages, with Rinke and Hamblin at the helm, serving Art + Science beverages from the cottage window during the show. Bands travel from around the country to play this coveted slice of the Oregon hills, often camping out on the property and mingling with attendees under the constellations after the show. In the morning, Hamblin brews coffee for everyone on the house, and it feels as though morning light is never dreaded here. The couple share a passion for music and have many friends in the industry, but when I asked why they returned to putting in the work to invite the concert community back after pre-Covid distribution channels reopened, Hamblin did not wax on about her own love of music. "I think it goes to a bigger theme of just sharing the property. A lot of people don't have access to land, and we are fortunate…Being able to see the joy on people's faces and share in that is a huge part of it." Why Plumage, not Pinot? Towards the end of our time together, Rinke and Hamblin quibble jokingly over a carbonic plum wine they will ferment in clay amphora this vintage, named Plumage. Although plums grow easily in this region, they are particularly difficult to ferment and process due to pectin levels and shelf stability. Here in the Willamette Valley, the cash crop for wineries is Pinot Noir, and there are many worldclass producers dotting the hills, so I have to ask, “Why Plumage and not Pinot? Why push the boundaries of consumer taste instead of operating a proven formula?” Rinke smirks, “I don’t want to be in a cover band. I want to write original songs.” From our time together, I learned that the important question is not whether the couple’s operation outside the Pinot industrial complex and the community building that has since ensued (for bees and Oregonians) was premeditated or organic growth but rather how the duo can continue to foster and sustain their world of edible art and science, in all its creative form. All Art + Science SKUs and information about their newly launched subscription-based club are available on their website, www.artandsciencenw.com. Customers can also purchase wine on-site at Rochambo ArtFarm. More about Hamblin’s art pieces and cut paper process can be found on the above website and through Imogen Gallery in Astoria, Oregon. Tasting Room Hours: 3 PM-Dark Roshambo ArtFarm, 22900 Pittman Road, Sheridan, Oregon artandsciencenw.com
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