| Our Vineyards > More about the Latitude 45 Vineyard and the Missoula Floods |
Our Vineyards: More about the Latitude 45 Vineyard and the Missoula Floods
| The Latitude 45 Vineyard sits directly on the 45th Parallel and grows on a soil known as Chehulpum. This soil is a silt loam and is closely related to Rickreall series silts. Below the shallow soil (approximately 3ft.) is fractured silt stone, which contains sea shells and fossils. The Chehulpum is a very young sedimentary soil (laid by water) some deposited as recently as 10,000 years ago by the Missoula Floods. The Missoula floods created the Columbia Gorge and are the largest known floods in the world. Just above the Latitude 45 vineyard we have the second largest Erratic Boulder in the State of Oregon (2nd to the Bellevue Rock near Sheridan). This Boulder is solid Granite and may weigh 60,000 lbs. It was moved here trapped inside an iceberg that floated down with the floods. The Left Coast property is also home to the largest single collection of these erratic rocks in the state. Left Coast's signature Latitude 45 Pinot Noir is known for its spiciness, which is a function of the terroir. With the Chehulpum silt there is also a distinct "dusty" character. - Luke McCollom, Viticulturist/Winemaker |
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