On the Prowl

Here’s another “wine adjacent” article that appears in the November issue of Oregon Wine Press. Their online version is HERE.

photo: st merry vineyard

Jaws, the resident cat at Left Coast Estate in Rickreall, has his own Google review page. One fan wrote:

“Came for the wine, stayed for the Jaws. Majestic good boi knows how to chill nearby, while gladly accepting scritches, pats, and any other forms of love. (five stars)”

This furry denizen of the tasting room is the most famous of the once-feral cats now living and working at Oregon wineries. Far more than pets or mascots, they offer an inventive solution to two pressing issues: the growing population of feral cats and costly rodent damage to vineyard crops and property.

TWO PROBLEMS

While exact numbers are elusive, the U.S. feral cat population is estimated to be in the tens of millions. These free-ranging, unowned cats live outdoors in colonies near food sources. They often have little or no human contact and may act aggressively toward people. Studies show their hunting instincts negatively impact native birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. Feral cats can also spread disease and parasites to domestic animals, wildlife, and humans. Life for these cats is typically hard and short.

The other problem is that vineyard crop yield losses due to bird and rodent damage can approach 40 percent, according to a 2012 United States Department of Agriculture study. Mice and rats also invade wine production facilities, damaging wiring and equipment and introducing contamination. Here, cats’ hunting instincts prove invaluable.

“I used to have to put traps and poison and stuff around,” said Dan Warnshuis, owner and winemaker at Utopia Vineyard and Winery in Newberg. Over two years ago, Utopia adopted two black feral cats, Midnight and Noir. Warnshuis relies on his two springer spaniels for vineyard gopher patrol, but the two cats make mice scarce in the winery building.

“The cats have been a godsend,” he says.

FURTHER AFIELD

At other vineyards, cats hunt outdoors between the rows, eradicating mice and voles. Voles resemble mice and usually feed on roots and at the base of vine trunks. Their damage can extend into the canopy, where they chew shoots and grape stems.

“I joke that I’d like to have an army of cats,” said Meghan Olivier, owner of St. Merry Vineyard in Dallas. Biscuit, the resident cat, shelters in a barn that he keeps free of rodents but also patrols a large perimeter of the property. “He mostly hunts the voles,” Olivier reports, “we do have a lot of those, like a lot of vineyards around here.”

Biscuit is part of a larger ecosystem that includes pigs, geese, and chickens—all contributing to the vineyard’s health.

MEOW VILLAGE

The cats at Left Coast, Utopia and St. Merry were adopted from Meow Village, a nonprofit feral cat rescue organization. Its “Barn Livin’ Is the Life for Me” program places cats in stables, sheds, shops, barns – and wineries. Other participating vineyards include Arborbrook Vineyards, Blakeslee Vineyard Estate and Chehalem.

The organization began in 2007 to care for a feral colony in Aurora and now serves the state's northwestern corner. Their Barn Livin’ program supplies healthy, spayed or neutered, and vaccinated felines to be adopted in settings where they can spend most of their lives outdoors. Large cages are loaned out to contain the cats for their first four or five weeks in the barn as they acclimate to their new environment. Volunteers continue to support property owners to ensure a successful placement. Meow Village maintains a list of hundreds of feral cats awaiting adoption, according to volunteer Leann Garrison.

Left Coast’s Jaws headlined “Jaws-a-palooza,” a fundraiser for Meow Village held at the winery last summer. Occasional Wine and Kitten events at wine bars and tasting rooms raise awareness and funds.

Meow Village has placed several cats at Left Coast since 2018. “All of the cats helped as mousers,” Left Coast’s CEO Taylor Pfaff said, “but it was Jaws that quickly became our li’l mascot.”

ANOTHER KIND OF RESCUE

Crunching gravel roads lead past countless rows of vines, arriving at Willamette Valley Vineyard’s Tualatin Estate tasting room. Vast tracts of agricultural land encircle the 171-acre vineyard near Forest Grove. Lurking cats prowl and dart about.

Unowned felines amass here on their own or, sadly, are dumped by humans. The winery barn’s steady supply of food, water and shelter supports a colony of several dozen at a time. The more tame ones find their way to the tasting room to be adored by visitors, but most avoid people.

All WVV’s vineyard staff members share care for the mousers - sometimes in unintended ways. Once, a vineyard steward brought a second-hand mattress to work, intending to give it to a co-worker. It was left in the barn during the day’s work, and by the time the crew returned from the vineyard, it had become a “cattress.”

Tasting Room Lead Ava Blake has taken a particular interest in a friendly female colony member she dubbed Sweet Hannah after the winery’s late-harvest dessert wine. Despite efforts to trap and spay her, Sweet Hannah has had several litters of kittens on the property.

“After she has a litter… she’ll bring them up on the [tasting room] deck for us to see,” reports Blake. There, the kittens are fed and socialized to be around people, including wine lovers who may end up taking home a new pet along with a bottle of Pinot Noir.

Blake recalls a customer showing her a smartphone photo of a kitten he had adopted from the tasting room a year and a half before, now a beloved family member. “It’s fun,” she said. “People will become club members and also get some pets from here.”

A CREATIVE WIN-WIN

Oregon vineyards are known for sustainable farming practices that reduce chemicals and poisons. Winery cats play a small but meaningful role in this effort and help address the problems of feral cat overpopulation and rodent damage.

And, occasionally, a cat like Jaws becomes a star. Left Coast features him on T-shirts and other promotional items.

“Jaws’ fame grows greater by the day,” Pfaff said. “He’s our top wine sales cat.”