OUR VINEYARDS
After decades in this business, Rob has developed close working relationships with lots of growers around the Willamette Valley. We’ve carefully chosen our very favorite vineyards, about a dozen of them; the ones that give us fruit in a wide range of textures and flavors. Each harvest we gather these lots of fruit from around the Valley and bring them to our winery in downtown McMinnville where Rob thoughtfully makes the wine in his own unmistakable style. Daffodil Hill in the Eola-Amity Hills is our Estate Vineyard and thus a benchmark for our wines.
Please click photos below for vineyard details.
COURTING HILL VINEYARD
Courting Hill Vineyard
About Courting Hill Vineyard
AVA: Willamette Valley
Soil: Willakenzie
Perspective: South facing
Elevation: 400-450 ft
Clones: Pommard 115, 113, and Chardonnay 96 & 76 on 101-14
Year Planted: 1983
Acres Planted: 21.52
Jimmy Leyden owns the Courting Hill Vineyard in Banks, which we have worked with since the mid-90’s – those were the Erath days. In his former life, Jimmy had a fascinating career as a professional musician and songwriter, and he is an absolute delight. Oh, and did we mention he’s 94 and he still gets out and walks his vineyard almost daily?
DAFFODIL HILL – ESTATE VINEYARD
Daffodil Hill Vineyard
About Daffodil Hill Vineyard
AVA: Eola-Amity Hills
Soil: Jory
Perspective: West facing,
Elevation: about 350-500 ft
Clones: Dijon 667 and Dijon 114 on 101-14 rootstock
Year Planted: 2002
Acres Planted: 21
Daffodil Hill is our first Estate Vineyard.
While we love walking through all of our vineyards, Daffodil Hill is probably our favorite for a morning walk. You start under a beautiful old walnut tree outside the farmhouse and walk up the center ravine of the vineyard heading east. You ascend rapidly (the slope is west-facing, up to about 500 ft elevation) through the barn block planted in Dijon 667 clone half way to the top. You look back periodically, to the west and realize you can see both to the north and south, the coastal range, including the Van Duzer corridor and Mary’s Peak (the highest peak in the Oregon Coast range). As you continue on up to the top towards the Dijon 114 planting, it just becomes more and more magnificent. The wine always has an intense black cherry nose and palate with an herbal component of lavender, fennel, and rosemary. It reminds Rob of the smell of the earth that has been dry for a long time and then has its first rain – (we all know the smell) it’s called Petracore.
DUX VINEYARD
DUX Vineyard
About DUX Vineyard
AVA: Dundee Hills
Soil: Jory
Perspective: South facing
Elevation: 400 ft
Clones: 60% Wadenswil and 40% Pommard
Year Planted: 2011
Acres Planted: 6.65
The Dux Vineyard is owned by Mark and Lorie Stevens., both are enthusiastic graduates of the University of Oregon, hence the name of the vineyard. But that’s not all the term “Dux” refers to “tops in class” in Britain school systems, a nod to Lorie’s long English teaching career. Mark is an architect in the Bay area. You can see his style in the way he has transformed their farmhouse and the old cherry orchard into a lovely vineyard and charming abode. Mark and Lorie never want to have a huge vineyard, but instead focus only on the highest quality. That’s what lead them to this Dundee Hills site, which is managed by Andy Humphrey, one of Oregon’s most renowned vineyard managers. The vineyard was planed in 2011 with a 60/40 blendof Wadenswil and Pommard clones on Jory soil.
ELKHORN RIDGE VINEYARD
Elkhorn Ridge Vineyard
About Elkhorn Ridge Vineyard
AVA: Willamette Valley
Soil: Willakenzie
Perspective: Southeast facing
Elevation: 400-450 ft
Clones: Pommard
Year Planted: 2007
Acres Planted: 20.36
When Charlie Foss purchased this property in 2005, it was an aging plum orchard. He had the novel idea of planting several different clones of Pinot noir. When all was said and done Rob chose the Pommard clone from Block III. Elkhorn is a very warm site on Willakenzie soil and planted North/South. It’s on a bench just South and West of Monmouth. It is “dry land” farmed, water is limited. We chose the Pommard because it tends to still retain its finesse even on a warmer site. As to be expected from a warmer site, the wine tends to be very soft and round in texture, with nice soft tannins and very delicate acid.
HIRSCHY VINEYARD
Hirschy Vineyard
About Hirschy Vineyard
AVA: Yamhill-Carlton
Soil: Willakenzie
Perspective: South facing
Elevation: 400-0450 ft
Clones: Dijon 777 & Dijon 667 on 101-14 rootstock
Year Planted: 2005
Acres Planted: 43.19
Owned by John and Linda Hirschy, this is one of our newer vineyards. The wine however, has already developed a cult following. The vineyard is on Willakenzie soil and planted north/south. We have Block A with about 8/10 of an acre of Dijon 777 clone and 2.2 acres of Dijon 667 clone. We pick the two together and make it as one wine. These two clones are famous for ripening a little earlier and give the wine a juicy mid-palate. We often see bright yet rich, red cherry flavors here and a little “kick” on the finish, which I attribute to slightly higher alcohol. That higher alcohol is barely perceptible however, as it’s balanced by the characteristic richness of the wine. This is one of the warmest sites we work with and it competes for being the first to be harvested in any vintage. Hirschy fans love this wine because it is so deep and complex.
LAZY RIVER VINEYARD
Lazy River Vineyard
About Lazy River Vineyard
AVA: Yamhill-Carlton
Soil: Jory
Perspective: South facing
Elevation: 350-400 ft
Clones: Wadenswil, which was grafted onto old Chardonnay vines in 2012
Year Planted: 2000
Acres Planted: 42.96
Lazy River Vineyard, in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA, is owned by the Lumpkin Family. Without a doubt, it’s one of the most picturesque vineyards around – and that’s saying something. Lazy River is another cool location nearly touching the foothills of the Coastal Range. Therefore the the vines have less vigor, ripen at a slower pace, and have less plant energy which creates lots of height and many leaves. The clone is Wadenswil, which was grafted onto old Chardonnay vines in 2012 planted in Jory soil.
MATTERI VINEYARD
Matteri Vineyard
About Matteri Vineyard
AVA: Yamhill-Carlton
Soil: Goodin, Dupee, and Sitton (marine sedimentary)
Perspective: Southeast facing
Elevation: 500-550 ft
Clones: Pommard & Dijon 667
Year Planted: 2011
Acres planted: 27.47
Owned by Dr. Robert Matteri, a reproductive endocrinologist, this is a new project and a new lifestyle for him. He does much of the vineyard work on his own. As far as we can tell, working on his vineyard is his down time from his real life in Portland. His goal is to establish the best vineyard possible and to provide grapes only to wineries that he believes will make great wines with them. He likes the idea of working with several talented winemakers to see what they can do with this beautiful fruit.
MENEFEE VINEYARD
Menefee Vineyard
About Menefee Vineyard
AVA: Yamhill-Carlton
Soil: Jory
Perspective: East facing,
Elevation: 550 ft elevation
Clones: Dijon 114 on Riparian Gloire rootstock
Year Planted: 2004
Acres Planted: 19.25
Cecelia McClellan and her late husband Chris planted the vineyard in 2004. It is east facing in the coastal foothills at a fairly high elevation. The soil is Jory, and the site is cooler than most – that gives us the bright acidity in the wine. We always look forward to tasting Menefee because it is so unusual. The vineyard characteristically gives us flavors of blueberry and blackberry. The middle palate is rich with flavors of cedar, fresh-cut wood, blueberries, and raspberries. The finish is long and brings an encore of blue fruit. It reminds Rob of when he was a kid and would pick wild blueberries on a farm in New Hampshire every August. We’ve even made some sparkling wine from this fruit – just a tiny batch – which was, not surprisingly, quite spectacular.
STAFFORD VINEYARD
Stafford Vineyard
About Stafford Vineyard
AVA: Willamette Valley
Soil: Dayton and Woodburn
Perspective: Southeast facing
Elevation: 200 ft
Clone: Espiguette 352
Year Planted: 1992
Acres Planted: 10.18
Stafford Vineyard is located on the John Kruse Historic Landmark Farm in Wilsonville on the Willamette River. John Kruse, a Danish emigrant, settled the site in 1852 from where he operated a steamboat for transporting regional farm produce up and down the river to market. The cottage is one of the oldest residences in Clackamas County. Seventy five percent of the vineyard is devoted to Dijon 113 Pinot Noir with the balance planted in French Espiguette 352 Chardonnay, both on 4 feet spacing and 6-foot- wide rows and both self-
rooted. After 13 years working in NYC, the family moved to Portland in 1982 and Gayle become Chief Financial Officer of PacifiCorp. Currently Gayle owns a boutique investment banking firm in Portland that assists regional middle market businesses achieve their financial goals. Carol and Gayle have four sons and nine grandchildren.
TUKWILLA VINEYARD
Tukwilla Vineyard
About Tukwilla Vineyard
AVA: Dundee Hills
Soil: Woodburn into Jory
Perspective: Southeast
Elevation: 200-250 ft
Clones: Pommard, self-rooted on 101-14, 114 self-rooted on 101-14, Abbey Ridge
Year Planted: 1990
Acres Planted: 18.5 – soon to be 23.1.
We’ve worked with Kathy and Lee Miller at Tukwilla since back in Rob’s Erath days. The soil is Woodburn and the bottom of the vineyard and gradually transitions to Jory as you go up the hill – this makes the fruit very interesting. The color and aromas are rich and luscious, and the Woodburn soil contributes to the elegance. Contiguous on the upper side of their vineyard is Eyrie’s Three Sisters vineyard. Much of Tukwilla is on its own roots and the clones are currently Abbey Ridge and Pommard. The killers are gradually grafting it all to Pommard. It is farmed using
the LIVE method (Low Input Viticulture and Enology).
WADE VINEYARD
Wade Vineyard
About Wade Vineyard
AVA: Dundee Hills
Soil: Jory
Perspective: South perspective
Elevation: 800ft
Clones: Pinot Gris
Year Planted: 1990
Acres Planted: 6
Lance Wade planted his small vineyard (about 6 acres) in the Dundee Hills in 1990. It’s a very steep site and he did all of the farming himself, with some help from the neighborhood deer. You could call it a kind of “Integrated Pest Management”. Instead of chasing the deer away, he allowed them to think the canopy and even some of the fruit! Therefore, high yields are never a problem and the flavors are always very concentrated – and he doesn’t have to fight off the
deer. The soil is Jory and the elevation is 800 feet, with a southern perspective.
WEBER VINEYARD
Weber Vineyard
About Weber Vineyard
AVA: Dundee Hills
Soil: Jory
Perspective: South/Southeast
Clones: Pommard, on its own roots
Year Planted: 1985
Acres Planted: 21.15
One of the oldest vineyards in the state, Weber is a gem of a vineyard. Rob has been working with this fruit since 1994, and considers it an honor to do so. This vineyard was planted by grape growing pioneers Arthur and Vivian Weber in the early ‘70’s. Later they sold part of the original vineyard that was then renamed Ana. Our Weber blocks (5 and 7) were planted in 1985. The Pinot noir is the Pommard clone planted on its own roots. The soil is Jory. Weber begins to fall
off to the east and that may explain why the wine has a lot of texture. You’ll find spices of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, tamarind, and gentle but noticeable tannins. Typical flavors are dark fruit – plum and blackberry on the palate. The characteristic spiciness must linger in the soil here, because it’s always in the wine – think of a plum tart with a hint of nutmeg. The morning sun dries out the vines early in the day, and there isn’t too much heat in the afternoon. The structure of Weber tends to be somewhat masculine.
WREN VINEYARD
Wren Vineyard
Wren Vineyard
AVA: Willamette Valley
Soil: Dixonville and Jory
Perspective: South/Southwest facing
Elevation: 500 ft
Clones: Dijon 76
Year Planted: 1986
Acres Planted: 11.71
Our longtime friends Dai Crisp and PK McCoy, who also own Lumos Wine Co, own the Wren Vineyard. The vineyard is just outside of Corvallis. Wren is an extremely cool site and prone to frost. Because it’s so cool, the fruit can hang for a very long time in the fall, developing wonderfully complex flavors while still retaining the high levels of acidity we love. The clone is Dijon 76 and the vineyard was planted in 1986. An overhead frost protection system makes it possible to farm wine grapes there.
