Preparing for the next vintage

When you hear us talking about vineyards, we're always looking for balanced vines. How we train, trellis, and prune our vines is key to establishing this balance. Leave too many of last year's canes and we'll have too many shoots this growing season. This can give us a crowded canopy with too much fruit, which exposes the vine to disease pressure, makes other farming practices more difficult, and can dilute fruit quality.

After working with the vineyard over several years, we learn to leave just enough of last year's canes behind to evenly fill in the trellis during this coming growing season. With a canopy and fruit zone that are full but not crowded, the vine is set up for success. Fruit clusters at the base of the vine and leaf growth above it creates a balance that helps moderate the growth of the grape and balances flavor development. When our vines are healthy and the crop size is reasonable, they will use the entire growing season to fully ripen the fruit. That's how we get the most complex and flavorful fruit, and that's where great wine starts.

We'll still be fine tuning during the season with shoot and crop thinning, but it's a big plus to start with balanced vines. Our team did a great job of this last year, and we hope to maintain that same level of quality in 2021. Creating wines we are proud to drink is why we are here, and why we are doing what we are doing. As far as we are concerned, the growing season has already started in the vineyard with this first, important step of pruning.

Critics are beginning to take note of the meticulous care we show our grapes. Recently, Wine Spectator’s Tim Fish gave our Willamette Valley Pinot 92 points. We are honored to receive this score, and would love to have you try the wine if you haven’t already. You can purchase this, and all our other wines from our online shop. While you’re there, you can also join our wine club or book a virtual tasting with me!

Cheers,

David Paige