Vineyard Update By John on Thursday 15 Jul 2010
It has certainly been a busy spring and now FINALLY summer. This has been a very wet and cold spring Great to have the moisture, but the cold temperatures have not helped with the vines. ... Read more...

April Showers By John on Saturday 01 May 2010
April has really been an amazing month. The area broke an all-time record for the number of days with measurable precipitation. We had 25 days in April with measureable precipitation. ... Read more...

2010 Budbreak! By John on Wednesday 31 Mar 2010
All the hardwork last fall and over the winter seem to be paying off. We had budbreak today. This was 7 days earlier than last year. Not too suprising as it seemed this winter averaged ... Read more...

Spring Preparation By John on Saturday 13 Mar 2010
So far we have spent 3 winters in Oregon. It seems that each winter we get a week to 10 days of dry weather sometime around February that allows us to dry out a little bit and get some work done ... Read more...

Just one of those days... By John on Sunday 07 Feb 2010
OK, nothing went right Saturday. It rained all week, so pruning was delayed. So the family decided to drive down to the homesite and ended up sliding off the road and got stuck. So, naturally ... Read more...

Not Much Happenin' By John on Sunday 17 Jan 2010
We have had almost continual rain for the past couple weeks. At least enough that the roads are too wet to drive. The biggest excitement was the sudden demise (planned) of a very destructive ... Read more...

Upcoming Changes By John on Sunday 27 Dec 2009
Keep an eye out on the website for upcoming changes. We will be adding a new section for our Cellar Masters members to order wine and merchandise. That might sound like a really big operation, ... Read more...

Mac Cuvee Update By John on Sunday 06 Dec 2009
The "Mac Cuvee" is to be composed of 3 clones. 777/115/Pommard. Right now it is going through an active ML fermentation. So, the wine is kind of "fizzy" from that process. But already ... Read more...

Christmas Tree Harvest By John on Sunday 06 Dec 2009
Our vineyard is surrounded by Christmas Trees. We have 55 acres planted in noble fir trees. Holiday Tree Farm is at work finishing harvest for this year. After they have shipped off all ... Read more...

Standing Room Only By John on Friday 27 Nov 2009
Must have been the 8 inches of rain the last couple weeks. We stopped at our friends the Colemans at www.colemanvineyard.com for a quick visit as we were headed to the vineyard to see how we weathered ... Read more...

Finally Back By John on Friday 27 Nov 2009
Wow! Seems like a couple of the worst weeks ever. This flu thing really sucks when it just jumps from one family member to the other. At least it appears everyone is finally over it. ... Read more...

Got the flu By John on Wednesday 18 Nov 2009
Sorry everyone. Haven't had time to blog for a while. The whole family has the flu in various stages. Will be a bit before we get back to posting pictures and comments. Beside, ... Read more...

Winter stuff By John on Saturday 07 Nov 2009
Well, harvest is over. The vineyard is going to sleep. Cover crop is coming in....so not a lot to do except get to work on the to do list for this winter. It has been raining hard the ... Read more...

The Press By John on Sunday 01 Nov 2009
Today the wine was ready to press. All the wine that runs off without any pressure from the press is called the free run. That is kept separate from the press wine. Pressure is then applied ... Read more...

End of the primary fermentation By John on Tuesday 27 Oct 2009
The end of the primary fermentation is nearing. Not very much residual sugar remains in the wine. It is nearing dryness. Next step will be pressing the berries to remove the remaining ... Read more...

The Punch Down By John on Monday 26 Oct 2009
Just helping the grapes perform by doing one of the many Punch Downs! Early in fermentation this was done 3 times a day. As the fermentation is finishing, the berries begin to settle back into ... Read more...

Seasonal Change By John on Friday 23 Oct 2009
Well, the weather has finally changed. We are now into a late fall pattern of rain about every other day. We have the cover crop in and it is starting to emerge. If the heavy winter rains ... Read more...

Making wine By John on Sunday 18 Oct 2009
The grapes have finished the cold soak and are now beginning the ferment. The floating cap of skins, seeds and berries gets punched down into the juice a couple times a day. We do that rather ... Read more...

Oregon Pinot Harvest 2009 By John on Saturday 10 Oct 2009
The day has finally arrived. Our first grapes are being harvested. The crews hand pick the grapes into 5 gallon buckets. They are then dumped into a 1/2 ton plastic bin and transferred ... Read more...

What is...and what will be. By John on Saturday 10 Oct 2009
I love this picture. Jody took this picture early this morning. We were up very early in the morning to help Coleman Vineyards with their harvest. The mature vineyard in the foreground ... Read more...