Our newly polished web site is LIVE!!! and the spring wines are ready to go!
http://www.bigtablefarm.com/
and below is the spring letter from brian!
Farm and Winery News
We hope this finds you
well. When Clare and I uprooted ourselves from Napa to Oregon 9 years
ago we could not have envisioned our lives as they are today. We set
out to find a little more space to expand our downtown garden and
backyard chickens and to make wine. We exhausted our financial resources
to buy what is now Big Table Farm, so we took small steps thereafter
starting with just 150 cases and slowly working on the house and
property – the winter cold flowed easily through the uninsulated house
and it was painted pink both inside and out!
We did not dare imagine the adventure that has brought us to
today – a beautiful barn and winery to compliment the (now warmer) circa
1890 farmhouse. The barn is now filled with a dozen beef cows, (we
started with two!) Clare’s stinky draft horses, of course goateo and
plenty of hay for all. As the weather warms all are itching to get out
on pasture which will happen soon…we are working on permanent fencing
now to help us become even better at managing the grass in our
pastures.
Our wine making journey has brought us to 3000 plus cases and
to the point of building our own winery making sense – completed just in
time to make the 2014 wines! We look forward to continuing to work in
this new space and hopefully improve and refine the wines even more now
that we have complete autonomy that was not possible in a shared
(rented) space. That all of this is a reality is still stunning – we
have to pinch ourselves from time to time. We are so appreciative of
our fabulous wine customers who continue to encourage us and revel in
our adventure too, we know we are not traveling alone.
As
we look at 2014 in the rearview mirror we are still unbelieving to all
that has happened and grateful to all who helped. We are continually
amazed by those who seek our wines from all across the country and the
world and by those who trek to our neck of the woods to see what
inspires us. Thank you to all who have bought and enjoyed our wine, you
are the threads that make the fabric.
The 2013 Vintage
2013 was an amazingly
beautiful summer, consistently warm but never too hot, allowing the
vines to grow and ripen the fruit consistently and thoroughly.
Excessively hot or cool weather slows the vines ability to ripen
grapes. September however was very cool and brought us a few showers.
Typically September is warm and dry and these last few weeks bring
elevated sugar as the grapes reach final maturity, but without this last
heat we reached maturity with very low sugar (brix).
Understanding this phenomena meant that we started picking mid
September and consequently avoided the drenching monsoon rains of
September 28,29. The resulting wines have fabulous ripeness, generous
fruit and long soft tannins that are almost transparent at first sip,
all framed by alcohol of under 12 percent in some cases. The wines are
fresh and vibrant and delicious now and they are incredibly charming at
the table.
As we prepared for this
release we tasted the 13’s alongside the same versions of 11 and 12 with
several peers (we have very little library wine beyond 2011 – we didn’t
make much wine and we had to sell it all to make this thing work). And
while there were certainly differences in perceptions and between
vintages – the consensus (to my relief) was that the wines were all very
consistent across vintages. I enjoyed the tasting and I hope you will
enjoy these wines as well.
The Wines
2013 Willamette Valley Chardonnay 
in
addition to the fabulous fruit from Bieze, Durant and Wirtz vineyard
found in the 2012 version of this wine, is the Yates Conwill vineyard.
Located next to the famed Resonance vineyard, Steve Conwill and his wife
Cathy planted (thankfully) a little chardonnay along with their pinot
noir. We are continuing to see interest in chardonnay in Oregon and
more is being planted, but not nearly as much as you might expect given
its prominence in burgundy.
I think the ripeness of
2013 is most obvious in the white wines; aromatic, fruit and spice, a
rich palate and moderate but balanced acidity that you might expect to
be higher from a wine that weighs in at just over 12 percent. Per usual
Clare loves this wine, has already consumed more than her fair share and
I am pretty sure she has squirreled some away. Even though we made a
little more this year, I would say if you want some, don’t walk, RUN!
Sooner than later is advisable. 476 cases produced, label is a BTF honey
bee. 45 dollars
2013 Willamette Valley Pinot noir
As
always, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. In 2013 we
bought pinot noir from 3 new sites in addition to the six we were
already working with. This was a little bit of a panicked reaction to
losing Resonance vineyard due to its sale to Louis Jadot in midsummer.
The result is a little bit more of this wine to go around than last year
and makes it a more representative sample of the greater Willamette
valley. Native yeast, whole cluster ferments and gentle handling remain
unchanged from past years and help create a wine that is bright, juicy
with some spice and ready to drink now. Adorned by Duane, a BTF
American guinea hog. 1534 cases bottled, 42 dollars
2013 Pelos Sandberg Vineyard Pinot noir
Working with Don Sandberg
and the fruit he grows is an honor. His dedication to growing the best
fruit possible for us and his own winery Iota cellars is truly
remarkable. I think this is a commonality among those who live on the
property where their vines are and Don is no exception. As a warmer
site it tends to produce wine that has great fruit character and very
approachable as a youngster. An acre each of pommard and Dijon 777 go
into this wine to make it a stunner year in and year out. Don’s disc,
used to work cover crop into the soil, on the label. 303 cases
produced, 48 dollars
2014 Laughing Pig rose – scheduled to be bottled April 8th.
We will let you know as soon as it is ready to go. This first wine
from the 14 vintage promises to be gorgeous. We are looking forward to
spring/summer and having this wine around will make it all the better.
BTF on the town!
We will be participating in a few events (quite a few actually) in the upcoming months. We hope to see you!
March 13 – Simpatica 2013 BTF spring release celebration, Portland OR
March 14 – Oregon Chardonnay symposium, Dayton OR
April 14 – Pinot in the city, City winery, New York NY
April 25 – Yamhill Carlton AVA tasting, McMinnville OR
July 11 – Outstanding in the field – AT BIG TABLE FARM!!
July 24-26 – International Pinot Noir Celebration, McMinnville OR
Of
note: repeated feedback regarding our shipping rates has led to
action. We have moved to a tiered shipping cost structure that will
hopefully be simpler for all to understand (thank you Tiffany!). We are
also absorbing more of the costs associated with shipping in hopes that
more BTF wine will end up on your table!
Thank you again to all who enjoy our wines, may the adventure continue!
Cheers, brian and clare
