NYC was amazing!

I sooo enjoyed my trip to the big city! 

 

The wine event I went for was great I found the NY wine consumer to be very sophisticated and they loved our wines so that's always nice! 

I was graciously hosted my my mothers cousin who is a gem I stayed in her guest apartment a block off the park upper west side which was a real treat. We also got to do a little walk around Lincoln Center with her as tour guide which was lovely.  And I enjoyed several springtime strolls in  central park.

Thanks for your gracious hospitality Mary!!

There was of course a lot of fancy NY style meals out. There was one very special evening out with my NY distributor Fredrick Wildman who has done a beautiful job placing our wines in some on ny finest restaurants. 

That special dinner was at one of those restaurants that carries our wine WD-50 which was an epic meal - the chef Wylie Dufresne is doing an amazing job and the staff was 'on it' we had a great evening and I got to meet one of our collectors Rich Altus and his lovely wife Beth - they are really fun people we just had a great time together!

Home from Atlanta

We went to the High Museum Wine auction again this year and well - all I can say is WOW!!
(btw sorry for the very bad photos I was way to busy enjoying myself)

I'm not even sure were to begin... other than those folks from Atlanta have hospitality down pat and they also know how to party!

First and foremost thank you's go to our gracious hosts Kristie and Charles Abney - you have seen a few guest appearances from them on the blog. They hosted us for 6 days and five nights in there beautiful home!

We arrive in Atlanta to 'our town car' with the same driver as last year - feeling pretty darn special we get taken to the house where we meet up with the Abneys and Andy Pay of Pay vineyards and Jasmin Hirsch of Hirsch vineyards - and we start the lubrication right away... it was pretty much the M.O. from then on... you should know as I type this I'm chugging apple juice as I came home sick as a dog from over consumption and sleep deprivation ... of course self inflicted illness deserves NO pity! and quite frankly I'd do it again! : )

So day two we visited our restaurant accounts and then Wednesday night was a fabulous party the Abneys hosted - oysters and pizza right out of the wood oven! gorgeous - and of course no shortage of amazing wines...




(warming up the oven for the pizzas)




"interminable" Charles and my man

Ashley Christensen of Pools dinner was also staying at the Abneys - so we got to enjoy some of her cooking late nights along with Steven Satterfield of Miller Union - a very close friend and great chef was also 'in the house' (and yes you can find our wines at Miller Union - run don't walk)



Thursday was a tasting event followed by our winemaker dinner hosted by Nat and Jerilene Slaughter in there beautiful home!

Our Chef was Ryan Smith of Empire State South did an AMAZING job (yes you can get our wines on there list too) Our wines were beautifully paired by Steven Grubbs with the meal ... Riesling with clams, Resonance with Catfish and Bacon, and the Syrah with a beautifully done beef short ribs! I'll just say ESS knocked it outta the park!!!

We were lucky enough to share our meal with Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat. Which was an honor. After dinner the limo .. yup limo was waiting for us to head out to the next party (back at the abneys of course!) cause that's what I needed after a 6 course meal more food and booze till 3 am...




Ryan doing the funky chicken in the kitchen


Hugh Acheson - made a guest appearance to bus tables


Our Limo which got me pretty excited : )


of course brian looks like he lives like this all the time...

Friday was another day to visit our restaurants and the off to the fete which is a dinner hosted by the auction and we met some great folks! After that we headed out to yet another after party ..
which was a super nice party hosted by Abe Schoener of The Scholium Project (our top national salesman ;) - and yet again after a multi course dinner what did we do we went out and ate and drank more ! .. there were all sorts of fabulous guests and I've already been dropping names like my horses drop road apples so I'm gonna just gonna say it was amazing... and the wines... well epic!


I haven't worn heals 5 days in a row since this time last year! Brian's looking like 'mr big'


I think I drank 1/2 of each of these ...


brian hamming it up behind abe

Saturday was the actual auction which was mind blowing (these people can party that's all I'll say)... and our auction lot fetched a pretty penny which makes us happy hopefully they will keep inviting us back...

The Abneys graciously hosted us to a beautiful dinner at Empire State South and between Charles' celler and Steven there was no shortage of amazing wine... the stand out for me was the Chablis paired with a goat cheese ravioli and fresh spring veggies -- heaven!!!








Now that I'm home and The Abneys including (Daisy and Elli) can take a long nap ...



I was happy to be home to see our dogs and told them all about the trip... this was levi's reply... I think he thinks Atlanta beats the farm...




I'm not nearly as clean and a little 'hung' but rolling the memories around like you would a fine burgundy in your mouth! : ) Thank you Atlanta! We love you ALL!!

The first day of spring! - Our Spring release letter

We hope you are all well and enjoying first signs of spring - I took this photo to celebrate this morning : ) ! -

We are very excited to be reaching out to you with lots of good things happening here at Big Table Farm.



We participated in some great events in the last few months and have met so many amazing folks! The Oregon Truffle Festival, Cochon 555, Classic Wines Auction Dinner with DOC, an amazing winemaker dinner with Anne Amie and next week we head off to Atlanta to see all our good friends there and participate in the High Museum Auction!

Our sincere thanks to all for the enthusiasm for our wines and support of our project, it means so much to us.



We have a couple of big announcements!!



First - The Laughing Pig Rose is back! This is a wine that is only made when the vintage calls for it. You all have been asking for it now for a while as we didn't make any in 2010. The Laughing Pig Rose will most likely go quickly, I'd recommend stocking up early (although we are limiting you to one case per customer due to the demand.)



We are also very excited to announce the 2009 Syrah! The 2008 has been sold out for a while and again there's a bit of pent up demand for this beauty.



Last but not least, we have spent the last month or so setting up our web site to now accept purchases of our wines online! Now you can log in and quickly and easily order your big table farm wines with out calling us at the farm and never getting through because Brian is in the winery and I'm out messing with my draft horses.




2011 - Laughing Pig Rose - As in past vintages this Rose separates itself from most by being barrel fermented to dryness with malolactic fermentation completed. The barrel fermentation and sur lie aging give underlying complexity to the rich fruit on the nose. Aromatics of strawberry, toast and a little spice lead you into a rich mouth feel. The fruit lingers on the finish while your mouth waters slightly from a pleasing core of acidity. Enjoy!

2009 Syrah – White Hawk Vineyard - 
2009 was a beautiful long vintage, creating an opulent wine that still has wonderful balance, structure and acidity. Brian again increased the whole cluster this year which only amplified the nose. This wine will age beautifully but is drinking very well right now. All natural ferments 30% New French oak and elevage of 22 months made this wine what it is. You are greeted with a color that has become a signature of this wine - INK! Rich blackberry fruit cinnamon and tar great you. The pallet has great depth and balance while still retaining purity through it's long finish. The label - I got a little carried away this year and had the idea to spread the design over two bottles so same wine just had a little fun with the label - doing my best to make Brian crazy. We received a little more fruit and have almost 201 cases.

We also have the 2010 Resonance Vineyard Pinot Noir, 2010 Willamette valley Pinot Noir and 2010 Brooks Vineyard Riesling to offer you as part of this release.



On the Farm

We have 4 new calves expected this spring - For those of you who come out for memorial day weekend you should get to see some sweet fuzzy babies! They will swell our herd to 12 cows. All the other animals are thriving, the bees have stuck their little antennae out for a couple of the extra warm spring days and the baby chicks and pigs will start arriving in April! The chickens have been laying like crazy. I'll be participating in my annual plowing competition with my draft horses in McMinnville again this year and have been busy getting them fit for that and for summer work on our farm. Brian will of course tell you my horses smell and they are useless until he starts spreading the first of the manure from our compost piles on his garden, then he'll tell me I can keep them for one more year. The garden just keeps getting better thanks to Brian. We have been enjoying lots of winter greens and the dry stores of beans and potatoes along side of all the canned bounty. That man of mine really keeps us fed. We will be doing some work on our house this spring and summer - so next time you come out for a visit it may not be pink! : )




Our deep thanks to you for all your enthusiasm for our wines and farm projects, we look forward to hearing from you! – cheers! Brian and Clare

You can click here to order our wines


(if you have purchased in the past you should get an e-mail 3. 20.12 at 10am with a user id and log in if not you can sign up and get logged right in)
Visit our web site to keep up with the wines.


Yes we are even on Facebook

'living the dream'

If I had a dollar every time I heard folks say you guys are 'living the dream' I'd be able to plant vineyard and fence the back 40 : ) ... but at some point you just have to pause and think damn this is pretty darn good what we have going here.. yeah lots of work etc etc.. but at the end of the day the wine, food, art and farming life suits us just fine... as very well said in this very nice article written by Tiffany Stevens - thank you Tiffany!

the article 'living the dream'

Love this photo she took of Brian a rare site of him with one of my horses! : )

A Sneak Peek at the 2011 Rose!

We will be releasing the laughing pig rose in about 2 weeks BUT we bottled one very special case early !! yup by hand for this VERY special event = cochon 555! -- It's kind of a favorite of mine I got to be a judge the first year they came to town and we have poured Big table farm wines at the event since year one!

for those of you how havent' heard of it it's a Culinary Competition and Tasting Event -- It's a great time and features five chefs, five pigs, five winemakers. The Portland event challenges five local chefs to prepare a menu created from heritage breed pigs, nose-to-tail, for an audience of pork-loving epicureans.

2012 Portland competing chefs include Jason Barwikowski of Woodsman Tavern, Vitaly Paley of Paley's Place, Naomi Pomeroy of BEAST Restaurant, Adam Sappington of The Country Cat, and Rita Jia You of Lucky Strike.

WHEN

Sunday, March 11th

4 pm VIP opening; 5 pm general admission

WHERE

THE ORIGINAL - 300 Southwest 6th Avenue Portland

TICKETS

$125 per person for general admission; $200 for VIP (including a welcome cocktail from The King's Ginger, HamaHama Oysters, tastings from Anne Amie, Buty, Big Table Farm, Chehalem, The Cheese Bar, Double Mountain Brewery, The Meadow and Domaine Serene paired with Iberico De Bellota by Fermin). Available at www.cochon555.com.

big table farm made a big splash in San Francisco

You can now find our wines at these esteemed establishments in San Francisco! Big Table Farm wines got a very warm welcome this past week - Thanks to Revel wines!

Farallon
Slanted Door
Greens
Atelier Crenn
Wo Hing

(no shortage of great food but also lots of beauty at these fabulous locals!)


Atelier Crenn's artistry

no need for words with beautiful shots like these !

Some beautiful photos from our truffle festival lunch Big Table Farm wines with Jason French's amazing wood fired cooking (chef owner of Ned Ludd ) we hosted 40 people at the lunch which was a huge success!

this first set of photos are by Jen Reyneri - a really wonderful photographer!!

http://www.jenreyneri.wordpress.com/


















This second group of shots are by Marke Blaine

Come visit us and get your Big Table Farm Wines!!

Join us November 25-27, 2011 for the 29th annual Wine Country Thanksgiving event.

11am - 5pm If you are in the area the Thanksgiving weekend, come out and visit Big Table Farm!

We are excited to introduce you to our newly released wines. Clare will be showing new paintings as well. Please use our web site for directions to the farm.



Seems like this fall everything has happened just in its right time, from the weather during harvest to fermentations and finding mushrooms.

In keeping with that the Riesling and resonance have come together just in time for the big Thanksgiving Wine Weekend . We held these two wines back from our fall release as they were just not quite ready. They have come together beautifully and are ready to enjoy, of course, if you cellar these wines they will mature even more. We are excited to share this year's Resonance; it's quite elegant and the Riesling is beautiful with great acidity like last year. 2010 was a cooler year producing elegant, lower alcohol wines.


The 2010 Pinot Noir Resonance Vineyard was fermented with native yeasts, 75% whole clusters, and aged sur lie in 30% new French oak for 10 months. The aromatics display brambles, cola and red fruit with vanilla and oak. The mid palate is sweet with licorice, spice and brown sugar. This wine has balanced acidity that carries the wine through to a long finish. The label on this wine is a grown up version of last year's new-born calf illustration.

The 2010 Riesling Brooks Estate Vineyard features a drawing of a chanterelle gathered last year from our woods. This wine is barrel-fermented in neutral oak, fermented completely dry, and aged sur lie with batonage for 10 months before bottling without fining or filtration. Aromas of white flowers, hints of caramel, toasted almonds and lemon greet you, and transitions into a mid palate of lemon along with a rich coating mouth feel. The smooth-texture is nicely balanced with a bright acidity and spice. This wine was not cold stabilized which means, if you leave it in the fridge too long, tartrates (a harmless sediment) will form creating 'wine diamonds' -please take note.

Despite some initial fears about the 2011 harvest, the fruit came in perfectly ripe from our beautifully farmed vineyards. The Resonance vineyard has proven itself yet again this year as a stellar site with the fruit coming into the winery at 24.5 brix; not too shabby for a 'lean year'.
This harvest was punctuated by a wonderful harvest meal here at the farm.



It was a small 'thank you' to our amazing cellar crew and volunteers who helped this harvest season go beautifully. The meal featured the bounty of our farm along with porcini mushrooms, fresh picked just an hour before from our woods - look for these porcini on next year's Riesling label.

Finally, right on time just as the last ferments got rolling, Robert Parker's "The Wine Advocate" scores for our '09's came out giving us a nice little boost as we went into the final week of winery work. We are grateful for the scores we received:

Riesling 91pts 

Cattrall Brothers Pinot Noir 93pts

Resonance Pinot Noir 92pts

Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 92pts

Thanks for all the interest in the 2009's; yes, they are sold out but this is your chance to get the 2010 wines. That way when they hopefully start to get attention you can know yours are tucked safely in your cellar..

you can click here to order wine if you can't make it for the big weekend!

MIX the Oreogonain's food magazine printed a beautiful spread!!

Thank you Danielle and MIX Magazine!!

Click to read about an epic dinner here at the farm with some of Portland's best chefs!!!

Thanks gentleman - for making it so amazing!!!!

click here to read the whole story!!

photos by Clare Carver and Taylor Schefstrom

BIG GIANT Thanks go to our friends aka collaborators !!
I love you guys!!!

John G for the pasta, for flying up for the meal and for being YOU!
Chris DiMinno of Clyde Common
Rebecca and David Padberg of Park Kitchen
Jason French of Ned Ludd
Lester and Sara - 'the glutan free cowgirl'
Matt and Angie - Love and Squalor Wine
Kurt and Natalie of Beaux Freres and Lemelson
Johanna and Laura for the flowers!
Chris and Amy of Square Peg Farm