2016 Harvest!

2016 end of summer brought us bottling the 2015 wines, quickly followed by getting into the vineyard to sample the grapes that came in just a week later for a very early 2016 harvest! 

 

 

 

 

the very first grapes of 2016!


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the old meets new in grapes delivery vehicles

  

 
Jeff is the master of the basket press 

  

 
brian checkin' the fermet
 

The 2016 vintage came fast but we had an amazing crew this year and I think we made some pretty great wines!  

  

there were a few long days ... but we ate well and also got 'rewarded' by the media this fall as well with a nice spectator score of 93 for our '14 sunnyside, a New York times review of the willamette valley and a stunning 12 page article in the October edition of Sunset!!! the affirmation of our work is awesome and we are once again grateful!!

 

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We also got some great harvest from the farm ... the big table farm cider project continues and the horses helped out with that!! and the garden just gave and gave and filled our table with some pretty stunning harvest meals! Thank you brian

 

 
just some of the 240#'s of taters brian pulled in : )   

 

  

 

   
even the pigs ate well ... 

 
   

  

  

  

  

 

 

  

  

  

  
and Tim came out and cooked our harvest meal! it was an amazing celebration as always!
 

 

 
and now we all sleep !!    

and art making happened this summer too!

In addition to hosting dinners and wine guests and doing the 'work'

 Brian and I made our art! and enjoyed the farm this summer!!

Brian got lots of time in the beautiful garden he made and I got studio time and time with my horses.

Brian included me in the blending this year more than in the past and we had some pretty romantic sundays in the cellar barrel tastings and building the 2015 blends! It was lovely! 

Romance and Art punctuated the 2016 summer for Brian and I - it was pretty dreamy! 

We certainly are enjoying all the fruits of our work! 

thank you all for being part of this dream! 

 

the 2015 labels got crafted

 

and the 2015 blends created 

 

my art studio is finally getting used again! 

 

 

and Curley the bull came to big table farm to be sure ALL the ladies are happy! : )  

romance is NOT dead!! 

 

it's been far too long!!

Hello Everyone - I'm FINALLY doing some re-caps here from our amazing summer we've had on the farm. I apologize for being gone from the blog so much -- My phone makes it way to easy to post on instagram and face book and my poor blog is getting short shrift...  but rest assured we are still here busy as ever and thriving !!   These are some shots both from farm dinners, bringing in hay this summer as well as a super visit with my sister... just some highlights!

Bringing in the hay is always a highlight of summer for me it's good clean hard work and I have a hand full of great friends that are just crazy enough to come out and help - My buddy Preston is not only game every year but loans us his truck and flat bed with is a great help - Sarah is always game and Jeff I must say is becoming a damn fine farmer both bucking and stacking... Jeff is always there by my side for the whole 30 tons. Thanks this year also goes out to Kevin, Kevin, Lionel, Scott, Tommy and Trevor : ) Cheers Everyone! and thank you! Tommy I will always remember you getting behind the wheel of our pick up for your 'first drive' -- everyones first time behind the wheel should be in a hay field IMO ...

 

 

These next two shots are from my sisters visit - she fit right in from picking tons of blackberries and pulling tansy weed to ironing linens and setting a beautiful table for our amazing farm dinner pre IPNC to pulling on her boots and heading out to the beach with the boys! It was a full and wonderful visit!  

 

 

The summer was punctuated by two amazing farm dinners one very small one for 16 special guests at the big table and the Outstanding in the field dinner for 150 at a really big table! Both awesome. Tim Wastell and David Padberg cooked the small dinner.  Tim, David, Jobie, Eloise and a hand full of other AMAZING talented humans cooked for the other! -- It's pretty awesome to know that this farm and these wines bring so many together. Thanks go to neringa sunday for the beautiful photos of the  outstanding meal http://www.neringasunday.com/ - 

 

 

 

 

 

  

so much talent in this line up!! Love all you guys! 

 

  

 

  

  

  

 

 

goatio - she's just shameless! ; ) 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

  

and the more intimate dinner - with these two amazing guys! 

  

 

  

 

Royalty, dirt and a little pig

It seems like just yesterday we sent our last missive, but it has been six weeks.  We hope all who have ordered the first of the fourteen pinots are enjoying them and are happy with our efforts. We have two new wines to offer and a reliable favorite. 

  

 

Clare and I have evolved as a winemaker and an artist dramatically since we started Big Table Farm almost ten years ago.  I have gone from using the memories and wisdom of mentors to creating my own set.  The wines that I make today are certainly still influenced by what I learned from others so long ago, but I have filled in those lessons with many of my own. I know what I want to drink and how to push to get there.  

To that end, the Elusive Queen and Earth most clearly demonstrate what I and Clare feel represent what we are most proud to share.  I joke, but in all seriousness, if we can’t sell these wines, we will be happy to drink them ourselves, and at just over 100 cases each we could certainly do with time.  These wines are not for everybody. They are for those who know and want understand pinot noir and chardonnay, unquestionably some of you know even more than I.

With almost 700 cases of chardonnay and 3000 cases of pinot noir in our cellar for 2014 we felt that we could pull out the best of the best barrels, blend and bottle them, without having a dramatic impact on the regular bottlings.

I hope that those of you who get to try these wines enjoy them, I hope that this trial is a success because I would like to continue creating and exploring the best that I can offer each year with what is presented to me.  Will these blends happen every year? I don’t know.

I don’t remember who came up with the name Earth but I chose it. There were other names bantered about but I chose Earth because it represents so much and can mean so many different things, interpreted from a plentitude of angles. It is our home, expansive and tiny at the same time. Made simply of 118 elements, yet so profoundly complex. We have known it for generation upon generation yet we continue to make discoveries, both personally and scientifically. As I write I think maybe I have chosen a name too grand, but I want this wine to make us think about our home. Clare and I try to live each day in harmony with ourselves, each other and all that is around us. We are not religious, but we try to accept our humanity and try to live within the confines of our home and what it can support.

As the wines are a departure from our past the labels are also an artistic exploration. I remember the day Clare was working on them.  It was a beautiful Sunday (one of the first we have started to take off). I was in and out of the house as she worked with focus and intention. I left her alone and when she finally showed me what she had come up with – I was a little shocked and asked her what she had been smoking?


 

Absolutely nothing she laughed (not her thing and I know it) and proceeded to explain the significance of all that had been committed to paper. I cannot remember all that she explained and I’m not sure I would/should share if I could. I think it is up to you to make your own inferences, to add to the enjoyment and mystery of drinking these wines.

 
 
The name the Elusive Queen is inspired by Clare’s passion for keeping bees.  As you well know, our Willamette valley bottling of chardonnay always has honey bee inspired drawings, so then should the barrel select.  Clare can tell the story better than I but the name came to her one day as she was collecting a swarm of bees and wasn’t sure if the swarm contained the queen, and then she caught a glimpse and knew the swarm would turn into a successful hive.

2014 Elusive Queen Chardonnay, 116 cases produced, 85 dollars

2014 Earth Pinot noir, 108 cases produced, 105 dollars

Part II – April 8, 2016.  Today was a great day, cold and clear in the dark this morning as I opened up the winery to prepare to bottle the 2015 Laughing Pig rosé and edelzwicker (fall release).  This was our fourth time bottling in our new winery, and it gets easier every time. The bottling went smoothly, Clare made everybody cornbread and chili for lunch. Jeff and I cleaned up in the afternoon and now I am sipping 2015 Laughing Pig rose as I write- admiring the cows graze new spring grass, dogs lazy in the sun on the porch, and me taking it all in. The wines are TERRIFIC; I am looking forward to having the Laughing Pig around all summer.  I love to take a glass out with me at the end of the day to the garden and spend an hour or two hoeing weeds, puttering and planning, watering and watching it all grow. 

 

The laughing pig rosé is back – it is as good as ever.  We have just a little more than last year, and from what I read in the wine business rags, rosé is increasingly popular these days, so please don’t wait to order.  I promise it will make any occasion just a little bit better, a little laughing pig makes all moments more memorable.

2015 Laughing Pig rosé, 480 cases produced, 28 dollars

Thank you again for continuing to enjoy and share our wine, this is unquestionably what allows us to continue this wacky adventure called Big Table Farm.
From our table to yours, Brian and Clare

p.s. Click here to browse the three new wines.