Hello to all from Big table farm!
I am writing to you today in the midst of the pandemic, unprecedented economic hardship for many and an enormous social discussion about all of our roles in our country, society and the world, to tell you that we have more wine for you to put on your table. This is one of our roles in this world that we have chosen – to produce the best wine that we can, wine that we enjoy ourselves and then to share with those of you who also enjoy it. This sometimes seems trivial in light of all that we are facing, challenged with at the moment, but I think the joy created by a family sharing meals, with wine as part of that food, is extremely comforting. I know it has been for Clare and me.
The world is so much different today than when I last wrote in March. All things considered, we are doing well. We stopped doing appointments in mid-March at the Atelier and Clare began using the space in earnest to paint and produced an amazing amount of work, most of it selling the moment she posted it on Instagram. I have been a little less productive but still diligently taking care of the wine and doing the bookkeeping, and enjoying the breathing room now that our home is just a home, with the office and tastings moved out. I have definitely been slowed by the constant dismal news, anxious and worried about what is happening next. It seems life moves from normal to unexpected event, to new normal then to next unexpected event, over and over. We are fortunate to have our health (we have avoided covid so far) and plenty of outdoor space and projects, should we avail ourselves to them. We have missed being able to see our family and friends with the ease of before. We are grateful to have cultivated our business based on direct sales, thankful that you continue to enjoy our wine at home. We also hope all our amazing restaurant partners are able to rebound and we look forward to the day we can enjoy their culinary and hospitality talents with unencumbered enthusiasm! We are thankful for the work that Laura Lillebo and Laura Dalton do to make sure your orders are processed and shipped as efficiently and safely as possible. Samantha Plante does an amazing job behind the scenes of making sure that all our shipments are legal, licenses and bond are kept up to date and sales tax paid to each of your respective state treasuries. Our team has done a great job of getting you the wine, and we look forward to sending you more.
We have had a nice spring and summer here, April saw a few frosty mornings that burnt some of my asparagus and June was cooler and wetter than usual. We have had a couple of hot days in august, but for the most part the summer has been typical for Oregon – delightful! Harvest 2020 will be small and start sometime in mid September.
Bob the cat and the dogs have done their jobs of reminding us that the only really important things in life are ear scratches, belly rubs and crunchies, not necessarily in that order. For the first time in the 12-13 years we have had cows, we had two still births, and Red Fred the bull missed 3 of the eight cows he was presented with. Regardless we still have 3 calves to watch romp around. Sal the donkey has 5 Boer goats (6 last year, they were delicious) to watch over as they keep the brush down on the steepest parts of our property. Luscious and Chubs, American Guinee hogs, are super cute, and getting bigger by the day as they run every time they hear a pear drop from the trees above then. The broilers are in the freezer and the layers keep laying, except they have slowed a little in the warm days of summer. Clare still has her horses, but hummer has been retired due to age, so she mostly just rides Huston. She seems to really enjoy this so I don’t ask about the future of more (or another) working horses. She moved her apiary to a new spot this year and so far it seems to be more successful than any other. Maybe it is the season and maybe her husbandry, but it seems that she is headed for a very successful honey harvest. My garden is still providing for us, maybe a little less this year due to some apathy on my part, but we just finished planting a bed of brassicas (kale, brussels etc.) that should keep us in greens for the winter. Clare has created a sock puppet named “Darn the cow” one evening a month or so ago after some elusive queen chardonnay and some teasing by a friends puppet. Darn has taken on a life of her own and can be seen on Clare’s Instagram account. She does a pretty good job of keeping up with all that is happening around here in a light hearted way. All in all things at Big Table Farm are pretty good.
As I announced last time I wrote, vines have been ordered for about 6 acres, mostly pinot noir but some chardonnay. This spring Clare purchased about a dozen bird houses that we installed on the perimeter vineyard fence posts, some were inhabited almost immediately! Watching the birds that thrive here has been a constant fascination. Pencil rod (skinny steel stakes) were just delivered and will start to be installed at the beginning of September. When the plants arrive next spring the pencil rod will mark where the vines should be planted and then serve as a support in the early days. We used the cows to graze the cover crop that was planted last fall. The stubble they left was recently mowed in preparation for laying out and installing the pencil rod. Additional cover crop will be seeded into the yet to be inhabited vineyard rows using a no-till drill this fall – and all going according to plan this time next year we will have the beginnings of a vineyard!
We are in the midst of preparing to bottle the rest of the 2019’s. If the 2019 laughing pig rose is any indicator I think the rest will drinkable too! Joking aside, I am pleased with what we are about to bottle and hope that when they are ready to ship to you next spring, the world will be a different place again – hopefully sans covid.
The wines!
We have really enjoyed the 2018 wines released so far, particularly Earth Pinot noir and the Elusive Queen chardonnay (both sold out) but the Willamette Valley and Pelos Sandberg Pinot noir and Wild Bee Chardonnay too, since they were release last spring, and we look forward to getting to know their brethren as well. The 2018 versions of Yamhill-Carlton and Eola Amity Chardonnay are available, as well as the Cattrall Brothers Vineyard, Sunnyside Vineyard and Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir, and the 2019 Pinot Gris.
2018 Eola Amity and Yamhill-Carlton chardonnay – the goal of our AVA designated chardonnays is to show case what each is about, and I believe each of these do that. The Eola Amity is focused on acidity and minerality, of course layered on top of fruit, because I like to drink wines that have fruit in them. The Yamhill-Carlton is a bit broader riper and reflecting the slightly warmer AVA and the power that it imparts on its wine’s, both chardonnay and Pinot noir. I hope you enjoy these wines, both for their similarities and differences. About 90 cases of each produced. Of course, shipping included on 6 bottles or more!
2018 Eola Amity Chardonnay – label is one of Clare’s honeybees collecting pollen - $48 per bottle
2018 Yamhill-Carlton Chardonnay – label is flowers that feed Clare’s bees – also $48 per bottle
2018 Cattrall Brothers Vineyard Pinot Noir – this is the highest elevation Pinot noir we work with and it shows, it achieves ripeness without accumulating too much sugar and the cooling of the breeze from the Van Duzer corridor that hits it every evening helps maintain its acidity. The 2018 version is no exception and is delicious while only clocking in at 12.1% alcohol. The acidity and tannin demand food, especially as youngster. Tom and Bill have the coolest truck that they use to deliver their carefully tended grapes that Clare loves to draw for the label. 134 cases produced
2018 Cattrall Brothers Vineyard Pinot Noir – 1946 ford cabover flatbed $62 per bottle, and yep still complimentary shipping on orders of 6 bottles or more!
2018 Sunnyside Vineyard Pinot Noir – Happy birthday! Sunnyside vineyard was planted in 1970, making it 50 years old this year! The wine from this carefully tended vineyard is always amazing. Lucy and Tom farm this predominantly Wadensville clone pinot noir with care, diligence and enthusiasm that undoubtedly contributes to fantastic wine year in and year out. My job is to make sure I don’t mess up the beautiful fruit they bring me every year. Fruit, spice, acidity and tannin all seem to balance effortlessly making it tasty as they come. 242 cases produced
2018 Sunnyside Vineyard Pinot Noir – a BTF rooster on the label $62 per bottle
2018 Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir – some day we will see a little BTF fruit in this blend! Our place is in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA and part of why we started making this wine, thinking that someday wine from our vineyard would have a home. As I mentioned before – the YC wines seem to have darker fruit notes a little more power than finesse making it an able partner to grilled food and heartier fare. Clare uses the label to showcase the local barns from years gone by that are still standing. 234 cases produced
2018 Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir – Dairy barn on hwy 47 on the label. $62 per bottle, and yes shipping included on 6 bottles or more on this one too!
2019 Pinot Gris – from the Rivenwood Vineyard farmed by Belle Ponte. We started buying this fruit from Brian O’Donnell in 2017 to replace wirtz and continued to make it the same style, fermented on the skins to make a wine that is food friendly. The resulting wine is copper in color and has some tannin and red fruited notes to it that make it absolutely delicious with seafood, particularly salmon or crab with lots of butter! We always crack open a bottle of our pinot gris when the first dungeon crabs hit our table in the fall, I highly recommend giving it a try! Label art on the gris is always a favorite of mine, this year chickory from our lower pasture. 133 cases produced
2019 Pinot Gris – $32 per bottle and you guessed it – buy 6 bottles or more and we pay for shipping.
I hope is all is as good as it can be, that you are safe and relatively sane. Thank you again for continuing to buy, enjoy and share our wines. From our humble kitchen and sparsely populated big table to yours, cheers! Brian and Clare
** a note on ordering wine - If you're super busy - please let us help you order wine in whatever way is EASIEST for YOU! We are happy to assist. Call, email - We are available to make sure you get the wines you love! If you want to reach out please just send an email to admin@bigtablefarm.com or call 503-852-3097 or Text Clare Directly! 503-922-3540 and we'll follow up with YOU and get your order. You can also Click here to go right to the buy wine page.