Beacon Hill Estate vineyard is located in the northwest corner of Oregon’s Willamette Valley, in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA. It comprises 45 acres, with a unique mesoclimate, protected from Pacific winter storms by the gently folded Coast Range, and from the frigid Columbia Gorge winds by the Chehalem Mountains. Our soil is among the oldest in the valley, coarse-grained and rich in the ancient marine sediment endemic to the area. We are further cradled by lush conifer forests, which shelter and purify our spring- the vineyard’s natural water source.
Our vineyard was mostly planted in 1988 by Leo Stika, and are approximately 90% Pinot Noir (Wädenswil, Pommard, and Dijon clones), and 10% Chardonnay. We have recently planted an acre and a half of Riesling and Gewürztraminer, which will not come into production for a few years.
Our focus here at Beacon Hill Estate is expressed by the axiom that great wines are made in the vineyard. To this end, in October 2006 we began an intensive biodynamic farming program to revivify the soil and allow the fruit to express its terroir with greater and greater transparency. This tenderness of handling, moderate extraction, natural fermentation, and careful selection of the finest French oak barrels form our signature on the wines. The results have been wonderful: delicate, eloquent fruit with beautiful flavors.
The Vineyard as a Living Organism
We believe the vineyard to be a unified system, a truly living organism. By choosing to practice biodynamic viticulture, we have committed ourselves to farming without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, as in organic viticulture.
Biodynamic farming, however, distinguishes itself with its insistence of sustainability and local sourcing of almost every treatment of the vines. Just as in a natural forest wilderness, in our vineyard there is a high degree of self-sufficiency, fertilizer and feed being derived from the recycling of organic material generated by other elements in the system.
In doing this, we have found ourselves in the midst of a system that is minimally dependant on imported elements (such as our oak barrels, which are French), and increases the vitality of the vineyard as a whole. The resultant fruit is thus wonderfully healthy and true to the essence of its site - our ultimate goal.
