Shifting Timelines
Each year comes with its own opportunities, blessings, lessons, and gratitude.
The 2022 growing season started out a bit rough; April brought bud break to most of our vineyard, as well as a frost event that only the strongest and most protected buds survived. Once things started warming up, the vines needed some time to recover, luckily, vines have evolved resiliency. On the nodes of each shoot there are not only primary buds, but secondary buds and in some cases, tertiary. While it took some time, we slowly started seeing life emerge from some of those secondary buds. Because of this delay in the growing season, we were extremely fortunate to have the warmest October ever recorded in Oregon's history. The vines took full advantage of this opportunity, and we kept our eyes on the weather forecast, to fully take advantage of the extra ripening time, a blessing indeed.
As harvest begins and ends in each block I make a point to visit each individual block we are preparing to harvest and thank the Earth, Wind and Sun for the elements that they contributed to what is always a completely unique vintage.
As harvest closes out on the entire Yamhill Valley Vineyard estate, gratitude pours through me once again. Thank you to the vineyard crew, our farmers, who worked the earth and touched each vine throughout the year. Their hands pruned and trained the shoots in their dormancy and laid the foundation for the canopy that sprung to life come bud break. They come back countless times; to chisel the living statues of grounded life, curating each and every vine. They acknowledge and bend to the needs of the vineyard through each of the stages of its growth, always keeping in mind how to encourage energy into the leaves, roots, or fruit and knowing when to do each. Each crew member's experienced eye is refined with each vintage, aiding them in creating balance amongst each vine to acknowledge the sentiment, "as above, so below" in a literal sense. Thank you to the vines for what they produced, nature has a way, and specializes so intricately, that "it never hurries, yet everything is accomplished." Thank you to the pickers who come rain or shine to cut the fruits of our labor and deliver them to the winery where they meet their fate. Thank you to our cellar crew who come day after day to hold the hand of that fruit as it is alchemized into beautiful wines that express this place. Thank you to family, friends and staff that fed our team during harvest, to keep us going strong when nature asked us to meet her halfway. Thank you to our customers who support us in this vision, who share the story that is told inside each bottle, and who appreciate all of the layers of commitment it took to bring another story to your table, so that once again, we can start again on this ever-going cycle. Gratitude.
- Ariel Eberle, Head Winemaker
