Sustainability is what we are all about

Eola-Amity Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon

In the decade since their first bottling, husband and wife, Ken and Erica, have created a reputation for producing some of Oregon’s most exciting wines. A great winemaker working with fruit from arguably the finest Pinot Noir vineyards in the country, these wines are hard to come by, produced in tiny quantities, and beloved by critics.

Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon

Eyrie Vineyards were the first people to plant vines in Oregon. It was back in February 1965 that David Lett planted the very first Pinot Noir in the Willamette Valley, and since that time the Eyrie Vineyards name has become synonymous with modest yet visionary people, producing some of the region’s most elegant and long-lived wines.

Today, little has changed, bar perhaps better understanding of what makes these wines so unique. There remains a deep connection between the work in the vines and the wines in the cellar. Jason, David’s son, has been at the helm since 2005 and has made minor tweaks that contribute to greater precision in the wines, but little else. A gentle-touch approach in the vineyards (none of the Eyrie vineyards have ever been fertilized; cover crops provide nutrient balance) is carried through into the winery. Fermentations are spontaneous, extractions are still exceptionally gentle, the whites see skin contact and extended lees ageing, and new oak usage in the cellar remains tiny. In an average year, just 5 or 6 new barrels are introduced to the 300 in the cellar. Some of the casks are ancient indeed.

Priorat, Catalonia

Despite not coming from a family wine tradition, Josep Luís Pérez and his family settled in Priorat in 1981 and were one of the great masters of Priorat, responsible for having revolutionized this small Tarragona denomination, today admired throughout the world.

Since 2000, the Mas Martinet vineyards, its olive trees and its forest have been managed as a single agrosystem, under the guidelines of agroecology, and today, it is his daughter, Sara Pérez who is runs the cellar.

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Lacock, Wiltshire, England

Established in 2016, Whitehall Vineyard is a family-run vineyard overlooking the beautiful Avon Valley, situated in the Historic National Trust Village of Lacock in Wiltshire. Founded by the Self family on Whitehall Farm, their family home for 5 generations, they produce award-winning reds (Pinot Noir, Rondo), whites (Bacchus, Chardonnay) and rosé.

Personally, I love working with these wines because the family is lovely, and their handcrafted small production is just down the road from me! Try these next generation English wines for yourself!

Ventoux, Southern Rhône, France

Chêne Bleu is a critically acclaimed winery in the Ventoux region of the Southern Rhône, located high in the Dentelles de Montmirail in a protected mountain saddle in a UNESCO biosphere reserve. This family owned single estate makes meticulously handcrafted organic wines in tiny quantities from the highest vineyard in the region and one of the highest in the South of France. The resulting cool nights and late harvest bring a highly desirable ‘Northern Rhône’ style freshness to the ‘Southern Rhône’ rich concentration of fruit and tannin.