Smuggled! My adventure began on Saturday August 12 when I and my eleven case companions were taken from our distinguished labeled carton and stuffed into smelly suitcases full of human laundry. What was happening? Were we being bottle-napped? After some bouncing and jostling and many hours of silence I felt a strange sensation of lightness, very cold and noisy. I … Read More
Lines on the Vines
2017 Vineyard Season Update We have been frantically busy since our last post about the vineyard at bud break in May. I analogize the season in the vineyard to a horse race with us in a race to keep up with the pace of the vines as they grow. There’s weeding and mowing, fertilizing and disease control and the perpetual … Read More
Three Feathers Estate & Vineyard celebrates a glorious Oregon summer with a family photo session
Photo Session at Three Feathers Estate & Vineyard We are having glorious weather in the vineyards in Hillsboro, Oregon. Time for our family to enjoy the best that Oregon has to offer and an excellent opportunity for a photo shoot. Three Feathers Estate & Vineyard owners Christine Stimac (left) and daughters Cynthia Stimac (middle) and Elise Prudhomme (right) pose in … Read More
Hay Harvesting on Three Feathers Estate
Three Feathers Estate 2017 Hay Harvest The day the Prudhomme boys landed in Portland from France, Three Feathers hay was ready to harvest. We drove the French contingent right to Wilco to buy double-reinforced leather gloves and it was off to work. In three days, Big Blue and Baby Blue (our two New Holland tractors) cut and raked and win-rowed … Read More
Stirred, not Shaken
Stirred, not Shaken: Clarification of our 2016 Three Feathers Pinot Noir We received a text message from Dan Duryee, our winemaker at Lady Hill Winery, to say that our Three Feathers 2016 vintage Pinot Noir would go through the filtration process that day. “Is there anything to photograph?”, Christine texted back. Up pops a photograph of a strange machine and … Read More
Living with the Wildlife
Living with the Wildlife Our Ford F-150 gets a lot of use during the growing season, but when it is idle, it is parked in a dry spot by our goat barn. Last summer we noticed an odor inside the cab; a faint odor of manure. We checked our shoes, nothing. As the odor persisted we looked further, under and … Read More
God Speed The Plough
Let the Wealthy and Great Roll in Splendor and State, I envy them not, I declare it. I eat my own Lamb My own Chickens and Ham I shear my own Fleece and I wear it. I have Lawns, I have Bowers I have Fruits, I have Flowers The Lark is my morning alarmer, So Jolly Boys now Here’s God … Read More
Barrel Tasting at Lady Hill Winery
Barrel Tasting with our Winemaker Dan Duryee Our tasting compared the four barrels against each other. Winemakers do this to ensure that none of the barrels are bad or “off” tasting before they are blended. One of the barrels was noticeably different. The simplest explanation was that the barrel manufacturer was different from the other three. Interesting that that would … Read More
New Buds on Pinot Noir Grapevines
New Buds We go out frequently to see if the vines are coming to life. Today I could detect the tiniest little swelling on a new bud. We have had a record breaking winter of ice, snow, rain and mud with many slides in the valley. With the coming of spring it has warmed a bit and we have had … Read More
Harvesting and Custom Crush at Lady Hill Winery
Custom Crush at Lady Hill Winery with Winemaker Dan Duryee Recent genetic studies of grape varieties has identified Pinot Noir as one of the oldest grapes in the world. A small cluster variety, Pinot Noir has a reputation for being a finicky grape. It prefers cool nights and warm days. The wine is light in color and flavor and on … Read More