Vibrant Spring 2026 Awakening at Three Feathers
Oregon has experienced a mild and wet winter these past months. Not as much snow as desired but plenty of rain to fill up aquifers and retention ponds.
Three Feathers vineyards, farm and gardens are springing to life! The bluebirds have arrived and are having their annual contest with the green swallows for nesting boxes. The Daphne and Star Magnolia are blooming at the front door and the odor is intoxicating. The frogs in the pond, the Spring Peepers, are making a racket every night.
The vines are all manicured, pruned and tied to the wires in preparation for what, I think, will be an early bud break this year. We hope this year will bring an end to the industry doldrums.
We are doing pours ourselves and getting a very good response at our venues (image below taken at Market of Choice). Everyone loves the wines, especially the Newly Released 2024 Pinot Gris which is soon to be featured in a local publication – Stay Tuned!
Our Pinot POP is still the favorite with excellent sales for Valentine’s Day. The label is eye-catching makes it easy to spot on the store shelves (shown here on prominent display at New Seasons).
We continue to look for ways to nurture our soil which is quite acidic and this year we planted oats in the rows of the Pinot Gris Block at Three Feathers. It helps to sweeten the soil and add nitrogen. Also, oats tend to reseed themselves-giving a long-term benefit.
As usual this is our busiest time of the year as we prepare the gardens for the summer. Victor is power-washing, Christine is weeding, pruning and mowing and Scott is doing everything in the vineyards. We expect our grandson, the eponymous Torio of Torio Vineyard, to arrive after his high school graduation the end of June to help with vines. He is bringing his friend Noah who was here last season and we are so grateful to have them both.
The birds are going nuts everywhere and we frequently have them stray into the open-air greenhouse. Often we have hummingbirds but today a falcon flew in and stayed a bit until he could figure out his exit. I have tentatively identified it as a Merlin falcon. We never stop having new species of visitors on our mountain top.
Just as I predicted above, while writing this article we had a few warm days and POP! Bud break has sprung forth – earlier this year! We are off to the races on another exciting Vineyard Growing Season.