When we wake up Sunday in the spare bedroom above the tasting room, the light from the windows is so bright that I think it’s noon. Afraid we missed the morning’s pressing—Touriga Nacional was supposed to go into the crusher today—I fish around for my phone. Elena looks out the window. “Snow!” she cries. It’s not yet 7am, but the light reflected off the snow is bright as the midday sun. Yesterday all was autumn, and the views which then were golden brown are white now. Ours aren’t the first feet on the ground—the winery cats beat us outdoors, and a dole of doves and a magpie or two have left their soft clawprints in the snow.
The snowfall brings great quiet to the vineyard, and through it we walk, enjoying our brief exposure to nature—and to the seasons—that exist on the other side of the Cascades. With a solar-powered tasting room, and both organic and biodynamic certifications, Wilridge Winery & Vineyard is one of the greenest operations on the planet. They don’t spray pesticides and copper sulfate on their crops or use synthetic nitrogenous fertilizers, which makes for more challenging winemaking, but also for a healthier vineyard ecosystem, and in my humble (and admittedly biased) opinion, a better bottle of wine, and a richer experience.
Leave a Reply