The Winery

Department of Space...

Simply put, our winery is perched in a prime and top-secret location, somwhere in the foothills of the Willamette Valley, Oregon. The building itself is several hundred square feet in size and is geared for limited production. We use gravity flow and gentle nitrogen pressure, only when we deem it necessary to move wine around.

We craft our wines using only the most rudimentary of technologies; many wineries rely on things like space, money, space, machinery, money, and space. We skimp on all of that. Instead, we prefer to stick with traditional methods, minimizing intervention and maximizing quality, while throwing in a good dose of strong and friendly back labor, Northwest smoked salmon, and Johnny Cash tunes for support.

Our wines reflect the attitude: it's pretty low key around here, and you will savor both the terroir and the environment in which our wines are made.

The Legend of 720...

Several people have been lining up to hear the tale of the Legend of 720, simply referred to in some cirles as The Miracle. It all began in 1947 after the Late Great Merle Travis wrote a country music tune called "Sixteen Tons", about his father's toils working the Kentucky coal mines (a tune later made famous by Tennessee Ernie Ford's 1955 classic recording). You see, dear reader and beloved wine fan, 16 tons is exactly the amount of Pinot noir that one can cram into what was once known as a "garage" by some late century architects, and not unlike mining coal, making wine requires "a mind that's weak and a back that's strong".

Understanding the lyrics and trying to figure out how that may have relevance to making classic Oregon Pinot noir, one may beg to ask how the number 720 has anything to do with it. Here's the facts:

1. A ton of Pinot noir will yield approximately 720 bottles of wine,

2. 16 Tons of Pinot noir is about all one can do in a 720 square-foot facility (the "3-bay garage" concept),

3. The concrete pad in front of your winery is exactly 720 square feet, so that's kind of catchy

4. You decide to think about "going commercial" for about 2 years, or 720 days,

5. You change your mind about "going commercial" twice, signifying the full circle of thought twice (that's 2 x 360 degrees, or 720),

6. No kidding, bottled exactly 720 cases of 2005 Pinot Noir (some of the wine does not appear on this site, in case you're doing the math of cases produced), and did this again in 2006. Uncanny!

7. 720 is a good credit rating

8. ...Contact us if you have any other bright ideas about this!