Ninebark is a very intentional vineyard.
In 2007, after years of searching for the perfect site, plant nerds Ken and Glenn found a beautiful piece of land on the west shoulder of the Chehalem Mountains. The 100-acre site - a derelict walnut orchard - had the volcanic soils we were seeking, excellent air flow, and slightly less heat in a warming Willamette Valley.
We cleared out those old trees, really just big stumps impossibly encrusted with blackberries, and found a wheat farmer to keep the land "tamed" until the time was right. We put in the infrastructure and bought a tractor and other equipment. We spent hours and hours discussing layout, clones, row width, row direction, etc.
Finally, in 2014, exactly 100 years after the land was originally settled by a farming family from Michigan, we planted 6.5 acres of grapevines on a freezing and icy November day.
We've done 5 more plantings since then, for a total of 25 acres of grapes including 6 different clones of Pinot Noir, 3 different clones of Chardonnay, and other grape varieties including Pinot Meunier and Melon de Bourgogne. After each planting, we're pretty sure we're done expanding, but the results have been so good, we can't help but add "just a few" more grapevines.
Location
The vineyard is on the western slope of the Chehalem Mountains AVA, just north of Ribbon Ridge near the town of Laurelwood and looked over by Bald Peak (the highest point in the Willamette Valley). Nearby vineyards include Colleen Clemens and Patton Valley. We have a unique corner of the Chehalem Mountains AVA practically all to ourselves and as the vines get older and their roots go deeper, we're slowly discovering the qualities and characteristics of wine made from these grapes. It's an exciting process.
Elevation
Current plantings range from 530-680 feet.
Soil
The soil across all our vine-suitable areas is Saum, a red-brown volcanic silt loam similar to Jory. A few sections of the vineyard contain large basalt boulders.
For more information about the site and the plantings, including block maps, heat hours, clones and soils, check out out the Ninebark Vineyard page on Everyvine. Also, you can view the current block map here.
Farming Practices
We are LIVE certified and Salmon Safe and have been farming the grapes following LIVE standards from the beginning. For a variety of reasons, including sustainability and flavor profile, we chose not to irrigate. We feel that if the vines can get established, they should perform solidly with their deep roots in even the hottest summers...and hopefully have more intense flavors as well. We are also a glyphosate-free vineyard.
Management
Evan Bellingar's team at Century Vineyards manages the vineyard, though Rowan, the vineyard pup, runs the place.
In 2007, after years of searching for the perfect site, plant nerds Ken and Glenn found a beautiful piece of land on the west shoulder of the Chehalem Mountains. The 100-acre site - a derelict walnut orchard - had the volcanic soils we were seeking, excellent air flow, and slightly less heat in a warming Willamette Valley.
We cleared out those old trees, really just big stumps impossibly encrusted with blackberries, and found a wheat farmer to keep the land "tamed" until the time was right. We put in the infrastructure and bought a tractor and other equipment. We spent hours and hours discussing layout, clones, row width, row direction, etc.
Finally, in 2014, exactly 100 years after the land was originally settled by a farming family from Michigan, we planted 6.5 acres of grapevines on a freezing and icy November day.
We've done 5 more plantings since then, for a total of 25 acres of grapes including 6 different clones of Pinot Noir, 3 different clones of Chardonnay, and other grape varieties including Pinot Meunier and Melon de Bourgogne. After each planting, we're pretty sure we're done expanding, but the results have been so good, we can't help but add "just a few" more grapevines.
Location
The vineyard is on the western slope of the Chehalem Mountains AVA, just north of Ribbon Ridge near the town of Laurelwood and looked over by Bald Peak (the highest point in the Willamette Valley). Nearby vineyards include Colleen Clemens and Patton Valley. We have a unique corner of the Chehalem Mountains AVA practically all to ourselves and as the vines get older and their roots go deeper, we're slowly discovering the qualities and characteristics of wine made from these grapes. It's an exciting process.
Elevation
Current plantings range from 530-680 feet.
Soil
The soil across all our vine-suitable areas is Saum, a red-brown volcanic silt loam similar to Jory. A few sections of the vineyard contain large basalt boulders.
For more information about the site and the plantings, including block maps, heat hours, clones and soils, check out out the Ninebark Vineyard page on Everyvine. Also, you can view the current block map here.
Farming Practices
We are LIVE certified and Salmon Safe and have been farming the grapes following LIVE standards from the beginning. For a variety of reasons, including sustainability and flavor profile, we chose not to irrigate. We feel that if the vines can get established, they should perform solidly with their deep roots in even the hottest summers...and hopefully have more intense flavors as well. We are also a glyphosate-free vineyard.
Management
Evan Bellingar's team at Century Vineyards manages the vineyard, though Rowan, the vineyard pup, runs the place.
