http://www.bethelheights.com/ en bhv@sixponyhitch.com Copyright 2011 2011-09-06T04:40:08+00:00 http://www.bethelheights.com/blog/view/april-2012-newsletter Welcome April! April at Bethel Heights means ancient apple trees and native wildflowers blooming around the edges of the vineyard, exuberant forbs and grasses blooming in the vine rows, and new lambs in the pasture next to the winery. Hoping to see budbreak before the month ends…   2012-04-03T22:02:53+00:00 http://www.bethelheights.com/blog/view/take-the-back-roads-to-bethel-heights-and-ride-the-wheatland-ferry Any time is a good time to leave the freeway behind and take the scenic route from Portland to Bethel Heights.  Back roads with little traffic take you through the heart of our lush Willamette Valley farm country with its amazing diversity of crops, past farm stands overflowing with local produce, and across the Willamette River on a delightful ferry ride. 2011-09-06T04:40:08+00:00 http://www.bethelheights.com/blog/view/the-long-and-glorious-career-of-bethel-heights-southeast-block When we planted it in 1979, the Southeast Block looked just like the other two Pinot blocks planted that year on the newly cleared east side of our vineyard, with cuttings from Dick Erath’s Pommard clone Pinot noir stuck directly into the ground without benefit of phylloxera-resistant rootstock. 2011-06-25T17:14:01+00:00 http://www.bethelheights.com/blog/view/the-beetles-havearrived "Predatory Beetles Flying in from everwhere Escaping flooded fields Fleeing bird’s beaks Zooming through vent holes of compost bins Feeling safe Suddenly becoming The top of the food chain. A congress of beetles Skating across The orange flows Directs the food chain Of flyers and crawlers. With the Beetles In charge It’s only poop for so long." (from The Return of the Fertilizer King and Other Tales, by Mark U. Sturges)* 2011-03-27T18:53:11+00:00 http://www.bethelheights.com/blog/view/introducing-our-first-cork-free-pinotnoir Bethel Heights is pleased to announce the release of our first 2009 vintage Pinot noir. We had a very warm summer in 2009 that gave us ripe, rich Pinot flavors, with a cool end of season to retain acidity.  The wines are luscious and vibrant, and drinking beautifully even at this early stage in their life. We are also pleased to announce that both our 2009 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir (immediate release) and our 2009 Estate Grown Pinot Noir (anticipated June release) have Stelvin closures instead of corks, promising that the wine in every bottle is exactly the same vibrant, flawless wine we put into the bottle, uncompromised by any degree of cork taint. 2011-01-25T13:35:37+00:00 http://www.bethelheights.com/blog/view/casteel-custom-bottling-is-upsizing-top-condition-bottling-equipment-forsal FOR SALE:  Wine Bottling machine 2003 GAI 3052 Top Monoblock $125,000 With custom built trailer and tractor $300,000 2010-12-30T15:31:45+00:00 http://www.bethelheights.com/blog/view/newest-member-of-the-bethel-heightsfamily We are pleased to introduce the newest addition to the Bethel Heights family, Dana B. Frank.  Dana has been hired as our Direct Consumer Sales Manager, a position we have created for the purpose of focusing more time on our tasting room, on-line, and Cellar Club customers. Dana comes to us with a wide array of wine experience in Portland.  She received the Certified Sommelier award from the Court of Master Sommeliers in 2005, and has spent the past 5 years working as a buyer and sommelier for both retailers and restaurants in Portland such as New Seasons, 23Hoyt, clarklewis, and Grüner where she was also the general manager.  Additionally, Dana worked for Triage Wines, selling an eclectic portfolio of small-production, naturally-farmed wines from around the world. 2010-12-10T14:28:09+00:00 http://www.bethelheights.com/blog/view/the-trees-areready Kate’s fresh fragrant trees, just cut yesterday, were lining up last night outside the tasting room door, ready for this weekend’s Wine and Trees Special.  Terry was poised to get first choice, but they are all beautiful! 2010-12-04T15:24:17+00:00 http://www.bethelheights.com/blog/view/taste-with-us-this-weekend-and-take-home-atree If you come to Bethel Heights this weekend (December 4th and 5th) you’ll not only get to taste some great wines; you can also take home a fresh cut, sustainably grown Christmas tree.  This weekend, just $30 will get you a taste of all six wines we are pouring (including a special sneak peek at one of our delicious 2009 pinots!) and a beautiful, sustainably grown, 5-7 foot noble fir Christmas tree to take home and deck with yule-tide splendor. If you’ve ever visited Bethel Heights, you’ve probably met Kate, our Tasting Room/Cellar Club manager.   But you may not know that the Feldman Tree Farm, just a short distance up the road from Bethel Heights Vineyard, is Kate’s family business.  The level of care the Feldman family takes with their trees is above and beyond the rest of the industry.  And it shows; these are beautiful trees! 2010-12-02T15:20:21+00:00 http://www.bethelheights.com/blog/view/bethel-heights-most-recent-collection-is-uniformlyoutstanding “Bethel Heights’ most recent collection is uniformly outstanding.” Thus spake Dr. Jay Miller in the October issue of The Wine Advocate. Eight 2008 Pinots rated 90 or above. Four current release whites “represent excellent to outstanding value.” We could have said it ourselves, but it’s so much nicer when someone else says it for us. Check out the reviews! 2010-11-19T12:15:26+00:00 http://www.bethelheights.com/blog/view/terry-casteel-salud-legacywinemaker Terry was recognized as Legacy Winemaker of the year at the ¡Salud! Pinot Noir Auction on Saturday, for his many contributions to the work of ¡Salud! and to Oregon wine over the years. He received a standing ovation for the thoughts he shared when he stood up to acknowledge the honor. 2010-11-15T14:08:32+00:00 http://www.bethelheights.com/blog/view/kegs Seeking more sustainable packaging, Mimi came up with kegs!  3 Doors Down in Portland, a pioneer of kegged wine-by-the-glass, is now pouring Bethel Heights 2009 Estate Grown Pinot Noir (our Black Label Pinot) from a 5-gallon keg instead of from bottles, saving everyone a whole lot of money and a whole lot of carbon footprint. 2010-11-12T15:06:38+00:00 http://www.bethelheights.com/blog/view/the-heroes-of2010 2010 was the most compressed harvest we’ve had in the Willamette Valley since sometime back in the dim and distant 70’s. We waited until the last possible minute to pick, waiting for our gorgeous Indian Summer to bring on the final flavor development that makes a great vintage. When that moment came, there were storm clouds on the horizon. 2010-10-30T17:55:44+00:00 http://www.bethelheights.com/blog/view/old-blog We moved to a new blog.  You can still find our old blog here 2010-10-29T22:06:41+00:00 http://www.bethelheights.com/blog/view/tea-time-for-mimis-worms This time last year Mimi convinced Ted to buy an old dairy tank where she could grow compost for the vineyard.  They filled the tank with llama manure and some straw, and then tossed in a rich starter collection of soil dwelling organisms of all sizes and descriptions, known collectively as Mimi’s worms.  Their population has since exploded to the point where the whole tank seems to writhe with life when you stir it up a bit.  Now comes tea time. 2010-09-08T05:31:49+00:00