Sarah Perry

Rows of grapes in Dry Creek Valley

Grapes are a finicky fruit. They like certain temperatures, can’t get too hot, can’t have too much water, can’t be ripe too long, like shade on a certain side. The list goes on. Their vines love to mold, bugs love to feast on their buds. They remind me of some persnickety elderly people I’ve served – the old man banging the coffee cup on the table, always demanding something.
Needless to say, it’s always tough for vintners to produce a quality grape. There are years like 06 and 07 that come once a decade or so. There’s last year when the vineyard managers scurried to do an early harvest because of all the rain in the forecast. There are years when you sacrifice tons of so-so fruit to produce a stellar, quality vintage.

Whatever year it is, the grapes and wine are never the same. That constant shifting is what attracts so many people to the profession (they prefer to call it a lifestyle). Scott and Lynn Adams of Bella Winery, Jim Borsack and Duffy Keys of B Cellars, Dave and Pamela Palmer of Fiasco – they all say it’s the change they love. These three are all in different areas – B Cellars crushes fruit in the legendary Napa Valley, Bella is nestled in the rolling hills of Sonoma’s Dry Creek, and the Palmers prune their vines in the mountains of Jacksonville, Oregon.  They all had different careers, discovered wine, caught the bug and changed their lives to acclimate their passion. Lynn worked in merchandising, Jim in high-end luggage and Dave was a pilot for FedEx. They all made sacrifices and took a chance on a new career move.

There will always be the Mondavis and Beringers of Napa Valley, but these folks and lots of others like them, from Jacksonville, Oregon all the way to Walla Walla, Washington, are determined to leave their mark on the wine industry.

Now, if only those grapes would behave.