March forth! Happy almost spring 2026!
Howdy from rainy Western Oregon! We have had a warmer than usual winter here but still rainy and we are very much looking forward to spring! I hope y'all are doing well, braving the cold that I read about all across the country. I think we are all ready for spring! We have our first Pinots and chardonnay of the 24 vintage to share with you - and two new Joes! Sadly for us, kathryn let us know last fall that she had decided to look for opportunities outside of the wine industry, we wish her the best! Clare and I received an overwhelming number of exceptionally qualified candidates to fill her position and after many interviews and leaving no stone unturned - Joe (1 of2) Paradise (yes he is real and that is really his name!) has agreed to fill the role of head of sales - as well as relieve Clare of some of her responsibilities so she can focus on her true passion – painting! She has done this on nights and weekends for a long time so we are excited to see what she can produce with more time to devote. Her latest work is on instagram or her website - www.clarecarver.com. Joe comes to us with a wealth of wine knowledge and experience and so far so good! We look forward to working with him and know that he will continue the customer service and hospitality that we have built our business on.
The farm!
This fall, we successfully harvested six goats, one cow and six lambs! Thank you to all who purchased we hope you enjoy and are nourished by our efforts. Unfortunately, Julius the ram also went into the freezer, somehow he injured himself with a hernia. Clare denies asking him to help move furniture, so who knows? We nursed him into the fall, but it became apparent he would be unable to do his ONLY job – breed our flock of now 15 ewes! So we acquired a new ram who came with the name – Joe(2of2). Joe, the ram got turned in with the ladies in the beginning of October, and if he did his job, we should have a whole bunch of lambs running around here in a couple weeks! The barn is full of cows, all on deep bedding, the pastures are too wet this time of year, so this works great. They are warm and dry and the compost the bedding makes combined with the pomace from the winery is amazing. We will have six yearling steers this summer for sale (June 27) so if you want half a beef for your freezer or are interested in a live animal please let us know! They are grassfed and should be grassfat from all the spring and early summer grazing. The laying flock we started last spring began laying last fall, but as they have matured and the longer days of spring they have really started laying, and the eggs are amazing!
Bob and Stanley are doing great especially now that we caught, fixed and rehomed the feral tom cat that was harassing them and stinking the place up. Everyone is glad he has a new home! As wonderful as Bob and Stanley are, I do need to tell you that dog discussions have started. We haven't decided on what is right for us yet - working dog, just a pet, or somewhere in between - stay tuned - I think this will be resolved soon! Clare's beehives did amazingly well this past year and she was able to harvest more honey than even she can eat, which is a lot btw! So our new farm box (please inquire!) will have a small taste of her honey included! And of course Clare's horses are still around. She rides Huston frequently, but old Hummer is now just a pet. I am still using their poop in the garden - I just put together this year's hot bed, this is my fourth iteration. It is 4' x 12' with a 2 foot layer of horse poop and 6 inches of compost on top. I seed into the top layer and the horse poop underneath decomposes and warms the top layer. It is a pretty amazing set up and the greens produced are plentiful and awesome! Apparently the romans figured this one out - in my opinion it's the only good reason to keep horses. I was pretty lazy last summer and failed to get any brassicas planted for the winter so we have been eating a lot of frozen peas. Oh well, hopefully I will get to it this year. Clare and I are doing pretty good here and we got a little break in early January. Thank you to nephew Henry who took care of the place while we were relaxing for a few days at the coast.
The Vineyard!
Don't hold your breath, but we might get some fruit this year. We'll have a better idea after we prune next week, but maybe….? We did more replanting this spring and a little more to do next year. This has been a huge and expensive learning experience for us, but we continue working at it and I think we will see some results in the near future – we will let you know for sure!
The Wines!
2024 was a magical vintage. Everything fell into place exactly as it should – weather was perfect, optimal ripeness and composition in the fruit, great people and everything worked flawlessly in the winery. I like to joke that if I couldn't make a decent wine in 2024, then I should probably find a new job! The first releases of the vintage have been well received - the laughing pig rosé is sold out and I think we have a little of the Pinot Gris left. Per usual our spring offering is our Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, Wild bee Chardonnay, Pelos Sandberg Vineyard pinot and Funk Estate Syrah - each delicious in their own way!
2024 Wild bee Chardonnay - this is a true Willamette Valley blend. We work with seven different sites all within the Willamette Valley, but each distinct. Each lot and each barrel are treated with equal diligence so the disparity between this bottling and the three others we make is personal preference (mine, sometimes Clare chimes in!) but the quality is the same. I prefer the taste of barrels that have been used once or twice or more so I often choose those for the elusive queen or the AVA blends leaving - most of the new barrels to go into the wild bee. Don't be alarmed - I am only talking about a handful - maybe 10% overall and when blended this way = delicious! Just a hint of vanilla and woodspice to add to everything else that is going on. With no offense taken - many people prefer this wine to the others that I make, and for the price it is often lauded and compared to wines of greater pedigree and price! Artwork by April Coppini - we enjoy the energy of her charcoal on paper and own this drawing and license it from her to use for the label. Yes! Six or more of this wine and shipping is on us!
1116 cases produced -34/bottle
2024 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir - much like the wild bee this one is also a true Willamette Valley blend, with five of the seven Chardonnay sites we work with also providing pinot noir plus a few more that solely provide Pinot, so fruit from many parts of the valley, each of the vineyards and their owners contribute the pieces and personalities that make up the whole of this wine. I do make the selections for the single vineyard wines and Earth first so this wine is made of what is left - but it always takes on a life of its’ own and like the wild bee it is our largest bottling of pinot noir at about 2000 cases. It is only at the end of elevage that I make the barrel selections so all are treated with equal diligence. We built our winery here on the farm in 2014 with only minimal changes in wine making since then - we graduated from a small basket press to a slightly larger one a few years ago - otherwise same same - native whole cluster ferments, unfined and unfiltered – and if you have enjoyed past vintages, then surely this one will fit the bill too! Still the ‘pig’ wine, Thelma and Louise on the label, and of course, shipping included with an order of six or….more?
2153 cases produced- 50/bottle
2024 Pelos Sandberg Vineyard pinot noir - great friend and pretty good grape grower 😉 Don Sandberg likes to joke with some seriousness about his site being ‘grand cru’. With this as his mantra he puts heart and soul into his vineyard and the grapes he produces each vintage. We have similar visions - make the best we can, make the best that is possible - we compare notes often and the picking window for his wines under the Iota brand and ours are often in the same day, or next day, depending on logistics. His dedication to quality is inspiring and helps me produce the best that I can each year - this 2024 is no different! Cutlery on the end posts (and the label) mark the blocks of this vineyard that we have been working with since 2010. Thank you Don and cheers! I hope you enjoy this wine as much as we do! For sure - free shipping on six of this one too, but I'm pretty sure you want a case!
227 cases produced 72/bottle
Last but not least! 2023 Funk Estate vineyard Syrah. This wine spends an extra year in barrel to soften and mature - so it is a year behind - or ‘overvintaged’. 2024 and 2025 are still in barrel. We make just a little bit of this wine, 150 cases or so each year, but I love having it in the cellar. It is so different from pinot and yet still such a food friendly wine. It is an Oregon wine but Milton Freewater is a world apart from the Willamette Valley – the ‘stones’ are omnipresent and the climate much dryer - perfect for syrah. The fruit and resulting wine are distinct and delicious! Like the pinot, the winemaking for this wine has not changed since we started buying the fruit from Rich in 2016, in fact I use the exact same fermenter for it each year. Usually this is the first fruit in the door - but this year pinot started filling up the winery first and I had to set aside the syrah fermenter so that it didn't get filled up with pinot! Also made with whole cluster, native ferment - and lots of foot stomping - but we wash our feet first! So if you enjoyed past vintages of this wine this vintage will continue to please as well. Clare drew a new label for this wine last year - same one adorns the 2023. Yup, this one qualifies too, 6+! gets the amazon treatment
146 cases produced 72/bottle
Art
Back to the art! Clare started in January of last year painting clothes pins on a regular basis - a piece by piece assembly of a greater work, driven by color and confined by size and subject, and also the constraints of life. She managed to produce 164 unique clothes pins that were arranged en masse in a ‘mosaic’ this past fall. I thought it was a super fun project to watch happen and to admire in the finale. Most of them are sold, but there is still a few available - please reach out to her or Joe if you're interested! She is moving forward and onto new seasonal subjects with paper whites the latest.
All available will be on display April 11 here at the farm, but if something catches your eye do not hesitate! - as they do get snapped up. Additionally the 2025 Laughing Pig rosé will have just been bottled and available, as well as 2024 Earth pinot noir and the 2024 Elusive Queen chardonnay, and a bunch of impossibly cute lambs!
Regarding pricing, despite increasing costs all around us, we are holding our prices steady for now and continuing to offer shipping included on purchases of six bottles or more. Thank you for your continued patronage - we know there are lots of choices, we are thankful every time you choose BTF! I get to make what I want to drink - I'm glad so many of you enjoy my work! It has become a tough market for selling wine - competition from legalized marijuana, changing demographics and socialization habits influenced by tech, etc., etc. The special piece that wine brings to the table is that it is a direct agricultural product that elevates the moments when shared with friends and family at meals. The appreciation of wine and food and the companionship that goes with it is the taste touch sound sight - next to sex there's nothing else that does it! And wine with the inebriating effects makes it all a little easier, loosening the inhibitions, encouraging the laughter!
This is our 20th year, living and working developing building our home farm business and ground that we call Big Table Farm - what an adventure and journey! Thank you to all who have participated - worked with us and supported us through the years! We truly appreciate your continued patronage and we will continue to do our best to make the best that we can. Cheers from our table to yours! Thank you again! Brian and clare and the team at big table farm
p.s. this letter was written by brian and brian only, no aggregated information (a.i.) used.
p.p.s. - a note on ordering wine - If you're super busy - please let us help you order wine in whatever way is EASIEST for YOU! We are happy to assist. Call, email - We are available to make sure you get the wines you love! If you want to reach out please just send an email to joe@bigtablefarm.com or call 503-457-5726 or Text Directly! and we'll follow up with YOU and get your order. You can also Click here to go right to the buy wine page
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions about ordering our wines- by text, phone or email we are here to help!