Our recent visit to Iris Vineyards, just outside of Eugene, OR, was quite a revelation. Iris claims as its foundation the ancient Grecian concept of “areté”. Don’t feel sheepish if you don’t know the meaning of the term; it is hardly used in modern English. The ancient Greeks used the term to mean excellence or virtue in your purpose. I was surprised when I heard the people at Iris use the term since I had not heard it used since taking a course on Aristotle when I was at university.
Areté to Aristotle, we were taught, was not a theoretical concept, but a practical implementation of maximum effectiveness at a chosen goal. Areté in winemaking, to use a concrete example, is different than areté in cooking. Both have a similar philosophical underpinning, but each is a distinct form of areté. The concept of areté is abundantly present in all of the endeavours at Iris that we encountered: from how they grow the grapes to how they vinify the wine to how they offer it to their customers.
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be on an AdVINEture, click on the link below for a taste. We are unabashed fans of wine from Oregon’s Willamette Valley and our most recent trip featured visits to some old favourites along with new discoveries: Résonance Wines, Nicolas-Jay, Maysara Winery, Abbot Claim, Atticus Wine, Potter’s Vineyard, & Bells Up Winery (click on each for the full write up).
It takes a special place and a brave dream to make two nomads finally stop moving and, quite literally, put down roots.
Guy Insley & Ximena Orrego [Source: Atticus Wine]
Ximena Orrego and Guy Insley of Atticus Estate Vineyard & Winery were both born abroad and have lived in (and travelled to) multiple countries. Their aspiration to own a vineyard when they retired became a reality sooner than expected, and in a place quite unexpected.
While it’s becoming somewhat common to see a Burgundian House establish a wine project in Oregon, one of the State’s newest winery owners is surprising initially, until you dig a little deeper. Beck Family Estates chose the Willamette Valley to launch Abbott Claim, its first winery outside of South Africa. Their reputation for a commitment to sustainability coupled with their choice of Alban Debeaulieu as their winemaker is already proving to be a wine match made in heaven.
Over the past several years of interviewing close to 300 winemakers, we’ve come across a lot of stories of unlikely journeys where individuals or couples of have packed up their (often corporate) lives and moved to a different part of the country to pursue a life in wine. The common denominator in those stories has been a dream fueled by passion. But passion alone isn’t always enough to turn winemaking into a viable business. At Bells Up Winery, Dave & Sara Specter have found success by focusing on making quality wine, while at the same time connecting with quality people.
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