Our Vineyards

Eric Lemelson entered the wine business with a set of core values from his environmental background and longstanding commitment to Oregon. These values help guide his decision making at all stages of viticulture and winemaking.

The Organic Approach

Lemelson Vineyards has farmed its vineyards organically from the beginning, in part because of Eric’s belief in organic farming. Knowing that great wines ultimately come from healthy vineyards, he sensed that winegrapes would develop their full flavor potential from vineyards managed without synthetic chemical inputs and with the use of techniques and practices that support living, healthy soils. In this view, synthetic chemicals are short-term solutions that may make farming less-expensive and labor intensive in the short term, while often damaging the complex biological relationships that support healthy vines over the long run. In addition, synthetic chemicals can obscure the unique attributes of each vineyard site (called terroir by the French). Ultimately, we hope you agree that the extra effort of organic farming and gentle, handcrafted winemaking techniques pays off “where it counts,” in the bottle.

Our Commitment to Our Community

We believe that what’s good for our vineyards and our wine is also good for our community, both the immediate and the larger community. We employ composting, cover cropping, and other time-tested agricultural techniques that support a living, healthy soil and prevent damage to the ecosystems that surround our vineyards. We take extra care to prevent soil erosion, limit our water use to protect the aquifers we share with neighbors, and respect wildlife habitat. And we are proud of the fact that we offer our vineyard workers good wages, health insurance coverage and a safe work environment.

Our intention is to allow you to experience the pure, expressive flavors of our Pinot noir and other wines, unclouded by homogenizing influences, while we work to protect the beautiful gift we’ve inherited that is a small bit of Oregon.