Bitter Pops® Antiquum Farm Juel Pinot Noir Willamette Valley Oregon 750ml – 8249150570740

Soil is a living system. We believe that a vibrant, emphatically alive place is the defining foundation of terroir. We have grown to understand that most practices accepted as sustainable are actually quite destructive to the life of the soil and to the character of the vineyard.

We have forged a new system of wine growing we call Grazing-Based Viticulture. Through this paradigmatic shift in philosophy, we seek new answers to an age-old question: What endows a particular site with its personality, its soul, its terroir? Certainly, it can’t be the mathematic ratios of nutrients and minerals relayed in the results on a lab report. Conventional viticultural theory tells us it’s the topographical orientation of the slope combined with the elemental and structural composition of the soil. Then again, aren’t there many vineyards all over the world with similar or even identical slope angles, aspects, and soil types as their neighbors?

At Antiquum Farm, we believe commonly held conceptions barely scratch the surface of terroir while disregarding two of its most important determinants: the microbiological community in the soil and the relationship between that community and the vines living in that soil.

We believe in a deeper, more wholistic conception of place. Individual expression is articulated by the unique signature of an infinitely complex web of life beneath the surface working in harmony with the creatures on the ground and in the air. Where these elements are considered in total, therein lies the soul of the vineyard. Over the years, we have only sought to allow our vineyard the space and ability to become what it wishes to be, and even now we are still watching the process unfold.

This freedom has allowed Antiquum Farm to become unshackled from preconceived and long accepted expectations of region, soil type, and grape variety. The results have been pleasantly unexpected as the vineyard continues to hone its voice. We do not expect this process to reach a point of stasis as life itself is not static. While there is an emphatic presence and distinctly recognizable personality in all Antiquum Farm wines, we celebrate these shifts and fully embrace them in the cellar.