Lopez Island Vineyards
We are a small, family-run, community-owned business, producing quality wines on Lopez Island. We use unique grape varieties, organically grown in our estate vineyards, as well as grapes grown by the Crawford Family Vineyard in Yakima Valley and End of the Road Vineyard in the Red Mountain AVA. We strive to maintain a sustainable use of our environment, our local economy, and our community.
Spring Surges Forward...at last!
Vine growth is now going very fast, with visible lengthening of the shoots on any warm day. Now is when our farming skills are needed most, as timing is everything; a task can be easy or if delayed, can become bogged down, needing much more time to complete.
The promise of the vine is clear now, as the small flower clusters are visible and forming well. We hope you will pay us a visit, as there is nothing like the beauty of the vineyard in its spring flush of growth, nor of this island in its emerald splendor.
Please see below for information updates of our spring hours and road construction, as well as my reflections on the economy and small businesses. See also our new wine releases, summarized below. Have a great Spring! Cheers, Brent Charnley, winemaker.
Reflections on the Economy
I am often asked how Lopez Island Vineyards is doing in this economy. This question has made me reflect on what it is like to be a small farmer in any economy, let alone a tough one like the one we are currently in.
Community support of small farms and businesses is essential to the survival of such companies. Recently, there has been a trend towards support of local economies and farmers by the general public. This has made for many new small farms and businesses around the country. The advantages brought to the community are many: farmland preservation, local economic health, jobs within the community, a smaller carbon footprint of local foods, local food security, and more.
Health and livelihood of these businesses, plus the jobs provided and the farmland they protect, are not hard goals to achieve. As an example, to thrive as a business and to pay our employees well, we need only to sell 3,000 cases a year. This would be easy to achieve with only 3,000 to 6,000 good customers, each buying one-half to one case of wine a year, which is only a bottle a month! Think of the number of farms saved and the local economic cycles generated by regular people such as ourselves, supporting even only a half dozen operations in such a manner. This jump in support I see as a conscious step from being a “Consumer” (a name I dislike), to being a Customer, a Participant, a Friend, or more concisely, a Community Member.
Our Previous Year in Review
This economy is impacting our business as well, but we have had more difficulty from the weather in the last two years. Cool, late spring weather, with some untimely rain events, has impacted harvest from our Estate Vineyards. Low crop levels in 2007 and 2008 have left us without our most popular wines: Madeleine Angevine and Siegerrebe. Competition is fierce with our more familiar varieties (Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon), so we have to work hard to make up the sales represented by our crop losses. If these familiar varieties are your favorites these award-winning wines are are available currently. Two stand outs are our Malbec and Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon.
Tasting Room Open During Road Construction
June: Fridays and Saturdays 12 to 5 pm
July and August: Wednesday through Saturday 12 to 5 pm
Please Note: Fisherman Bay Road is under massive reconstruction from April through August. Please request passage from the construction crew to allow your vehicles through. For more information on visiting our Tasting Room see the Contact page.
Download a printable map showing alternate routes around the construction zone.
New Releases Now Available:
Apple-Pear Wine—From the slopes of Turtle Back Mountain...
Wave Crest White—For the deck of the crab boat...
Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon—Silk route caravan...
Recently Released Wines
Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot 2006—A new blend of Cabernet, Merlot & Malbec; rich & complex.
Malbec 2007—Our 100% Malbec from Yakima Valley, nice and robust, with spice!
Raspberry Wine—Organic berries from the Snohomish Valley, great as a dessert.
Blackberry Wine—Berries from our farm, organically grown, tastes like a handful of summer.
Spring cover crop fixes nitrogen for vineyard fertility
Winemaker Brent Charnley teaches dis-budding to students, a task which helps control disease, fruit quality and yield.
King Apples, used for out Apple-Pear wine, growing on the slopes of Turtle Back Mountain, Orcas Island