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CapitalPress.com
September 9, 2016
Vineyard brings new dimension to Pinot
By MARGARETT WATERBURY
For the Capital Press
Becoming a winemaker
was far from inevitable for
Jim Fischer. But when his fa-
ther and uncle asked for his
help propagating Pinot vines
while he was home from col-
lege during winter break, they
opened a door to a lifelong
calling.
Crowley Station Vineyards
is a 15-acre vineyard in the Eo-
la-Amity Hills sited on a larger
170-acre parcel that has been
in the Fischer family since the
1970s.
In 2000, the Fischers be-
gan propagating thousands of
own-rooted Pinot noir vines,
which they planted in 2001.
Since then, they’ve been ex-
panding the vineyard with ad-
ditional periodic plantings.
“Everything in the older
plantings is own-rooted,” ex-
plains Fischer. “I would not ad-
vise anyone do to that because
of phylloxera. It’s an issue of
when, not if. We haven’t spot-
ted it yet, but it will succumb
at some point. All our newer
plantings are on rootstock.”
These older plantings were
sited on “the worst piece” of
the south-facing slope, a ield
with exceptionally shallow,
rocky soil, with less than a
foot of topsoil in some areas.
“We thought, if we could grow
them there, we could grow
them elsewhere on the prop-
erty.”
Today, 14 acres are planted
to Pinot noir, and one acre to
Pinot gris. There’s no external
vineyard manager; Fischer’s
dad, Jim Fischer Sr., manages
the entire vineyard with help
from his son and other family
members, all of whom have
full-time off-farm jobs.
There’s also no irrigation.
Margarett Waterbury/For the Capital Press
The Fischers laid out all of their vines themselves using a grid system. “It’s not a showpiece vineyard,
but the grapes don’t know that,” Jim Fischer says.
Everything is completely dry-
farmed, although during the
last two scorching summers,
they needed to hand-water new
plants. That combination of
challenging soil and dry farm-
ing means Crowley Ranch
doesn’t need to drop fruit, as
the plants set an appropriate
amount of fruit on their own.
Most of Crowley Station’s
grapes are sold to winemakers,
with a focus on high-end pro-
ducers able to elevate the vine-
yard’s exposure.
“To keep prices sustainable
SIXTEENTH ANNUAL
for us, we want to have name
recognition for the vineyard.
We want producers to put our
name on the label,” says Fisch-
er.
That strategy has paid off.
In 2014, a Crowley Station Pi-
not noir made by Day Wines
earned the highest score of any
Oregon Pinot noir in Wine and
Spirits Magazine, 94 points.
Fischer and partner Jenny
Mosbacher also run a wine la-
bel called Fossil and Fawn that
showcases Crowley Station
fruit. “There’s a sea change
happening in the wine world,”
says Fischer, “An emerging
third wave of wine that’s mo-
bilizing a younger generation
to get passionate. We want to
be part of that rising tide.”
“This is an interesting time
in the valley,” says Mosbacher.
“It’s a moment where people
can sell $100-plus bottles of
Pinot, or they can sell it in a
can for $6.”
What’s next for Crow-
ley Station? “My dream is to
plant some other things,” says
Fischer. “‘Sideways’ killed
Merlot, and if people are so
capricious that a movie is all
it takes, when is peak Pinot?
Are we there, or did it happen
already?
“But for Oregon wine, Pi-
not may always be king,” he
says. “I’m from Oregon, and
I think we make some of the
best wine in the world. I’m not
concerned with what they do
in France. They make the best
Burgundy in France, but we
make the best Oregon Pinot in
Oregon.”
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