BECKHAM ESTATE PROPERTY

Thirty minutes south of Portland, winding roads lead to a hilltop in Oregon’s Chehalem Mountains. With steeply pitched, dramatic panoramic views, Beckham Estate Vineyard is the culmination of the evolving vision and dedication of Andrew and Annedria Beckham. Upon moving in 2004 with the intent of building a ceramics studio, they became inspired by the local farming community and in 2005 began clearing and planting the property surrounding their home. While consciously leaving riparian zones for natural habitat and wildlife the Beckhams progressively expanded the vineyard to nearly half of their 34 acres including 6 grape varietals while also constructing a tasting room, winery, and fully functioning ceramics studio. We planted and farm Pinot Noir, Trousseau Noir, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Aligoté,  Gamay Noir and a very small test block of Italian varietals. 

Beckham Estate is likely the only winery in the world where the production of the terra cotta vessels for fermenting and aging is on-site, and is integrated with the farming and production of the wines. 

ANDREW BECKHAM

ANDREW BECKHAM has been a ceramics artist for over 25 years. He comes from a family of educators and continues their legacy by teaching ceramics at a local high school. Andrew is a native Oregonian and has a formal education in teaching and fine-arts. 

The year after planting their vines Andrew spent several years apprenticing under respected winemakers in the region and began producing the wines from their vineyard in 2009. Soon after Andrew was inspired to begin creating his own terra-cotta vessels for wine production to combine his passions for ceramics and winemaking. He is now the only producer of commercially available amphorae for winemakers and brewers in North America.

GONZALO | Vineyard Foreman

FARMING

We believe that the characteristics of any great wine are formed in the vineyard. From the beginning, the vines at Beckham Estate Vineyard have been dry-farmed. Over the years, our approach has evolved to include many principles of Bio-dynamic farming. This approach treats the vineyard as a holistic system that incorporates grazing animals and plant diversity into the vineyard management. Bio-dynamics also incorporates the phases of the moon as guidelines for planting and spraying timelines.

An important aspect of our regenerative farming approach includes incorporating a large percentage of the land as a riparian zone, which is left as natural habitat for native plants and animals. We compost all of our grape waste from the winery and integrate this plentiful raw-material back into the vineyard as fertilizer. In 2012, we stopped tilling, and only use organic and bio-dynamic sprays as necessary in the vineyard. We use only mechanical weed management, and all operations and harvest of the vines are done by hand.

While we originally set a goal to produce wines solely from our estate, we are also adventurers at heart. Every vintage we source a small percentage of fruit from fellow producers that share our farming philosophies, but grow different grape varietals.

WINEMAKING

Over the years, we have grown as individuals, as farmers and as winemakers. This work is not for the impatient. Less controlling and more guiding. We do not manipulate the chemistry of our wines. We take great care to monitor the progress of the grapes in the vineyard, so they are harvested with the desired acidity and maturity. 

All of our wines are fermented with only native yeasts that live naturally on the grape skins and in the vineyard. We do not use any fining ingredients on the wines and use sulphites as minimally as possible, as they are the only non-native addition to the wines. 

We use neutral fermenting and aging vessels (terra cotta amphora and larger format French barrels) to minimize imprint of container on the wines.

We strive to make wines of elegance, purity and place that represent each unique vintage.