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.