Footage from the Farm

When we were kids, my father would haul around an old RCA VHS camcorder to all the activities and events we did. It was a beast. To use it, one would have to hoist it onto ones shoulder, and with one eye closed navigate the world by looking through a small and disorienting, black & white viewfinder. Yet he always managed to get really good footage and would happily make and distribute copies to classmates, teammates and family friends alike. Some of my favorite tapes are of lambing season, feeding the cows, or summer afternoons at the river with our neighbors and friends. 

Well the ol' camcorder doesn't get out and about nearly as often these days, unfortunately, but the good news is that Bradley video production has resumed! 

Okay that may not sound that exciting, so let me elaborate.

I received a GoPro camera recently and have been having a lot of fun with it. As I've been getting to know it and contemplating interesting things to film, I realized that too few people make it to Elkton on a regular basis. So what I've decided to do is make short films from around the vineyard, winery and greater Elkton area and share them with you! That way you can always have a little bit of Elkton with you wherever you go (these videos are mobile-friendly).

So with that, here are a few of my first videos from the farm. Enjoy!

Wine Tasting 101

Allow me to start by clarifying: I'm not going to get into how to swirl or swish or spit. This post is less 'mechanics-focused' and more 'ettiquette/attitude-focused.' And don't let those terms intimidate you. Wine ettiquette and attitude sounds pretentious to its core, but I assure you I'm fighting the good fight here. 

There are many different kinds of wine drinkers. Some claim they only like reds, some want drier, some want sweeter, and as far as I'm concerned, all types are welcome. My family's philosophy has always been, "Drink what you like!" And I would like to challenge that philosophy only slightly today. I say, drink what you like, but do your fair share of exploring. Allow me to provide an example:

I recently was pouring for a small group and one individual was the classic, "I only like reds," type (and let me clarify that I have nothing against this type of person). In fact, I largely am this type of person. When I taste, I like to taste reds primarily as I find that is what I tend to drink more. But to completely rule out white wines, seems a bit extreme from my personal experience. However, I try to not argue and just trust the customer to lead me through their world as much as I try to lead them through mine. So I offered a sample of dry, white wine, as is often the starting point in a tasting, and all participated except the lone 'reds only' drinker. As I have come to expect, the reaction to this wine was tremendous. The group really loved it and spent quite a bit of time pressuring the red drinker to try it, but there was no budging. So we moved on to a dry rosé, which also received plenty of positive buzz. 

Let me put it this way, a friend of mine explained his attitude toward music to me as follows: I'm not a frequent listener to things like country or rap, but to say I don't like those genres is pretty closed-minded. Every genre has it's best stuff, and I have found that even in the country and rap worlds, there is music that is creative, poetic, moving, relatable, etc. 

Now I know I'm younger than a lot of the seasoned wine drinkers out there, and that many folks have been drinking wine much longer than I have. So maybe they have found that there are no white wines, or no sweet wines, or no dry wines that they like and that's that. But a lot of people who stop in Elkton have never been before, so I know they haven't had this white, or red or sweet or dry. And if there is one universal guidepost from which to base all wine tasting, it's: every wine region and vineyard and winery is different. So don't rob yourself of finding your next favorite thing!

If you have ever been so bold as to say, "I 100% do not like [insert wine here] and will not be sampling it nor drinking it ever," then I am going to ask you shift that paradigm slightly. Let's adjust to, "I have not yet found a [insert wine here] that I like, and am still on the hunt for the one that knocks my socks off." If you try it and like it, you win! And if you don't, you are only about 30 seconds and less than an ounce of wine in debt from the experience. The potential reward far outweighs the risk. 

That's really all I'm driving at here.

Tyler

#WhereIsElkton?

The single most-asked question at wine festivals and events is, "Where is Elkton?" So I thought it would be handy to have a blog post that answers that question. I have also embraced a hashtag another local business owner (Randi Jo Fabrications) created. 

I'll start off by showing precisely where Elkton is on a map:

The gold-colored line that runs north/south is Interstate-5. As you can see, Elkton is not on I-5. This is one of the main reasons even native Oregonians often don't know where Elkton is located. In fact, it appears that the pin is smack-dab in the middle of nowhere. That's because it kind of is, which is why Elkton is so cool.

Travel Oregon has the state divided into 7 distinct regions: (1) Greater Portland, (2) Mt. Hood/The Gorge, (3) Central Oregon, (4) Eastern Oregon, (5) Southern Oregon, (6) Oregon Coast, and (7) Willamette Valley. If you were to mark those divisions on this map, Elkton would fall almost precisely on the joint of (5), (6) and (7). The climate in Elkton is much more similar to that of the Willamette Valley and Oregon Coast, (rainy, cool temps, foggy); Southern Oregon tends to be more arid and hot than Elkton. This is why Elkton, Oregon is it's own distinct American Viticulture Area - technically, we are in Southern Oregon, but we're growing grapes that thrive in cool climate regions.

Now there are some people who do in fact know where Elkton is. At least 95-99.5% of these people know it because they passed through on the way to the coast (the remaining .5-5% either knew someone from Elkton, or has family here). It's true, we are halfway between I-5 and the Oregon Coast on Highway 38, and a lot of ATV riders and dunes enthusiasts pass through town. Recently I had a customer share with me that Hwy 38 is her favorite coastal connection. The reasons she listed were: (1) It's very scenic (2) There are lots of passing lanes and (3) There are no major mountain passes or twisty-turny roads. Now if you aren't familiar with all the coastal connection highways of Oregon, (first of all shame on you) this customer really nailed it on the head. The passing lane situation in particular is a huge win because of all the RVs, Trailers and semis that take these routes. So for future travel planning, if you are hopping over to the coast from I-5 be sure to go via Hwy 38.

Until #whereiselkton is trending on Twitter, or some site posts 'Oregon's 10 Best Routes to the Oregon Coast,' I imagine us Elktonites will continue to answer the question to Oregonians and tourists alike. But not to you. You are one of the elite few who can now boast, "I knew about Elkton before Elkton was a thing."

And you can take that to the bank.

Tyler