We were pouring wine recently when a woman told us she isn’t drinking these days.

“For health reasons,” she explained. And then she wandered off — to enjoy some chocolate, which she evidently regarded as a health food. Now we like chocolate, too. But that made us smile.

Wine has taken a reputational hit in recent years, even though wine has been with us for millennia — long before refined sugar became a dietary staple. With alarming headlines about health risks, what does the evidence say?

First, there’s no dispute about heavy drinking. It increases risks across the board. The debate really concerns moderate drinking -- and what “moderate” actually means.

It’s more complicated than is often appreciated. Unlike smoking, where any amount increases risk, alcohol appears to follow what researchers call a J-curve: moderate consumption actually appears to lower health risks by reducing heart attacks, but then after some threshold above one drink per day, risks rise well past the original baseline.

Sodas and other sugary drinks are a definite no-no, while alcohol is a “maybe,” is how a Harvard report put it. Here’s a comparison via Dr. Laura Catena, a physician vintner:

The most comprehensive review came from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, which convened leading researchers from Harvard, Stanford, Cornell, and other institutions. Their conclusion: alcohol increases the risk of certain cancers but reduces cardiovascular disease. Because heart disease is such a common cause of death, the overall effect at moderate levels appears to reduce all-cause mortality. If you want to study the issue in more detail, we strongly recommend that 228-page report.

“What we know is that people that drink about a half a drink to a drink a day live the longest,” because the lower risk of heart attacks outweighs a slightly elevated risk of certain cancers, says Eric Rimm, a Harvard professor of medicine and epidemiology who has studied the issue.

There are caveats. Randomized controlled trials are nearly impossible in this area. And moderate drinking can slide into heavy drinking. But the most rigorous research suggests that while moderate drinking raises some risks and lowers others, the panic about alcohol is overblown. On balance it seems to add to lifespan — as long as it stays moderate.

Then there’s something harder to measure: joy and friendship. Wine has been a social companion for many thousands of years. It’s part of meals, conversations, celebrations, and community. That matters too. And while it’s harder to measure, it’s not impossible. What research exists indicates that wine drinking is associated with more friends and supportive social networks, pushing back against social isolation and depression.

Still, we’re not here to prescribe what anyone should drink. If you want to drink a Coke, that’s okay, too, but remember that Pinot Noir seems a healthier option! And there’s clearly demand for lower-alcohol options, though the challenge is that low-alcohol wines mostly taste dreadful. But there is a naturally lower-alcohol alternative that is delicious: It’s called cider.

Cider typically has about 7% alcohol, roughly half that of wine. And elegant cider isn’t a downgrade. It’s sophisticated, structured, and nuanced, made from varieties of apples intended for cider, blessed with tannins, complex acids and layered flavor.

Our dry Orchard Cider blends about a dozen heirloom varieties. We also produce a semi-sweet Reserve Cider, and (when it isn’t sold out) a co-ferment with Pinot Noir skins called Noir. All are bottled in 750ml formats, like fine wine.

If you want to go even lower with ABV, our canned Whisper cider clocks in at just over 4% alcohol -- and has won awards in national competitions. (We’re also honored that two of our ciders, Orchard and Reserve, were selected finalists for America’s Good Food Awards: we’re the only cidery to have more than one finalist.)

So no, we’re not counseling anyone. But if you’re looking for a lower-alcohol alternative to spirits or Cabernet, you don’t have to settle for diminished wine. Try Kristof Farms cider! Or join our cider club.

We’re going to have tours and tastings on the farm on March 14! As you may know, we don’t often open up the farm to tastings, but we will on March 14 at 1:30 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. There are a few spots left so find out more or sign up for the tastings by emailing info@kristoffarms.com. (That’s what a tasting looks like; our son Geoffrey is beside us.)

We just bottled our 2025 Rosé from Pinot Noir. Here’s a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what the bottling and labeling assembly line looks like at Carlton Winemakers Studio, where the great Anthony King makes our wine:

And remember that while our farm is not open to the public most of the time, the Winemakers Studio is, every day from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can buy our wines there and also taste some other excellent wines from the area.

Our mountain lions want to say hi! Here’s one passing by our wildlife camera, and then it pauses to investigate a paired camera. And then after that, the same cougar going in the other direction, showing just what a large, sleek cat it is:

Finally, a farewell from Chief Security Officer Connie Kristof, who keeps us safe from hungry mountain lions. For what it’s worth, Connie supports getting together with friends and drinking, but only in moderation. She scoffs at the idea that chocolate is healthy, but she believes Pinot Noir pairs very well with gophers.

Best from all of us on Kristof Farms!

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Happy Valentine’s Day from Kristof Farms! And our grapes and apples have decided that they would like to declare that this year their Valentine is…any Canadian.

That’s because Canadians have been so polite and patient as the Trump administration has bullied them on trade, threatened to invade their country and so much more. What really irritated our fruit was the way President Trump lately has been threatening to block the opening of the new Gordie Howe Bridge between Michigan and Ontario, built by Canadians at a cost of US$4.7 billion — because a billionaire Republican donor gets tolls on a competing bridge.

Our apples can’t vote. Our grapes can’t write their members of Congress. But they did decide to offer a Valentine’s Day discount on our Rosé from Pinot Noir to any Canadian. It’s a little awkward because we can’t actually ship to Canada, so the discount is limited to Canadians or Americans who like Canada in the United States. How do we verify? One of two ways:

First, you can record yourself singing “O Canada” and emailing the clip to us at info@kristoffarms.com, or you can try posting the audio as a comment below. We’re not sure if an audio clip is permissible as a comment, but we’ll find out.

Second, as an alternative, you can pass our three-question quiz. Questions are as follows:

1. Who’s the famous singer who released the album Blue in 1971 and is in fact a Canadian, even if most Americans don’t realize it?

2. Which country invaded Canada in 1812-14?

3. What Canadian dish is made of fries, cheese curds, and gravy?

Anyone who either submits an audio clip of O Canada or answers these three questions accurately is entitled to a 10 percent discount on six or 12 bottles of our Rosé — but, again, we can ship only within the United States. Just email info@kristoffarms.com. (If you’re not Canadian or an American who likes Canada or can’t pass the test, you can also just order straight off our website, KristofFarms.com. But for those Canadians to whom we cannot ship, we also just want to express our apologies for the way our country has treated yours. You deserve better. And if you want to swap heads of government, hey, we like Mark Carney, and we’ll not only do an even swap, we’ll throw in five cases of some of the world’s best hard cider.

Love from the farm. It’s winter, but still lovely:

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The stars of Kristof Farms are the quadrupeds, not the bipeds. So when this coyote showed up on our wildlife camera the other day, we figured out it’s because he/she wants to be your valentine!

We’re big fans of coyotes here, because they work diligently, together with owls and bobcats, to keep the gophers and voles in check. Long live coyotes! Plus, they’re smart and very social, and they serenade us at night with their howls. It’s not for nothing that they’re sometimes called “song dogs.”

But back to the bipeds. Like these:

We’re sharing this “recent”1 photo of Nick and Sheryl in the hope that it inspires more cuddling everywhere. Yes, terrible things are happening in many places, including here at home. This isn’t a political newsletter, but we do want you to know that our grapes and apples stand in solidarity with the good people of Minnesota.

In hard times, we need companionship, distraction, and a little romance. We need hugs. Maybe—dare we say it—some making out. This isn’t a sex newsletter either, but we do want you to know that our grapes and apples (and their fermented cousins) are strong believers in good sex and do their small part—through their relaxing, arousing, romance-enhancing magic—in laying the groundwork for it.

So in the spirit of love, distraction, and snuggling, we’re offering a Valentine’s Day special. Between now and February 9, any order of 6 or 12 bottles or more of our 2024 Rosé of Pinot Noir is 20% off. And club members get to add their special club member discounts on top. It’s our modest contribution to love. And possibly to the birth rate, who knows? So if you don’t know what to get your valentine, we suggest 6 or 12 bottles of our Rosé.

Pinot Noir grapes are famously difficult to grow. Picky. Moody. High-maintenance. But in the end they deliver something truly special, and that’s true both of Pinot Noir wine and of the Rosé from Pinot Noir. It’s a Rosé that’s flirty, floral, and just a little suggestive.

Our Rosé of Pinot Noir is a love letter in liquid form — bright wild strawberries, white peach, and a whisper of rose petals. It’s what you open when you’re feeling generous, mischievous, maybe mildly in love.

Order online and we’ll ship it out. If you’re currently living in a place experiencing brutal weather, we’ll wait until it’s safe to ship—no wine left shivering on a doorstep—but you’ll still get the special pricing.

And yes, we also have wonderful Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, plus delicious ciders with about half the alcohol of wine, should you prefer your romance lighter and fizzier. Two of our ciders, our Orchard Cider and our Reserve Cider, were just named finalists for Good Food Awards, a national competition for the best food and drink in America. You can order any of the wines or ciders at KristofFarms.com, or email us at info@kristoffarms.com.

Come out and visit us on the farm! Our first “Pinot & Perspective” wine tastings of the Spring are on Saturday, March 14 at 1:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.

We’ll pour a flight of Kristof wines and ciders, share a bit of farm and family story, and leave plenty of time for thoughtful (and occasionally spirited) conversation. A $50 fee covers the wine/cider and snacks, and it can be applied to any purchase of six or more bottles or to a new membership in the Kristof Farms wine club or cider club. Reserve early by emailing info@KristofFarms.com. And if we run out of spaces, priority will go to members of the wine club or cider club.

Email info@kristoffarms.com to reserve your spot.

Now back to the canines. The supervisor of the coyotes is our Chief Security Officer, Connie Kuvasz Kristof, and she has many fans. The other day, someone stopped by to pick up a case and greeted Chief Security Officer Connie Kristof like an old friend—having met her through this newsletter or social media. So let’s pause for a photo of Connie at dawn over the apple orchard (a real sunrise, zero retouching):

So from all of us at Kristof Farms—humans, dogs, coyotes, grapes, and apples—we wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day and a warm, cuddly break from the bad news. Place an order, and our Rosé will arrive at your door via UPS, at a very nice discount.

And now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to go make out.

Thus we are thrilled to announce the inaugural Kristof Farms Peace Prize!

We’re pleased to announce that it goes to….anyone who buys a half-case or case of Kristof wine or cider! Or who joins our wine club or cider club.

And while we’re joshing about the peace prize, we do think our wine or cider will give you a nice peaceful feeling — and you should order now to get it before Christmas and New Year’s. We recommend the Pinot Noir for a big dinner. You can order it all at KristofFarms.com, and it’ll be delivered to your door around the country via UPS.

The wine and cider also make great holiday gifts. So do memberships in our wine club or cider club. Information about them is also on the website, or email us if you have any questions about how to do it: info@kristoffarms.com.

And happy holidays, and may peace (and peace prizes) be with you!

The Kristofs

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People sometimes ask why we choose to live on a farm. One answer is this scene from a few days ago. The farm woke up in gold, the vines glistened under the mist, and Connie—our Chief Security Officer—took up her usual post atop the orchard, scanning for bears. When you roll out of bed in the morning, follow Connie out the door, and set eyes on a scene like that, how can you not feel inspired and invigorated?

Likewise, at a time when so much news is dismal, making wine and cider feels to us therapeutic. They are tangible products that we can control and make beautiful — whatever happens in Washington.

So this Thanksgiving, we’re thankful for our kids, our health and this spot of God’s Country. And to show our thanks we’re also opening up Kristof Farms on Black Friday, Nov. 28, for wine & cider tastings and vineyard tours. This is late in the season, but our kids will be here and they will be here to help us greet you on the farm; it’ll be the last tasting & tour here until spring.

We’ll host two of these tastings/tours, which we call “Pinot & Perspective” sessions, on Friday: one at 1p.m. and another at 2:45. We are nearly full and you must book in advance. To do so and find out more, email info@KristofFarms.com

In these newsletters, we often include video clips from our wildlife cameras. We have a predilection for bears and cougars, but this time we’re going to leave you with a smaller species. It’s a large family, perhaps, getting ready for their own Thanksgiving:

And remember, our wine and cider make perfect accompaniments for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. And our Brut Cider is tailor-made for popping a cork at New Year’s. And we ship to your door all around the country. Just visit our website to place an order, and allow time for cross country delivery. And if you can’t make our farm visit on Nov. 28, you can sample and buy our wines every day of the week at Carlton Winemakers Studio in Carlton, Oregon. We also note that wine and cider, or membership in a wine club or a cider club, make terrific Christmas presents!

From here in God’s Country, have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Sheryl and Nick, Gregory, Geoffrey and Caroline — and Connie!

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It’s been hunting season in Yamhill, and while the deer are on high alert and the cougars are smugly watching from the ridgelines, and the turkeys have gone mysteriously quiet. The only ones not the least bit worried? Mama Bear and her cub, who’ve been sauntering across Kristof Farms as if they hold the deed.

They’ve become regulars on our wildlife cameras. One reason Kristof Farms is, by our objective judgment, The Most Beautiful Farm in the World is that we’re in a wildlife corridor, so we share our cider apples and wine grapes with bears and other animals. Frankly, we’re sometimes a bit grumpy about the sharing. The bears in particular don’t always understand that they should climb over fences, not through them.

They’re fattening up for winter now, and apparently our fruit is this season’s gourmet buffet. If there were ursine awards for Pinot Noir and cider, we’d sweep the category. Still, as long as they don’t overindulge, we’re happy to pay a modest “bear tax.”

If you watch the video clip, you’ll see that Mama Bear is a bit exasperated. She tells her cub to hurry along, and he ignores her — so finally she just heads off and ditches him. If the intention was to scare him, it didn’t work. So 30 seconds later she returned and took him in the other direction. Any parent can relate.

Our farm kitty-cats are also around: here’s one that showed up on a camera recently. During hunting season, the cougars prefer to stay camera-ready, not target-ready—perched above it all, unbothered and photogenic as ever.

Other predator cats, like the bobcats, are roaming too. While the humans stalk deer with rifles, the bobcats stick to smaller game—gophers, mostly—and do a far better job of population control. Here’s one that wandered into view the other day:

Of course, the deer probably disagree with our assessment of cougars. And who can blame them? It’s been hunting season in Yamhill, and the bucks seem to know it. They’ve turned into ghosts—slipping through the orchard at dawn and vanishing by noon. Here’s one from the other day, pausing just long enough to mock our trail camera before disappearing again:

If you’re hunting for something a little easier to track down this season, we’ve got you covered. No camouflage required — just a corkscrew.

In the spirit of harvest — and before the holiday stampede — we’re offering free shipping for club members and 50% off for guests through Friday, Nov. 14 on any half-case or full case order of Pinot Noir and Noir Cider. Both Pinot Noir and Noir Cider pair beautifully with turkey, so it’s the perfect time to stock your Thanksgiving table with something truly worth toasting. Order now and it’ll be delivered to your door anywhere in the country in time for Thanksgiving.

And if you’d rather enjoy your Pinot where the cougars roam, we’re opening the farm one final time this year for Pinot & Perspective tastings on Black Friday, Nov. 28 at 1 p.m. and 2:45 p.m.

Two of our kids will be with us, so it’ll be a family affair: Nick, Sheryl, Geoffrey and Caroline. As always, we’ll offer a tasting of our ciders and wines, a tour of the vineyard, and conversation, answering whatever questions you have. The $50 fee covers the wine/cider and snacks, and it can be applied toward any purchase of a case or more of wine or cider or to a membership in our wine or cider club.

As always, we’ll offer a tasting of our ciders and wines, a tour of the vineyard, and conversation, answering whatever questions you have. The $50 fee covers the wine/cider and snacks, and it can be applied to any purchase of six or more bottles or to a new membership in the Kristof Farms wine club or cider club. Reserve early by emailing info@KristofFarms.com. And if we run out of spaces, priority will go to members of the wine club or cider club.

That’ll be the last planned tasting until spring, but a group of 10 or more can always book a private tasting & tour here on Kristof Farms — just email info@kristoffarms.com. And you can always taste and buy our wines at the Carlton Winemakers Studio, open 11am to 5pm every day of the week, in Carlton, Oregon, just down the road. You can also try other local wines there; ask Nick George, the director of hospitality, for suggestions.

Finally, a winter suggestion. We celebrated Halloween with fellow club members and drank mulled cider — and it was so scrumptious that we want to pass on the suggestion for romantic winter evenings. Take a bottle of our Kristof Farms Orchard Cider and simmer while adding a tablespoon of sugar (preferably brown sugar) and nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves to taste. The perfect way to make a chilly evening cozy. Here we are making the point:

Best from all of us at Kristof Farms, including the bears and cougars!

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(Photo: Kristof Farms Chief Security Officer Connie tries to reassure Nick that she has domestic terrorists under control and that we don’t need federal troops. But we fear that Connie needs federal assistance.)

President Trump announced today that he is dispatching federal troops “to protect war-ravaged Portland” from what he called “domestic terrorists.”

We’d like to apply to have those troops come and help suppress the domestic terrorist problem we have here on Kristof Farms. Certainly our terrorism problem here in Yamhill is rather more urgent than in what Trump claimed was the “hell” of Portland.

It’s true that Portland has had a problem with domestic terrorists: At least five people from the area participated in the violent Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol to overturn the democratic election of President Joe Biden. All five were pardoned by President Trump, so we Oregonians are indeed concerned about having domestic terrorists among us.

But Portland as “hell”? Does anyone think hell has restaurants this good? Does hell serve local Pinot Noir this delectable? Does hell have such easy access to Mount Hood in one direction and Pacific beaches in the other?

Meanwhile, on Kristof Farms, we do have a hell of a challenge from domestic terrorists, despite the best efforts of Chief Security Officer Connie Kuvasz Kristof. These terrorists are gophers and ground squirrels, not to mention the deer that like to mock our “impregnable deer fence.”

(Photo: Connie on the case, protecting Sheryl from gophers and other domestic terrorists in the Pinot Noir vineyard)

So we call on President Trump to reassign his federal troops from Portland to Kristof Farms, where we will direct them to chase gophers, ground squirrels and deer. We just hope the troops will treat our animals with a measure of respect, and not display the brutality that ICE officers have sometimes shown to immigrants.

(Photo: A domestic terrorist caught red-handed on our wildlife camera. We call on troops to treat them more humanely than ICE treats humans.)

And if the troops have time, we’d also invite them to paint the barn, cut blackberries and thistles, and smooth the ruts in our driveway. The ruts are a priority this week because we’ve decided to hold a cider/wine tasting and farm tour here on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 1pm and 2:45pm.

You and the troops alike are welcome to attend the tasting/tour. Nick and Sheryl lead the tastings and tours, which always include a good discussion of the wine/cider and of the farm as well as of larger issues — and on Oct. 4 that will surely include some back-and-forth about the dispatch of troops. The tastings/tours are $50 per person, which includes the ciders, wines and snacks, and is also applied to any purchase of six or more bottles or to a new membership in the Kristof Farms wine club or cider club. Reserve early by emailing info@kristoffarms.com, and if we run out of spaces, priority will go to members of the wine club or cider club.

Any questions? Email info@kristoffarms.com. We can tell you about the tastings/tours, but we’re not as good at predicting troop deployments.

(Photo: Connie joining a farm tasting/tour)

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Not all conversations on the farm involve people. Sometimes they’re with grapes. We sat down—figuratively—with one of our vines for a chat about identity, politics, and why bees may not be quite as essential as we think. Last time, it was Peter Pinot. This time our “vine of the month” is Charlie Chardonnay.

Q: Hi, Charlie, congrats on being vine of the month, but we’re a little confused by your name. That’s traditionally a boy’s name, but…

A: Shhhhhhh. Not so loud. It’s risky these days. The feds aren’t exactly LGBT-friendly. Who knows what they’ll do to me.

Q: You mean because you’re hermaphroditic?

A: We grapes prefer the term “bi.” But, yes, we have boy parts and girl parts, and that’s why we’re self-pollinating. But if Washington finds out, they’ll say Kristof Farms is running a deep-state pollination plot. They might come uproot me.

Q: Oh, Charlie, we won’t let them. We stand with grapes of all kinds. And anyway, President Trump doesn’t subscribe to this newsletter.

A: Just as well. He and his aides wouldn’t like the self-pollinating part either. They’d think we’re all queer masturbators in the vineyard. But honestly? This is just how God made us. And thank goodness, because bees are disappearing. At least we Chardonnay grapes can take care of ourselves.

Q: So, Charlie, harvest time soon?

A: Yup. My grapes are sweet and juicy, and they’ll make terrific wine. Just like Wine Spectator said.

Q: Wait—you read Wine Spectator?

A: Not the print version, dummy. We vines have Wi-Fi. But the Spectator had a great piece saying Willamette Valley Chardonnays are now among the best in the world. And then they listed what they called “eight outstanding Oregon Chardonnays” —and you know who was No. 1 on their list? Let’s just say we’re not naming names, but… it rhymes with Bristof.

Q: We weren’t going to mention that. We didn’t want to toot our own horn.

A: That’s okay, we vines don’t mind tooting. Especially when it’s true, and we vines were proud of that. And Yamhill-Carlton vineyards did very well in general.

Q: What makes Oregon Chards so special?

A: Nothing against California—I was born in a nursery there. They make some superb Chards. But some producers mass-produce third-rate juice, then cover it up with oak chips and heavy butter notes. Some consumers might think Chardonnay is supposed to taste like movie-theater popcorn. Frankly, we Oregon vines are embarrassed. We tried to draft a class-action lawsuit, but none of us could hold a pen.

Q: But Kristof wines also age in oak barrels…

A: Sure, but we use larger, mostly older barrels. That means less oak flavor and more balance—closer to my ancestors in Burgundy. Think “subtle elegance,” not “butter bomb.”

Q: Thanks for the time, Charlie. And have a great harvest.

A: Anytime. And if you see men in suits with hoes asking for me, just tell them I’ve already been bottled. If they don’t buy that, tell them I’ve moved to Canada—it’s cooler up there anyway.

We opened up the farm to visitors last Sunday for a wine and cider tasting (this photo was posted on Instagram by one visitor), and we couldn’t accommodate all the people who signed up. So we’ve decided to add a couple of our “Pinot & Perspective” open-house sessions on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 1 p.m. and at 2:45 p.m.

This is the heart of harvest season, and it’s possible the grapes will be harvested that very morning, along with some of the apples. You’ll still see some grapes on the vines, and you’ll be able to see and taste Pinot Noir grapes at their sweetest and most delectable. We’ll start with a cider and wine tasting, talk about the farm and our farming practices, and then take a walk around the vineyard, answering questions as we go. The questions typically range from organic practices to deportations of farm workers to Gaza and Ukraine; we’re open to whatever’s on your mind.

As always, the cost of the tasting is $50 per person, which includes the wine, cider and snacks; the sum is also applicable to a purchase of a half-case or more of wine or cider. You have to book ahead of time by emailing info@kristoffarms.com and saying how many spots you’re reserving and for which time. Please book early, as some people who couldn’t get in last weekend’s session are already signed up for Sept 20. Preference goes to members of our cider club and wine club.

We’re ramping up our outreach to restaurants and bottle shops in the Pacific Northwest, so if you have one then please email us at info@kristoffarms.com and we’ll send someone by with samples of cider and wine. And indeed, don’t forget the cider: Fall is a perfect time for a high-quality crisp hard cider. And we have kegs as well as bottles.

And remember that while we only occasionally open up Kristof Farms to visitors for tours, we’re part of the Carlton Winemakers Studio in Carlton, Oregon, and it has a tasting room open seven days a week, 11am-5pm, where you can try our wines and other delicious wines as well. Nick George, the hospitality director, can offer great advice. And in Portland, some of our ciders are available on tap at the fabulous tap room of Bauman’s on Oak. We’re very lucky to have Christine Bauman, probably America’s top cider maker, producing our cider along with hers.

Just one quick shot from our wildlife cameras, of a deer eager to pillage our grapes:

So as we get ready for the harvest, warm wishes from all of us at Kristof Farms — including the deer and Charlie Chardonnay. And if you want to come on Sept 20 to see us and meet Charlie, reserve soon at info@KristofFarms.com

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Thank God for blackberries!

Himalayan blackberries are an invasive species here in Oregon, and for much of the year we curse them as they prick us and choke off grass and young trees. But now that blackberries are ripe we eat our fill and forgive them their sins. Indeed, we treasure them because our bears are big fans of grapes and apples, but they like blackberries even more. So as long as blackberries are plentiful, the bears don’t pillage too many of our apples and grapes.

Connie Kuvasz Kristof, Chief Security Officer of Kristof Farms, should be disciplining the bears. But she is distracted these days because she also has a taste for blackberries. Here she is pretending that her tasks include keeping the blackberries under control:

We’ll open up Kristof Farms to visitors again, this time just a couple of weeks before harvest when grapes and apples are juicy and nearly ripe! The date is Sept. 7, at 2:45 pm and at 4:30 pm. So if you’re in the area, we’d love to see you. Connie will show you the best blackberries to munch on.

It should be the perfect time to visit, as the grapes and apples will both be close to picking. We always give visitors the chance to walk through the vineyard and taste the Pinot Noir grapes — it’s not wine, but it’s magical how intense and rich the flavor is.

Each session will start with Nick and Sheryl leading a tasting of ciders and wines, telling our farm history and discussing whatever’s on your mind (questions tend to vary from organic farming to immigration to Middle East politics). Then we take a tour through the vineyard (escorted by Connie if she’s in the mood), and answer more questions. The cost is $50 per person, covering wines/ciders and snacks, and the sum can also be fully applied to any purchase of six bottles or more of wine or cider, or to a cider club membership or wine club membership. It’s fun and relaxed, and some people have come back multiple times. Here’s what a tour looks like (photo is by our friend Shane Farnor):

And while we only hold tastings/tours on the farm about a half-dozen times a year, remember that you’re always welcome at the tasting room of the Carlton Winemakers Studio, of which we’re a part. It’s open daily in Carlton, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and once there you can also sample other great local wines.

One open question for us and for farms across the country is how harvest will be affected by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. What started as a drive to arrest undocumented immigrants with criminal records has now expanded to a broad drive to grab even people with no criminal records and who have U.S. citizen children and spouses.

The result of ICE arrests is that the immigrant community lives in fear and is reluctant to appear in public or anywhere ICE might show up. If ICE raids the grape harvests next month, more of the work force will disappear. We’re not sure the public appreciates the economic impact of deportations on the agriculture, construction and hospitality industries, among others.

The industry is also in upheaval because of Trump’s tariffs. While these particularly affect French and other European wines imported to the United States, even local wineries like ours face tariffs on imported elements: barrels, corks, capsules and in some cases bottles. The tariffs amount to a huge tax increase for American consumers, and they also introduce chaos and uncertainty into the market.

For Nick and Sheryl, who spent years with daily deadlines, periodically asked to write a page one article in a few hours, wine is the opposite end of the spectrum, for it’s 18 months or more from harvest until release of a wine.

For example, we’re still selling our 2022 wines (Wine Spectator cited our 2022 Chardonnay as the best of its grouping of Willamette Valley Chardonnays, which it said were among the best of the world). This year we put our 2023 wines on the market. We’re getting ready for our 2025 harvest of grapes and apples, probably at the end of September. And we just bottled our 2024 wines, planning to release them next year: Here are Nick, Sheryl and Caroline at the bottling of 2024 Pinot this month:

We’d love to raise a glass with you—whether over Pinot, Chardonnay, or Connie’s stolen blackberries. Just don’t wait too long: these gatherings often fill quickly, and Sept. 7 (2:45 pm and 4:30 pm) will be our last chance this season before the grape and apple harvest.

Reserve at info@kristoffarms.com and specify how many people and which tasting you prefer. Preference will go to members of our cider club and wine club.

Best from the Kristof family!

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We’ve just been on a family backpacking trip through the Wallowa mountains, and of course we’re conflicted. On the one hand, we want to tell everyone about the great trails and camp spots. On the other, we want to keep these secret, for their greatness derives in part from their seclusion.

Here at The Most Beautiful Farm in the World, we face a similar conundrum. We cherish this farm in part because it’s quiet and a refuge, shared only with bears and cougars. But we also want to share with others this place that is so important to us and that is the wellspring of the wine and cider we make. So most of the time, Kristof Farms is not open to the public; that’s also because we also have our day jobs, and we’re inevitably on an important Zoom or giving a television interview by laptop when visitors show up and the dogs start barking crazily. But once a month or so in the warm months we choose a weekend and invite people to come by for tastings and tours — and the last such weekend of the summer will be the coming one, Aug. 16 and 17.

We’ll have a tour and tasting, led by Nick and Sheryl, on Saturday, Aug. 16, at 4:30 p.m. Then on Sunday, Aug. 17, we’ll have one tour/tasting at 1 p.m. and one at 2:45. We limit each group to 20 people, with preference to members of our wine and cider clubs. But they are wonderful for all of us — a chance to talk about farming, wine and the world’s problems. We start by having people introduce themselves, and there are always smart questions and comments. Certainly we find it fun and energizing.

So if you’re in this area and free over the weekend, come with a friend or a group of you. There’s a fee of $50 per person, which covers wine/cider tastings and snacks, and is also credited to any purchase of a half-case or of a wine/cider club membership. You must reserve at info@kristoffarms.com; say how many spots you want at which time slot.

Thanks to Wine Spectator for a lovely review of our 2023 Pinot Noir, leading off its recent newsletter:

We mentioned at the top that we open up Kristof Farms to tours and tastings only occasionally, maybe half a dozen times a year. But remember that we’re part of Carlton Winemaker Studio, which has an elegant tasting room open every day. You can try our wines and those of other local wineries; ask Nick George, the hospitality director, for suggestions.

Pinot Noir grapes are, after all, “noir” — well, not exactly black, but dark purple. Or rather, that’s how they end up at harvest, but for most of the season they’re green and then in late summer they undergo what’s called “veraison” and change colors. Veraison is now underway in our vineyard, with the Pinot Noir grapes beginning to darken. Here’s what that looks like — and know that very soon they’ll all be a magnificent purple:

Kristof Farms is, of course, a family business. So we mentioned our family backpacking trip in the Wallowas — think of that as our offsite. And we decided that just as we share our farm we should also share some of the secrets of the Wallowas. The route we started (and had to abridge a bit because of weather) was the Wallowa High Route, which is spectacular. So here’s Caroline presenting on growth of our high-end ciders:

And Sheryl contemplating marketing strategies for our Chardonnays:

We hope you’re having a good summer and are relaxing. If you’re around and able, we’d welcome you at our tastings and tours this coming weekend, but do book promptly at info@kristoffarms.com to make sure you get a place.

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In a famous episode in “Portlandia,” a couple ordering dinner in a restaurant inquires about the chicken they are about to eat — and are relieved to learn that his name was “Colin the Chicken,” that he had dined on sheep milk, soy and hazelnuts, and ranged free over four acres until his unfortunate demise. Satire has since moved into real life: Caroline brought home a dozen eggs the other day from Vital Farms, and the eggs came with a tribute to the “bird of the month,” Headstrong Helena.

Not to be outdone, we’d like to introduce you to one of our Pinot Noir vines, “Peter Pinot.” Here’s Peter (he’s the one closest to the camera; to the right you see Mabel, Antonio, George, Alexandra and a few thousand others).

Peter is a sturdy, happy vine who wants you to know that he’s nurtured with TLC, gets plenty of sunlight and fresh air, and particularly enjoys the sunsets and sunrises on the farm. He was offended when a bobcat urinated on him and he worries a bit about bears, but he says that Chief Security Officer Connie Kuvasz Kristof will protect him and the other vines. And he hopes you enjoy the (fermented) juice from his grapes.

“I take pride in the wine I contribute to,” Peter told us, wagging a leaf for emphasis. “We all want purpose in life, and I find it meaningful to produce some of the world’s best Pinot Noir. That damn bobcat may not respect me, but Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast do!”

Peter explained that, like his neighbors in Block 2 of the Kristof vineyard, he has a rootstock called 3309 that is disease-resistant, with a Pinot Noir Dijon clone called 667 grafted on top. “We 667 grapes are known for small grapes, which result in intense dark-fruit flavors and notes of Christmas spices,” Peter told us. “Other parts of the Kristof vineyard are planted with different clones, and we enjoy meeting each other during blending. When folks relish Kristof Pinot Noir, I hope they’ll appreciate that the nutmeg note is mine.”

Peter suggested that if connoisseurs really wanted to understand his grape flavors, they should learn about an ancient clam, Gertrude, that 40 million years ago helped form the marine sedimentary soils that feed his roots. We’ll have to tell you about Gertrude another time.

We’re opening up our farm again to visitors on the weekend of Aug. 16-17. From 1:30-4 p.m. on Saturday, we’ll host a special flow and ferment yoga session and tasting, led by yoga instructor Jamie King. And from 4:30-6 p.m. on the Saturday, we’ll have one of our Pinot & Perspective sessions, in which Nick and Sheryl invite people to taste our ciders and wines and tour the vineyard — even as we collectively discuss wine, agriculture and national and international affairs.

On the Sunday, Aug. 17, we’ll have two more 90-minute Pinot & Perspective tasting/tours, at 2:45 pm and 4:30 p.m. Reserve your spot soon (email: info@KristofFarms.com). Spaces are limited!

Here’s a previous session:

Meanwhile, remember the newborn fawn we showed you recently from our wildlife camera? She’s growing fast. Here’s another appearance:

One of the questions we get asked the most is how to order our wines and ciders if you live some distance away. We can’t ship abroad, but mostly we sell through our website, KristofFarms.com, and through that you can order and get wine or cider shipped right to your door (as long as someone over 21 will be there to sign for it). It’s simple and straightforward.

In addition, we recently signed on with a California distributor, Vinifera, so if you’re a restaurant or bottle shop in that state, let us know and we’ll connect you to the folks there.

If you’re in Pennsylvania, you have it really easy: just pop into a state liquor store and you’ll see our Pinot Noir and Rosé. You can check this link to see precisely which of our wines are available in which stores.

And remember that while we only rarely have visitors on our farm, we are part of the Carlton Winemakers Studio in Carlton Oregon, and its fine tasting room is open 11 to 5 every day. You can try our wines and also sample other wines from outstanding local winemakers.

Oh, and our quiz? That animal in the wildlife photo at the top of this newsletter is a deer. It’s a doe who was checking out the camera and sniffing it — and probably sending a message to us about how she mocks our “deer fence.”

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Meet a future bottle of Pinot Noir!

As you can see in the video, the grapes are developing very quickly now. They’ll grow larger and change color, turning a beautiful purple, and become juicy and sweet. These are from our Pinot Noir vineyard, from a variety called Pommard, but all our grapes are growing like gangbusters.

Soon we’ll engage in a practice that is traumatizing for a farmer: We’ll thin the grape bunches and leave many on the ground to rot. It’s counter-intuitive to reduce your crop yield, but the upshot is that the remaining grapes will make better wine — and that is what we’re after, the finest Pinot Noir we can make. But you may want to hold our hands as we engage in that fruit-thinning, for it is truly sad to see tons of grapes squandered on the ground (and they’re not yet ripe, so they can’t be donated).

Some vineyards have fancy-pants tasting rooms with chefs who earn Michelin stars. Our tasting room is our old sheep shed, where Nick raised his 4-H and FFA Corriedale sheep. If the barn wall behind Nick and Sheryl in this photo looks a little battered, that’s because when Nick was 13 and driving a tractor for the first time, he drove it through that wall.

Still, the gaps in the boards do speak to authenticity: This is our farm, and it has been in our family for more than half a century. And we’re proud to share it periodically with visitors — as we’ll do again with Pinot and Perspective tastings on July 19 and 20. So if you’re in the area that weekend, we welcome you!

We do tastings in groups of 15 to 20, and we start with asking people to introduce themselves briefly. Then we talk about the farm as we share four to five ciders and wines, speaking about them and also taking questions about…everything. Everything from organic farming to President Trump’s crackdown on immigrant labor to the latest in the Middle East and China.

We conclude with a tour of the vineyard, and this again is mostly a conversation about everything under the sun.

We should also say that even if our tasting room isn’t so elegant, our wine definitely is — as critics keep attesting. Just last month, Wine Spectator praised Willamette Valley Chardonnays as some of the best in the world and then listed eight outstanding examples; ours led the list. And our cider keeps winning awards; most recently we won platinum at the Northwest Cider Association awards a couple of weeks ago.

Our tastings will be at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 19, and 2:45 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 20. Each session is $50/person which is applied toward any purchase of six or more bottles or to a new Wine Club or Cider Club membership. Space is limited to 20 guests per tasting, so be sure to book soon, by emailing us at info@kristoffarms.com.

And remember that if those days don’t work for you, or if you simply want to sip on your own, our wines are always available at the tasting room of the Carlton Winemakers Studio nearby; we’re part of the Studio and its lovely tasting room is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day of the week. You can also try some other great local wines there; ask for recommendations. We also do tastings by appointment for groups of 10 or more; email info@kristoffarms.com for details.

So how do you open a bottle of wine?

That’s a question we’ve been asked more than you’d think. Maybe it has to do with the profusion of cork-removing devices. For example, if you have more money than you know what to do with, check out the $475 Oeno Motion Nomad lever corkscrew. But we think your money would be better spent on a great wine.

The truth is that almost everyone in the wine industry uses the simplest of corkscrews, a simple waiter corkscrew costing less than $10. Here’s the kind that we use, which is also recommended by Wirecutter:

We asked Nick George of Carlton Winemakers Studio, who has spent 16 years in the wine world, to show the optimal method. If you want to impress your date, here’s how to open a bottle:

Finally, a peek at our motion-activated wildlife cameras. We’ve focused a lot lately on bears and mountain lions, so we haven’t shared the coyotes who constantly appear on the cameras. (For those asking which camera we use, we’ve relied mostly on Blazevideo cameras we bought on Amazon.)

Here’s one of our neighbor coyotes that often shows up with another, perhaps its mate. But it is emaciated; we’re not sure why, given how many voles and gophers there are:

So here’s a healthier one, looking rather regal:

And finally, this coyote pup, a reminder that cute members of the dog family come in many forms:

Warm wishes from all of us at Kristof Farms, coyotes included. And we’ll hope to welcome you on July 19 or 20 to The Most Beautiful Farm in the World!

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ICE raids in cities have gotten more attention, but they’ve also come to farming communities like ours. Here in Yamhill County, Oregon, ICE detained Moises Sotelo, shown above. He’s a Mexican immigrant who owns a local vineyard management company. Sotelo has been working with local vineyards for more than two decades and even won an industry award a few years ago. A father of three, he’s a pillar of the community. (No conflict here: He has never worked with us.)

Yamhill is a conservative county that voted for Donald Trump by a six-point margin over Kamala Harris, and concern about immigration was a reason. But voters seem to have thought that Trump would go after gang members and strengthen the border, not grab someone like Sotelo and thus break up a family and destroy a small business. So there has been an outpouring of support for him, with 2,000 people contributing $135,000 to a gofundme to cover the family’s legal expenses.

If mass deportations go ahead, who will harvest blueberries? Who will milk cows? And do we really want to break up families on a massive scale, for Pew reports that 79 percent of the children of undocumented immigrants are U.S. citizens? It should be possible to tighten the border and deport lawbreakers, while creating a path to citizenship for people who have been here for decades and behaved lawfully. None of this is easy, but it’s better than detaining people like Sotelo and destroying families and businesses.

Time for something cheerier, so we interrupt this newsletter for a new fawn born on Kristof Farms:

That’s from one of our wildlife cameras just above our apple orchard. We first saw the fawn shortly after birth; now she’s better able to get around. Her mom, the doe, is very attentive and constantly sniffing the air, presumably for the cougars and bears that also show up on the wildlife camera. Here’s a video in which you can see the protective mom:

We’re inviting people to Kristof Farms again, for wine and cider tastings — and maybe even a Bambi sighting! We’ll have our popular Pinot and Perspective wine tastings on Saturday July 19 at 4:30 p.m. (you can also attend Yamhill’s Derby Day, our small town fair, that same day) and Sunday July 20 at 1 p.m., 2:45 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. We’re announcing them here in this newsletter, so these spots are now wide open — but book now before they disappear.

These Pinot and Perspective tastings are groups of up to 20 people. We all introduce ourselves and then talk a bit about the farm as we taste a series of wines and ciders. The tastings are $50 per person, including drinks and snacks, but that can be applied to a purchase of a half-case (six bottles) or more of wine or cider or to a new membership in our wine club or cider club.

During the tastings, we take you on a walking tour of the vineyard, and Nick and Sheryl answer questions throughout. Some are about farm management practices or the best wine corks; others are about Ukraine, Sudan, Donald Trump and Gaza/Iran. We’re happy to talk about whatever’s on your mind.

We also have a few spots left for our previously announced tastings for this coming weekend, both Saturday and Sunday afternoon, June 28 and 29. Email us at info@kristoffarms.com if you want to try to squeeze in and we may be able to find a slot. And if you have a group of 10 or more, we can try to arrange a special tasting on the farm by appointment; again, email info@kristoffarms.com.

If these dates don’t work out, you’re always welcome to come by the Carlton Winemakers Studio, of which we’re a part: It has a lovely tasting room in Carlton, Oregon, open every day from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can taste our wines and those of other outstanding local winemakers; ask bartender Nick George for suggestions.

What a busy June it has been on the farm. Our wines and ciders alike won Nobel Prizes — well, not quite, but pretty close. Here’s the rundown:

• Wine Spectator declared that “Chardonnays from Oregon’s Willamette Valley are proving they’re among the best in the world” and then listed eight “outstanding Chardonnays” — with ours No. 1 on the list. Our vines are blushing.

• The Oregonian had a “readers choice” vote to choose the best wine brands in the entire state of Oregon, and Kristof Farms was one of the top three.

• Wine critic Paul Gregutt just rated our new releases for his Northwest Wine Guide substack (which we recommend). He awarded our 2023 Pinot Noir a 94, our 2023 Chardonnay a 93, and our 2024 Rosé a 92.

• Wine Spectator awarded a rating of 93 to both our 2022 Chardonnay and our 2022 Pinot Noir.

• Our ciders won a series of awards at the Cidercraft competition. Our Brut cider won platinum, the top prize; our Noir cider (a co-ferment with Pinot Noir skins) won gold; and our Reserve cider won silver. For those of you familiar with wines but not ciders, do try our ciders! A shout-out to Adam Campbell, the winemaker who made these highly rated wines, and to Christine Bauman Walter, our cidermaker.

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  This is a labor of love for us, because we are enchanted by this three-generation farm that Nick grew up on. Sure, it’s less bucolic when the power goes out or a bear knocks down our fence, but then along comes an enchanting scene that melts our hearts. We took this photo the other day while on a morning run through the Pinot Noir vineyard here at Kristof Farms:

So we hope you’ll enjoy the fruits of Kristof Farms (or should we say the elixirs?), and that at least some of you will be able to come out for a tasting.

If you know people who would enjoy this newsletter, please forward it and tell them they can sign up for it at KristofFarms.com/subscribe

Very best from all of us, including the new fawn, on Kristof Farms!

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Cougars, Cider, and Pinot and Perspective

We’ve had some majestic—and sometimes mischievous—visitors at Kristof Farms lately. A mountain lion has been roaming through the vineyard, black bears have been inspecting our wildlife cameras, and one particularly photogenic raccoon seems ready to start an Instagram account. The wildlife has returned with the spring, and the cameras have captured some remarkable moments. (Scroll down for videos and clips—we promise, it’s worth it.)

But first, for some human visitors:

On Saturday, June 28, we’ll be hosting our first summer tasting day here at Kristof Farms, with 90-minute gatherings at 1:00, 2:45, and 4:30 p.m.

We’ll be pouring wine and cider, walking through the vineyard and orchard, and talking about what’s growing—on the farm and in the world. It’s informal, thoughtful, and often a little meandering. We wouldn’t be surprised if conversation drifts from grape tannins to tariffs, the Middle East or the tumult in Washington DC.

We’re calling it a day of Pinot and Perspective, and we’d love to have you join us. If you’re over 21, you can reserve a spot by emailing info@kristoffarms.com. Members of our wine and cider clubs get priority. Dogs are welcome, too—just keep them leashed near the tasting area. They’re free to roam as you walk the grounds. 💵 $50 per person, credited toward any purchase of a half-case of wine or cider.

While our wines often draw the most attention, our ciders just brought home four exciting wins from GLINTCAP, the world’s largest cider competition:

• Best in Class: Orchard Cider (dry, mineral-driven, and elegant)

• Best in Class: Reserve Cider (barrel-aged with a touch more richness)

• Silver: Noir Cider, a co-ferment of apples and Pinot Noir grape skins

• Bronze: Kingston Black, a single-varietal dry cider

A huge thanks to our cider maker, Christine Bauman Walter, who is not only the president of the American Cider Association but also—yes, we’re biased—the best cider maker in America.

Cider is a go-to for summer: bright, layered, and refreshingly immune to shipping heat. You can find all of our ciders here.

Our wines sometimes get more attention, but we truly are very proud of our hard ciders. As we head for summer, remember that cider is a delightfully refreshing summer drink. You can order our ciders here, and they’ll be delivered to your door around the country.

Now, back to the wildlife.

We hadn’t seen any bears for months—but lately, they’ve been showing up regularly on our wildlife cameras. Maybe they’re salivating over the grapes and apples just starting to form on the vines and trees. Like clockwork, the bears always return when fruit appears.

One of the things we love about Kristof Farms is that we’re living in a wildlife coridor. The biodiversity here is unusually rich for a vineyard, and the cameras have become our window into the lives of our four-legged neighbors.

Here’s one bear who wandered up to give our camera a very close inspection:

The wildlife cameras give you a sense of how burly the bears are — and these are black bears, nothing like a grizzly or polar bear. Check out this clip:

Our resident mountain lion seems to have settled in for good, while the younger cat we saw earlier has likely moved on—cougars are famously territorial, and this kitty-cat seems to have claimed her vineyard:

Of course, it’s not all apex predators. Raccoons, ever the mischief-makers, show up often. This masked intruder gave us a moment of comic relief—caught mid-sneak, with the Pinot Noir vineyard in the background:

A few other updates from the farm:

• Kristof wines and ciders are now distributed in California through Vinifera. Know a restaurant or shop that might want to carry them? Ping us at info@kristoffarms.com —we’ll connect the dots.

• We’re now open for private tastings and small events—groups of 10+ gatherings. Reach out to info@kristoffarm.com if you’re planning one.

• Jane Kristof just turned 93 and is still walking the farm daily with Connie-the-dog. Three generations of Kristofs remain hands-on here, from vineyard to cellar.

• Summer heat can damage wine in transit, so we pause ground shipping for wine during the hottest months. If you’d like to stock up, now’s the time—we’ll check weather routes before shipping to make sure it arrives in perfect condition. (Cider ships just fine year-round.)

• We were proud to participate in the AAPI Food and Wine Festival, with Sheryl representing Kristof Farms alongside a wonderful lineup of Asian-American vintners and chefs.

  

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The deer are clearly puzzled by the camera, and curious about it, hence some fun close-ups:

Why are the deer always looking around, always sniffing in every direction? Because they want to stay alive. They’re worried about this neighbor on Kristof Farms. We lost our local mountain lions (one was shot by a neighbor for stealing his livestock, and another was run over), but this one seems to have moved in. And as you can see, he’s also curious about the camera:

We’re regularly asked about arranging (human) visits to our farm. Or sometimes we’re not asked and people just show up. We’ll be in the middle of an important Zoom call or a television interview and a family will drop by in hopes of getting a tour. (If you’re ever watching us on live TV and you hear Connie-the-dog barking furiously in the background as we look alarmed, that’s probably what’s happening.)

But we do want to accommodate visitors and show off this farm we love, so we’re going to open up the farm to visitors for tastings on Saturday, May 17.

We’ll have one group on May 17 from 1:30 to 2:45 and another from 3-4:15. We’ll offer tastings of wine and cider, snacks, a tour of the farm and some discussion of the wines/ciders and whatever is on your mind. It’ll be $50 per person, which is credited toward any purchase of more than $150 of wine or cider. For more information and to reserve a place, email info@kristoffarms.com and specify how many people and what time. If space runs out, preference will go to members of our wine club or cider club and their guests.

If that afternoon doesn’t work for you, remember that we’re part of the Carlton Winemaker Studio, which has a much more elegant tasting room and is open every day from 11a.m. to 5p.m. The bartender, Nick George, can guide you through our wines, as well as other excellent ones from the area. We’ll also have other open houses in the summer, and we’ve decided to welcome groups of 10 or more people by appointment: email info@kristoffarms.com. Again, preference goes to club members.

Our Yamhill-Carlton AVA turned 20 years old this year, and there are a string of celebrations for it. We just joined the AVA’s spring tasting, which was sold out, and it was fun to share our wines with hundreds of visitors. Here’s a snap of it:

We’re also delighted to announce that we have a California distributor, Vinifera Wines. So if you’re in California and want our wine or cider for an event or a restaurant or a store, Vinifera can supply you. We’re delighted to be working with Vinifera, which has specializes in working with high-end boutique wineries. You’re also welcome to email us, and we can put you in direct touch with Vinifera’s team.

Meanwhile, we love mothers! So for Mother’s Day, we’re offering a discount on our Rosé wine. Information on our website.

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These are the first of our dozen-odd apple varieties to blossom (and they also produce apples with a remarkable red flesh and make a great cider!), but others will soon, and the grapes are slowly coming out of their dormancy as well. We celebrated spring with deliveries to our wine club and cider club members, while also inviting club members to come out to the farm to pick up their orders if they wanted to. So it was great to welcome folks like Heather Cooper and Fred Bishop, who drove down all the way from near Tacoma, Washington, to pick up their wines (that’s the Pinot Noir vineyard in the background).

And here are Megan and Ralph Leftwich and Karen and Ron Fortlander, with our pear trees behind us in full blossom and the apple orchard in the background.

For those of you who are wine club or cider club members, remember that our spring salon virtual meeting will be today, April 23, 4pm Pacific/7pm Eastern. We figure there’ll be something or other to talk about. As always, we’ll take all questions from farming to national and world affairs; as you may know from Nick’s columns, we do have views! (You can still join the clubs, but hurry.)

We haven’t had a spring tasting yet here on the farm, but we will. We’ve just been incredibly busy this spring between our day jobs and the farm, but we’re penciling in the afternoon of May 17 — stay tuned for details. And remember that you can always drop by our shared tasting room at Carlton Winemakers Studio, open 11am to 5pm every day of the week in nearby Carlton, Ore. It has our wines and ciders, and also those of other superb local wineries; we’re honored to be part of it. And Nick George, who tends the bar, is incredibly knowledgeable, on top of having an excellent first name.

We’ve also decided to open the farm to occasional visits by appointment. If you can gather 10 or more people together for a visit, we’ll figure out a time to share our wines/ciders as well as the beauty of the farm. Preference will go to club members; for more information, email info@kristoffarms.com .

Meanwhile, it’s not only the buds and blossoms that are stirring, but also the wildlife. Our wildlife camera caught this coyote couple out for a date:

And the deer are always inquisitive:

But there’s more! We’re proud of the mountain lions that have always lived here, dining on venison (sorry, dear deer), even if they make us a little nervous when we’re out for a jog around the vineyard. If you follow this newsletter, you’ll know that our resident cougars were killed, one hit by a car and one shot by a farmer defending his livestock. So we were bereft of mountain lions (cougars are another word for mountain lions) for a time — and then a new one abruptly showed up for a couple of days on our wildlife camera:

Unfortunately, we haven’t seen him since, so we’re not sure if he was just checking out the farm or is going to move onto this turf. Maybe we shouldn’t admit it during the Trump administration, but we want the cougars to know about our DEI policy: We welcome diverse species and treat them equitably, and our farm is inclusive.

Just please stick to deer and rabbits, and don’t mess with our wine club members!

As always, thanks for listening to us share stories of this farm we love, and the wine and cider we love sharing. Any questions, reach out to us at info@kristoffarms.com

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These newsletters have often aimed for humor or for highlighting farm life or wildlife. But today we want to explain why it is we’re growing mostly Pinot Noir grapes, as opposed to cabbages or hazelnuts (like so many other Willamette Valley farmers). And in fairness we also have timber on our property, and we grow cider apples that we’re proud of, and Chardonnay grapes as well. But today’s topic is what we think of as the most amazing grape: the Pinot Noir.

At one level it doesn’t make a lot of sense to grow Pinot Noir vines. They’re notoriously finicky and require more hand care and TLC than other grapes, and yields are lower. There’s a saying, “God made cabernet sauvignon, but the devil made pinot noir.” Any grower will nod at that.

In his book “The Grail,” about an Oregon vineyard’s quest to make the best Pinot Noir in the world, the late Brian Doyle quotes a Pinot grower:

He sails on a monologue that begins by lauding the complexity and subtlety of the wine that comes from the grape, but then swerves into how the grapes are as thin-skinned as teenagers in a new school, and how the vines are all prissy about how they need just the right amount of sunlight and water, not too much, and not too little, and how they totally quail and fail under rain that falls too hard, and they swoon at the slightest stress, and you have to darn well nearly feed them with a spoon when they’re babies, and you might as well go around the vineyard at night and swaddle each vine in a blanket for heavensake, and rock them gently to sleep.

Yup. All true. But after all the headaches, what you get in the end as a reward is Pinot Noir. And it’s poetry in a bottle. Nothing quite like it.

Pinot Noir grapes are among the oldest varieties, and there is some evidence that they were cultivated in Roman times in France. The word “pinot” means pine, because the grape’s clusters can look like a pine cone. In the middle ages, monks meticulously cultivated vineyards, recognizing that Pinot Noir thrived in Burgundy’s cool climate and soils rich in limestone. The monks developed a rich vocabulary of terroir—how climate, slope and soil affect the taste of wine. One Benedictine monk became a master at blending wines and created the first still red wine using corks and bottles which didn’t explode as often during fermentation. His name was Dom Pérignon.

While the best Pinot Noir traditionally was from Burgundy, California also produces top-notch Pinot Noir. But even though the first vintage of Oregon Pinot Noir was only in 1967, it was soon recognized as sensational. In 1985, experts at the International Wine Center held a “Burgundy Challenge” with blind tastings of top French and Oregon Pinot Noirs — and the first five places went to Oregon wines. That was a turning point.

What’s special about Pinot Noir? First, before you even take a sip, that aroma! The floral nose sweeps you away (and if you have have the right glass, you may even float). Pinot also has a voluptuous complexity to it, offering a dark, swirling mystery that is often compared to falling in love. And you know where love leads: One sommelier has described Pinot Noir as “sex in a glass.”

More than other varieties, Pinot Noir also reflects the terroir of the vineyard, meaning that there are subtle taste differences from one vineyard to another, even one block of a vineyard to another. Pinot Noir has lower tannins than some other red wines and is known for red or dark fruit flavors and sometimes spice, earthiness and minerality. It also ages beautifully, becoming more complex over time.

The attraction of a good Pinot may be a bit hard to describe, but look at the words we’ve used: love, sex, voluptuous. That’s the thing about sipping Pinot Noir: There’s a sensuousness to it that has, er, seduced us, hence we grow its grapes in our vineyard.

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Sheryl and Nick attended the Pacific Northwest Cider Association symposium in Tacoma recently, with discussions about everything from cider-making to managing cider clubs. Here they are at the trade show:

Meanwhile, Chief Security Officer took a break from her role keeping gophers in check by welcoming Nick back from a difficult overseas trip:

We will again open up Kristof Farms to periodic tastings (and wine club and cider club members can pick up their packages here; stay tuned). But remember that our wines are always available here in wine country at the Winemakers Studio in neighboring Carlton, open 11-5 every day. Ask Nick George, who works the bar, for guidance; he knows his wines! Which is also to say, our wines!

There are hints here on the farm that spring is sprung, so we send all of you our warmest congratulations on making it through the winter. Let’s raise a glass — perhaps of Pinot Noir, “sex in a glass” — to spring!

No! That’s Sheryl as the bottles come off the line at Carlton Winemaker Studio. She’s hanging out there with our 2024 Rosé from Pinot Noir, which went from barrels to bottles last week. It’s a delicious, fruit-forward Rosé with notes of citrus, even grapefruit. Delectable, and hats off to our winemaker, Anthony King.

It’s truly exciting to witness the bottling of our wines. We see the machines fill the bottles and then cork them, then the labels popped on — and we think: Now it’s sharing time! Well, almost. We’ll soon make our 2024 Rosé available to our wine club members, along with our 2023 Pinot Noir and 2023 Chardonnay. And then somewhat later we’ll make all three wines available to the general public for orders on KristofFarms.com.

The Rosé is always on a rapid cycle, about a year ahead of our other wines. You taste it and you understand why: A Rosé is an exuberant adolescent, full of zest and laughter, while the Pinot Noir is a dignified presence with gravitas, and the Chardonnay likewise conveys maturity and sophistication.

As for the cougar in the headline, that’s a more somber story.

We often share photos of our local cougars (also known as mountain lions) taken by our motion-activated wildlife cameras on the farm. We have long had a mature female as a resident sharing our acreage, plus a younger one who passes through periodically. But we haven’t seen either in the last month, and one cougar was run over recently on Highway 47 near us, and another was shot by a farmer a couple of miles away. So we fear that our big cats are no more — until a young one moves in and claims the territory.

So it seems we should say farewell to our neighbor kitty cat. Here’s how we’ll always remember her, in a video clip last fall capturing both menace and curiosity (about the camera):

RIP, Kitty.

We’re looking forward to your cougar cubs coming on camera!

For those of you who are wine club or cider club members, get ready! We’re going to send out spring selections soon. We’ll also have a day you can come out to Kristof Farms and pick up your wine or cider if you prefer. Stay tuned! Likewise, we’ll set a date soon for our spring salon, in which we chat with club members on a Zoom call about the farm, the drinks and whatever questions people raise about all the things going on in the world. There’s still time to join either the wine club or cider club before the shipments go out, but do it soon.

The weather has been gorgeous on the farm in the last few days. This was the scene when we walked the dogs in the vineyard this evening after their dinner:

So the fine weather made us think that we should again have some tastings on the farm. We’ll set some dates and post them in our next newsletter. And in addition, if you have a group of 10 or more friends and want to come out for a private tasting, email us at info@kristoffarms and we’ll try to accommodate. Preference goes to wine club or cider club members. On the one hand, we love to show off this beautiful farm, but we also do have our day jobs!

Another update: While mostly we’re distributing our wines and ciders direct-to-consumer through our website (shipping to nearly every state around the country), we’re also expanding our distribution network. Our wines are now available in Pennsylvania liquor stores, and our ciders are now on tap at a growing number of bars and restaurants in the Portland area. If you have a restaurant in the area and are interested in kegs of our cider, reach out to Karlie Smith at (541) 404-5049. We’re also adding California distribution, so if you have a restaurant or bar in California and would like our wine or cider, email us at info@kristoffarms.com. We’ll be adding other states as well, although our focus will remain direct to consumer.

And in closing, let’s not only mourn our mountain lions but also celebrate our bobcat friends:

Sure, she’s a little smaller but still way bigger than any house cat. And look at that muscling as she turns around after finding some smell that excites her. We’d like to think that someone dropped some of our Pinot Noir grape skins there, and she was looking to see what notes she detected….

One of the things we love about our farm is that it produces sophisticated wines at the same time it is home to wild animals that are as magnificent as they are untamed. We’re honored to share with you both our wines and our wild cats.

Best from us on Kristof Farms!

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Here on the farm, it’s pruning time. The grape vines and apple trees are dormant, so this is when they get haircuts. The apple trees get only a modest trim, but the grape vines get a crew cut. About 90 percent of the vine comes off.

It’s easier to show than to explain, so we asked for a video tutorial from Jessica Dunnam, viticulturist for the vineyard management company that works with us, Results Partners. Jessica is overseeing this year’s pruning, and here she is (our farm dog, Connie, gets Best Supporting Actress):

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We’re expecting snow on the farm in the next couple of days. We’re fine inside the house by the hearth, but we always think about the animals. Here’s a coyote a year ago in the snow behind our house, caught by our wildlife camera.

And the deer seem to be discussing the weather concerns. Just look at them:

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And now with Valentine’s Day approaching, a love story. Our own.

Nick and Sheryl met as competitors – the last people who should have been dating. They were both based in Los Angeles and covering business: Nick for The New York Times and Sheryl for The Wall Street Journal.

A mutual friend, Eileen, was hosting a party and told Nick that she was setting him up with Sheryl. But Eileen told the same thing to Jack, a wealthy investment banker, and she told Sheryl about Jack but not about Nick. Jack was, sadly, not only rich but also good-looking and charming. So at the party, Jack and Nick were fawning over Sheryl, getting her drinks, laughing at her jokes and shooting diabolical frowns at each other.

Later that evening, the party was moving to another person’s house, and this was the moment of truth. Jack offered Sheryl a ride in his BMW. Nick invited her to join him in his New York Times-issued Chevrolet, the least fashionable car in all of California.

“I just put in a car phone,” Jack said. “You can make a call while we drive there.”

“Well, my car has a radio,” Nick countered. “We can listen to music on the radio.”

Miracles happen! Ten minutes later, Sheryl was riding shotgun in Nick’s Chevy, and Jack was alone with his wallet in his BMW. How did this happen? Did Nick club Jack over the head? Was it Nick’s cologne? We don’t remember clearly, and Sheryl can’t put her finger on the decisive factor. But although our memories have dimmed and we wouldn’t swear to this in court, we’d like to think that it’s because Jack brought Sheryl a glass of Cabernet while Nick proffered a glass of Oregon Pinot Noir that he had brought to the party.

So there’s a lesson here, folks. If you want to get the girl – or the guy – you must show some class. One research study indicated that a glass of Oregon Pinot Noir is 62 percent more successful in seductions than a Cab, and 73 percent more successful than a Merlot. Well, okay, we made that up. But doesn’t it seem plausible?

And speaking of romance, here’s the young couple not long after that:

All that leads us to our Valentine’s Day sale. We’re romantics and we’d like to give you every edge in kindling – or rekindling or preserving – the flame of romance. Even if you’re old fogies like us, a glass on Valentine’s Day is special. So for the next four days we’re offering 15 percent off a half case (6 bottles) and 20 percent off a full case (12 bottles) or more of our Pinot Noir when ordered through our website. Think of it as an investment in love.

Delivery takes time, though, especially if the weather is uncooperative, so if you want the wine for Valentine’s Day, we suggest ordering immediately. And don’t feel obliged to go with the Pinot Noir. You may prefer the Chardonnay or Rosé, or our prize-winning hard ciders. It’s all on our website.

The sale will run from now through midnight on Feb. 8. No crawling to us on Feb. 13 and pleading for a break. True love means planning in advance! Your beloved is worth it. (And, we think, probably worth a case.) And if you don’t plan in advance but want to pretend you do, you can buy her or him a membership in our wine club or cider club; they’ll get a shipment each spring and fall and a chance to join our Zoom Salon conversations about…everything. The new member gets a welcome letter by email, so you can order that on your way to a Valentine’s Day dinner; just bring roses, too.

If you’re in our area, another option is to drop by the Carlton Winemaker Studio tasting room, where our pals there can put together a lovely Valentine three-pack crafted to the tastes of your beloved, with our wines and/or others.

May you find your valentine and hold him or her tight on Feb. 14! Romance is as elegant, complex and beautiful as a fine wine, and ages just as well. Speaking of which, here’s an updated glimpse of the couple:

So happy valentine’s day from all of us on Kristof Farms

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