Terrence David Bjornson Pinot Noir - 2018 (750ml)

Terrence David is the personal label of Ben and his brother, Jon, named for their father, Bethel Heights' founding winemaker. It's Ben's opportunity to channel his expertise through vineyards outside of the family estate and to fully express a place that has always been home.

More on Terrence David, from Ben and Jon Casteel: We are the two sons of Terry Casteel and Marilyn Webb, one of the founding families of Bethel Heights Vineyard. Terry was the Winemaker at Bethel Heights from their first vintage in 1984 until 2005 when he finally convinced Ben to step into his shoes.

We grew up at Bethel Heights Vineyard, eventually spending summers working in the vineyard together alongside our cousins and later working together in the cellar at Rex Hill Vineyards for five years. Career paths diverged when Ben returned to Bethel Heights in 2005 to take over winemaking duties from our father, while Jon started his own venture, Casteel Custom Bottling, which now includes two mobile trucks and a bottling facility.

For years we tossed around the idea of making our own wine together. We knew it would have to be wine from the Eola-Amity Hills AVA. We shared a fundamental familiarity with the landscape of the Eola-Amity Hills from years of going to school in Amity, riding the school bus through a rural district where everyone knows the relative elevation, soil type, and water table of everyone else’s farm. We watched first-hand the evolution of the Eola-Amity Hills AVA from a group of family friends, fellow winegrowers celebrating Thanksgiving together, to a world class wine region, in the space of time it took us to grow up. We knew the kind of wine we wanted to make would come from here.

The vague dream became a reality in 2016 when we had the opportunity to purchase a small amount of fruit from the Björnson Vineyard, just up the road from Bethel Heights. We took the plunge and produced the first vintage of Terrence David Pinot noir.

Winemaker's Notes: "Björnson Vineyard was planted between 2006 and 2012 on the west side of the Eola-Amity Hills AVA, just up the road from Bethel Heights Vineyard. With soil, elevation and aspect very similar to Bethel Heights, it is intriguing to discover how different the expression of Pinot noir can be just on the other side of the road.  150 cases produced."