Aguila VineyardA burnt-out tax lawyer from Berkeley, Sherman Lamb and his wife Marybeth decided to completely change their lives and pursue what they truly love. For Marybeth, that is breeding, raising, training and showing champion Labrador retrievers. For Sherman, after enjoying the great outdoors, it's attempting to grow grapes for that superb bottle of wine. Of all our growers, Sherman no doubt drinks the best, and he lives out this appreciation of fine wines everyday, in his carefully managed vineyard. In 1989 the couple moved to what would become Aguila Vineyard: 87 acres of land located on the terrace or bench of the eastern slopes of the Siskiyou Mountains near Talent, Oregon. The site is a rolling and folded hillside of various aspects, at approximately 1800 feet elevation, overlooking the Bear Creek Valley and Medford. Because the vineyard borders on the undeveloped and forested mountains, deer, bear, fox, raccoon, squirrel, and numerous bird species frequently visit, often feasting on the grapes during the ripening season. Sherman named his vineyard "Aguila" after the nesting pair of golden eagles he first found on his land. After much thought about what wines they love to drink, and research about which varieties are appropriate for their site, Sherman and Marybeth planted their first vines in 1991. First, four acres of Pinot Gris and one half acre of experimental varieties were planted in the upper, cooler section of the hill. Since then, Sherman has added a few acres each year, experimenting with varieties and trellis systems. Currently the vineyard is 18 acres, consisting of four acres of Pinot Gris, 10 acres of Merlot, three acres of Syrah (one of the first vineyards planted to this variety in Oregon), and one acre of Cabernet Franc. This year another three acres will be planted to a rootstock, which will be field grafted (also relatively new to Oregon) to a yet-to-be-decided variety next year. The first harvest from the vineyard was in 1994, with harvest quantities modest, but increasing every year. While Sherman has succeeded in producing superb quality fruit, it has not been without some hard lessons from Mother Nature. Similarly to Evans Creek Vineyard (located in an entirely different aspect, 35 miles away), the upper reaches of his site have proven to be quite low yielding and prone to cold problems including frost, cold winter air, or isolated hail storms. Still, he says he wouldn't want to be doing anything else, has continued to expand the vineyard, and looks forward to drinking the fruits of his labors each year. Back to the Appellation Map |