Two Josephs Vineyard is located in Eagle Valley, a remote and beautiful region of Eastern Oregon. The valley is a part of the Snake River Valley AVA (American Viticultural Area), which we share with our neighbors to the south and east in Idaho.
The vineyard's name recognizes the Two Josephs who figured prominently in early Eagle Valley history: Chief Joseph of the Wallowa Nez Perce and the mountain man Joseph Gale. "Governor" Gale was one of 3 members of Oregon's 1843 Executive Committee, the first small step towards today's state government of Oregon. Gale's wife was Eliza, older half sister to Chief Joseph and his brother Ollokot. In happier days before the Nez Perce War of 1877, Chief Joseph and the Wallowa Nez Perce would camp for weeks at the Gale homestead on Eagle Creek, hunting, fishing and visiting with relatives.
Two Josephs Vineyard is in its fifth year of existence and remains in assessment phase. We are growing small quantities of 21 varieties of vinifera grapes (plus several clones) to identify those that perform best in our demanding growing environment. Jane Ellis, whose family has farmed this land since the early 1890s, and her husband Jeff Backstrand and daughter Sarah, planted the first block of grapes in April 2006. Three additional grape varieties were planted in April 2007, another 3 varieties in April 2008, and 2 more in April 2010. This year concludes our evaluation plantings.
Two Josephs Vineyard's first harvest occurred on September 30th, 2009, and was restricted to Riesling. Deer and cold damage had hampered vine training, and delayed our first harvest. Despite a short growing season, the 2009 Riesling grapes reached a very satisfactory 21.5 brix (Oechsle of 89.6). This past season (2010), we had a long cold spring, so we worried about unripe grapes (as did most growers in the Northwest). However, we had a successful harvest on October 9-10 of Riesling (at a fairly low, Mosel-like brix of 18) and Chardonnay (brix of 21). Red grapes remain under assessment, although Cabernet Franc and Zweigelt are promising.