Lachini Estate Vineyard
The Lachini Family (pronounced: LA-KEEN-E) believes that the vineyard is the wine. Our family-owned Estate winery and vineyard, farmed rigorously through Biodynamic® practices, is located on the backdrop of the Chehalem Mountains in the heart of the Oregon’s North Willamette Valley.The 45 acre Lachini Estate Vineyard is located approximately 30 miles southwest of Portland. The south-facing gently-sloped terrain sets in the outlying foothills of Newberg, and is a part of the Chehalem Mountains A.V.A.
Ron and Marianne purchased the property in 1998 and planted the first five acres with Pinot Noir (Pommard clone) in June of 1999 after clearing and natural site preparation. In the following seven growing seasons, we planted additional blocks that now entail just over 30.5 acres of planted Pinot Noir plus an additional one and a half acres of Chardonnay.
​
The Willamette Valley
Chehalem Mountains
The Chehalem Mountain AVA is in the northern Willamette Valley that hosts approximately 150 family owned vineyards. The elevations of each vineyard range from 200 to over 1,000 feet. Our vineyard is at the southeastern edge of the AVA with our western vines bordering the ribbon ridge AVA.
​
Our sloping Estate Vineyard is comprised of Willakenzie series soils-ranging from 18 to 48 inches in depth. The shallow, fine silt loam over sedimentary rock has lower water capacity due to its sandy consistency and forces each vine to develop deep root systems.
The emerging terroir of these dark-brown to yellowish-brown soils reveal Pinot Noir wines with consistent earthy notes, darker fruits, chocolate, and a definitive flavor of anise and spice.
Biodynamic Farming Practices
Our guiding principle has been to take a generational approach as stewards of the lands we till. We take pride in our Biodynamic and Organic farming practices not only at our Estate, but also at the vineyards we source from. We believe this long-term outlook sets the foundation for our wines. In our opinion, wine quality and agricultural sustainability go hand in hand. Just as healthy people cherish and nurture their bodies, the responsible winegrower also cherishes the environment that gives him his fruit. It is our opinion that synthetic pesticides, fungicides and herbicides along with chemical fertilizers will not enhance the ecosystem and lifecycle of our Estate vineyard. We hope this commitment to truth in terroir is evident the moment you open a bottle of Lachini Vineyards wine.
​
Prior to transitioning to Biodynamic farming practices in 2008, our vineyard was L.I.V.E. certified annually. Our gut instinct guided us to not only incorporate the organic concept, but also incorporate into our philosophy the need to seek beyond the chemical and biological farming point of view.
​
​
In our goal of creating a sustainable vineyard for generations to come, we sought to treat farm as a unified entity, while integrating forces and emphasizing the interrelationship of soils, plants and animals as individual self-nourishing systems. These practices focus on understanding the land as a living organism that thrives from the natural ecosystem around it. This includes the belief that astronomy, magnetism, and geology all play a large role in how and when the vineyard is treated. While our Estate vineyard is not yet Demeter certified, please view our gallery to see some of the Biodynamic practices in which we engage.