We farm our vineyard in Eagle Point, in Oregon’s Rogue Valley, without herbicides. Our family lives and works on this ranch and raises cattle on it, and we’re planning for the land to stay in the family for generations. So we take out the weeds under the vines with tools on the tractor instead of spraying them.
The ranch
Our family came to the Rogue Valley in 1985 and started St. Laurent Land and Cattle. We raise American Wagyu cattle, bred by crossing Wagyu bulls with our Angus cows.
The vines grow on the same ground where we live and the cattle graze. We don’t want herbicides on it.
The vineyard
We planted our first 14.23 acres of Pinot Noir (Blocks 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B) in 2017, Block 3a in 2019 and Block 3b in 2020. The blocks sit between 1,525 and 1,650 ft, where the valley meets the Cascade foothills. Summers are hot and dry with cold nights; springs are rainy.
Weeds and suckers
Many vineyards keep the strip under the vines clear with herbicide. We use an ID Weeder, an in-row weeding tool mounted on the tractor that removes the weeds mechanically.
Suckers are shoots that sprout from the trunk near the ground. Some growers remove them with a spray; we use a suckering machine on the tractor.
Mechanical weeding takes more tractor passes than spraying, since the weeds grow back.
Pesticides
We also generally don’t use harmful pesticides. We use only natural or naturally derived ones, and only when needed, generally for mildew.
Our 2024 Estate Pinot Noir and 2024 Enchanté Blanc de Noirs both come from Block 1A. Both are in the shop.