Vincent Fritsche founded his Willamette Valley winery in 2009, after years of apprenticeship at other West Coast wineries and after having the realization that he needed to pursue his passion for himself, on a full-time basis. Vincent has access to Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Gamay, Pinot Gris, and Pinot Blanc in excellent parcels in some of the finest vineyards of Willamette Valley – vineyards such as Zenith, Armstrong, Temperance Hill and Silvershot.

Vincent takes a simple, hands off approach that relinquishes much control to nature. When we first chatted, he chuckled that this philosophy is at odds with much of what is taught in wine making school, but it is the only way to have true wine of place – music to the ears of those weary of the level of control and homogenization present in modern winemaking.

For instance, he uses no temperature control during native yeast fermentation because it is an unnecessary action. He never fines or filters and no barrel used fewer than 3 times is ever employed. All his vineyard sites are dry farmed—something he is steadfast in commitment to that is not as common as one would think.

We find that most talk about terroir driven wines of place, made with minimal intervention, but few live it in their decision making as Vincent does.