Belle Pente

Jill and Brian O'Donnell established Belle Pente (beautiful slope) in 1994 and produced the first vintages in 1996, meaning they were among the first that knew just what kind of world-class wines Oregon was going to offer the world. Years later, wine lovers world round are finally discovering this to be true.  This is a description of the winery in Brian's own words:

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Belle Pente (bell-pont) means “beautiful slope”, evoking our Yamhill-Carlton estate vineyard & winery, set on a historic 70 acre farm in Oregon’s bucolic Willamette Valley.  Combining traditional techniques like dry farming and livestock integration with innovative holistic management practices, we grow and produce high quality, authentic wines in a resilient, diverse agroecosystem.

So what does it all mean?

Our 70 acres is not a vineyard mono-culture; only 16 acres are currently planted to vines, and the plan is to never exceed 20.  The balance of the property includes pasture, native oak savanna, and a seasonal creek.  This provides a diverse natural buffer zone abundant in wild flora and fauna surrounding the vineyard.

Although we are not certified for anything, the baseline for our vineyard practices is organic dry farming.  For over 25 years, we have eschewed the use of herbicides for weed control, opting for more expensive and time consuming mechanical cultivation under the wine rows, supplemented by hand hoeing when necessary. Disease control is achieved exclusively with organic substances like mineral oil, sulfur, and whey, supplemented with kelp, humic acid, and a tiny bit of copper.  This program is among the “softest” chemical uses in modern viticulture.

Borrowing from the tradition of bio-dynamics, we maintain a diverse, integrated farming operation which includes Kathadin and Dorper sheep, Highland cows, chickens, geese, and goats.  We also keep a few colonies of honey bees.  All play some role in supporting the winegrowing enterprise...

...Winemaking is high intervention with low manipulation.  Small adjustments to acid and sugar levels are made as needed, and fermentation for Pinot Noir occurs with vineyard indigenous and ambient yeasts.  No other additives are used.

The winery is 100% gravity flow for reds (including bottling) allowing us to retain healthy levels of dissolved CO2 in the wines and reduce the amount of SO2 needed to preserve them.  Red wines are generally bottled unfined and unfiltered, and are held for an additional 6 months to 2 years prior to release."