 |
 When we first began exploring the concept of a vineyard in southern Oregon back in 2001, we truly were novices. While it sounds incredibly trite, we knew we loved wine and the thought of making our own wine seemed so “romantic.” Though we had no idea how to start, we proceeded cautiously and thanks to a lot of research and hardwork, as well as the contributions of a lot of great people (see acknowledgements below), Red Lily Vineyards has become a reality. Along the way, we’ve had to redefine the concept of “romance” with respect to the wine business. After all, it's farming first with every vision that term conjures up, and technical winemaking second. Nonetheless, we feel a compelling satisfaction that we’ve achieved something unique with Red Lily Tempranillo. And of course, the real romance comes from drinking the wine! While Red Lily Vineyards is named principally for the rare Bolander’s Lily that grows in the neighboring Siskiyou Mountains, it has another very special meaning to us. Our daughter and youngest child is named Lily and given her “bold” personality, she certainly deserves to share as namesake. Les and Rachael Martin Acknowledgements Red Lily Vineyards is and will hopefully always be a “dream in progress.” And like any dream, it requires a lot of hard work and patience. We are forever grateful to our families and friends for their love and support, without which Red Lily would not be possible. In particular, Rachael’s parents, Larry and Becky Sullivan, have been instrumental in our success. Larry was the first one to suggest the possibility of growing grapes on our site and subsequently did a lot of the back-breaking labor involved in establishing the vineyard. Meanwhile, Becky watched over our young children while we worked on our early vintages and kept us apprised of any important wine-related information (she could give “Jeeves” a run for his money). We’d also like to offer special thanks to Randy Gold and Sherman Lamb of Pacific Crest Vineyard Services. Randy, in particular, has been a key to much of what we have accomplished. He helped analyze our site and establish our vineyard, and continues to advise us on the management of the vineyard. Recently, Randy (in partnership with others) established Trium Wines (www.triumwines.com), which we strongly recommend you try. Finally, we'd like to recognize Sarah Powell, who we met through Randy. Sarah was an immensely talented winemaker at Foris Winery. She subsequently became head winemaker at RoxyAnn Winery, and was responsible for helping us establish the relationship with our host winery. Sadly, Sarah passed away in February 2004 at the same time as she was establishing her own wine label, Sarah Powell Wines. We greatly miss Sarah and her unrelenting pursuit of perfection, and recommend that you try her wines while they’re still available. We’d also like to acknowledge and thank the following individuals for their contribution to our success: Greg Jones, Ph.D. Greg is an associate professor and research climatologist in the Geography Department at Southern Oregon University. Greg specializes in the study of how climate variability and change impact natural ecosystems and agriculture, in particular viticulture. Greg performed a study of our vineyard site in the Applegate Valley and provided us with a wealth of critical information for our project. Jack Day Jack is one of the principal owners and oversees the daily operations of RoxyAnn Winery (www.roxyann.com), the host winery where Red Lily Tempranillo is made. Gus Janeway Gus is the Winemaker at RoxyAnn Winery and has been an incredible mentor to Rachael during her apprenticeship there. In addition to making wine for RoxyAnn and their custom crush clients, Gus also has his own label, Velocity (www.velocitycellars.com). Michael Donovan Michael is the Marketing Director at RoxyAnn Winery and has been of great assistance in the marketing and distribution of our wine. Michael is also at the forefront of the effort to garner greater recognition for Southern Oregon wines. Richard and Pat Ellis Dick and Pat are the owners of Ellis Vineyards (www.ellisvineyards.com), the principal source for the grapes in Red Lily Tempranillo. Dick and Pat also recently established their own wine label, Pebble Stone Cellars. Kurt and Laura Lotspeich Kurt and Laura are the owners of Pheasant Hill Vineyards, where some of the grapes for Red Lily Tempranillo are grown. They have been an invaluable source of information and recently (in partnership with others, including Randy Gold) established their own wine label, Trium (www.triumwines.com). Don Kano Don is a long-time friend and designer who has his own design company, Kano Communications, Inc. (email: donkano@hawaiiantel.net). Don oversaw all of the design work for Red Lily, including our label and website. Richard Vasquez Richard handled all of the graphic design work for Red Lily. Richard is part of the Smile Design Group (www.smiledesigngroup.com). Don and Gloria Goodman Don and Gloria are “friends that are family”, and Gloria came up with the Red Lily name. Will Brown Will is a great friend and perhaps the most consummate wine expert we know! |