I farm the way I do because that’s how I like it. I’m not drawn to tractors and big trucks. A perfectly crafted pile of compost ready to leave the barnyard for the pommard block which was grazed by producers of said compost is poetry at Antiquum Farm. Wheat, grown in the vineyard, cut and piled in the vine rows smothers weeds. Poultry scratching for the wheat further weeds the vineyard returning the grain in fertilizer form to the vines. Complete cycles of life are the center of our growing philosophy. They are the reason Antiquum wines are richly distinctive and eloquent.
Pinot Noir producers and Pinotphiles speak obsessively about wines with a sense of place. To be true to the vineyard, the grower should only cycle nutrients within the farm. Fertilizers manufactured in the midwest and trucked across the country have no place on my land. Such inputs compromise the individuallity of any vineyard and are unsustainable on every level. Standard growing practices are the death of individuality and true pinot noir. There is nothing standard about Antiquum Farm.
Growing wine true to place takes more than technical knowledge, it takes intuition and a sense of place within the grower. The depth, complexity, power and grace of Antiquum Pinot Noir is the result.