Bud Swell 2011

Here Bryan points at a bud as it begins to swell in anticipation for bud break.

Pam and Pua help finish up some dormant prunning.

Jim, Vance, and Dean make sure the 2009 and 2010 wines come along nicely.

Tarzan thinks he's boss!
Jim Beam pours his favorite Freed Estate wine at the bar he is building in the soon to be tasting room.

April 2010

Welcome back to Freed Estate Vineyard. It's now April 2010 and time to start a new growing season. We are working on completing the tasting room, and you can see the start of the bar from this shot.
We have a few new members to the crew this year including Jane and Tarzan.
As well as Kimo.

Here we have some pictures of bud swell as well as bud break. The plants are out of dormancy and starting to grow. Lets hope for another good year.

Summer is here. The grape vines are growing, the fish are jumping, and the ducks are dunking in the south Umpqua river. This is our view while eating a delicious home cooked meal prepared by Pam every week day for her devoted and hard working crew. She also swims in the river almost every day during the summer months. Mike likes to fish for bass.

This is Bryan our youngest son who is attending viticulture classes at Oregon State. He comes down to visit most weekends, and passes on current vineyard management techniques. He is in the hot house in this picture and is telling me I need to water more!

It is June 1, 2009. We have been busy thinning the grape plants, but found time to sample last year's Sarah. Chuck Vaughn retired owner of Safari Vineyard is on the left. Jim Beam on the right is a retired contractor, and presently the builder of the barn and wine tasting room which we hope to open this fall.

This is part of the early spring pruning crew. From the left is Juan Silva, John Bock, Pam Freed and Richard Cedillo.

Here is Mike at his Oregon office. You can see the South Umpqua River to his right. The water is still too cold for swimming, but good for catching steelhead and salmon.

Spring 2008

We had a very productive Spring here at Freed Estate Vineyards! A lot of progress was made on the barn, and we got started on removing trailers from the property and building our Lodge.

We also found out some great news! Our son, Bryan, has been accepted to Oregon State University (go Beavs!) and will enter the Horticulture program this Fall term. We hope that he will bring what he learns back to Freed Estate Vineyards and help us in our continuing goal of producing a superior crop!

Here are some photos of the season:

Spring's first flowers, daffodils, blooming under the Freed Estate sign.


Putting the wall up where the tasting area of the barn will be.


Getting the measurements just right. Math is hard!


I can assure you, this is perfectly safe.


Our granddaughter, Talula loves chickens! Unfortunately, the chickens met a weasel, and they are in Heaven now, but stay tuned to see summer photos of the new flock!


Plum blossoms...Pam made an excellent plum wine last year, and hopes to do so again this year. A winemaker suggested that she enter her plum wine into a contest, because it is really extraordinary!


More building...putting in the insulation.


In this shot, you can see where the Lab will be, and you can see the Loft up above.


Here, you can see little Talula stepping out of the Tasting Room door onto where the Patio will be.


This is what the vineyard looks like on a sunny April day.


And this is what it looks like on a gorgeous day in May. You can see that there are little buds and leaves on the vines, and the wildflowers make it all look so beautiful.


More progress on the Patio. You see Joey and Talula in the background. You can also see how they built the "eyebrow" of the Patio so that there are half wine barrels around the beams. We've planted grape vines in the barrels that we hope will grow up and wrap around the beams.



This is an area where we ripped out grape vines. This year, we have our vegetable garden here.


What you see here is a trailer being pulled out. This was formerly known as the "Cook Shack." There's a deck built around it, and this is where everyone gathers for meals. Well, with the Tasting Room opening soon, we wanted to have a classier place to let customers and friends sip wine and gaze at the beautiful Umpqua River, so stay tuned for photos of the new Lodge!





And it looks like the little sweetheart chickens (may they rest in peace) left a little nest under the trailer!


Coming this summer:

1. We will begin selling our 2003 Merlot! Stay tuned for info on how to order, or email Mike at mfreed@tpm-hawaii.com or call at (808) 497-3861 if you want to reserve a case!

2. We will soon have a new website (but our blog will still be here!) that will give you all the details on how to order wine and when our Tasting Room will be open.

3. We will post photos of the progress on all of our projects, including the Barn, the Tasting Room, and the Lodge.

Have a great summer!

Winter 2007-2008

Not much goes on around the vineyard in the winter time. The most exciting thing that happened was snow! It made the vineyard look so beautiful.

Grapes 2007

Fall 2007

Freed Estate Vineyards had a wonderful harvest season this year! Here are some photos:

The grapes are looking beautiful and ready to go.



HARVEST!

Mike clipping bunches of Cabernet Sauvignon

Bryan's girlfriend, Nathalie, and her mom helped

Juan and Maria

David and Richard

Loading buckets

Joey and Bryan transferring buckets to bins

Bryan pouring grapes into a bin

Mike gives cribbage advice in the middle of the harvest!

Tania and Joey gather full buckets and hand out empty ones

Joey and Tania bring full buckets to pour in the bins

Joey and Tania pour grapes in the bins

Beautiful Cabernet Sauvignon grapes

Lunch break!

Pam and Mike taking their lunch break

HARVEST PARTY!

Pam and Mike decided to have a Harvest Party to celebrate such a great year. It was held in the new (unfinished) barn, and we all wore costumes. It was a blast!

The grandkids, Tania and Talula, dressed up as the cutest kitties ever

Candice and Talula

We had a hobo-can fire outside the barn

Cindy and Bobby

Wild Bill, Jim Beam, and Mike gathered around the hobo-can fire

Some trouble-makers

Wayne and Joey looking better than ever

John James showed everyone how to do the Two-Step

More Two-Step

John and Kathy James

Mary Beam and John James

Jim Beam and Pam

Mike and Cindy

Even Talula and Tutu did some dancing

Other fun things to do during fall in the area:

Picking apples at the James Orchard

Visiting the Kruse Farms pumpkin patch