Charles Marion Cook started out life in Hermiston. He joined the Navy, and work on an ice cutter as the mess cook. He spent time all over before landing in Dundee, Oregon. He spent years as a long haul trucker, and later in life he tried his hand at agriculture. First, hazelnut, but eventually Pinot noir. He took advice from his next door neighbor, John Paul of Cameron winery. The vineyard sits at roughly 300 feet of elevation on deep Jory soils. His grapes went exclusively to Jay Somers over at J. Christopher, until the winery was transferred to the Loosen group.

The main vineyard is well suited to noble Pinot noir. But old Charlie has a secret up his sleeve. He has a clandestine block on the north side of the property. It was a secret that only he and the local deer knew about. And while the deer had a knack for wiping out the vineyard three years out of four, in 2018 the deer missed their lunch, and it came our way. The block was planted in 2004 to a mix of Wadenswil and Coury clone. Despite the age of the vines, most were still pretty diminutive in 2018 because of a combination of tree shade and benign neglect. The constant haircuts delivered by deer didn’t help.