Work in Progress

We’ve come a long way but have farther to go

By Michele Francisco, OWP editor

Patriotism is deeply personal. I’ve recently pondered this sentiment as our nation approaches 250 years since its founding. Over that period, our country has endured difficult times alongside genuine progress. However, the future has never been obvious and certain.

It wasn’t long before I realized the similarities to winegrowing.  

Weather, small and large decisions, along with luck, influence the outcome of each vintage. There’s no redo button when drought, frost, rain or heat strike at the worst time. Forced to adapt, winegrowers craft the most honest wine from what the season delivers. And then they do it all over again the next year.

Humility must be ever-present in winemaking. Terroir is the industry’s constant reminder we are never fully in charge. The land does a lot of the deciding. The weather does more.

One plants, tends and trusts the land– it has been here long before any of us and will be here long after we’re gone.

Two hundred and fifty years in, this anniversary feels like a particularly notable vintage in a project that will never be finished. It depends, every single year, on the slow, imperfect work of nurturing something season after season– which is, after all, the only kind of faith winemaking has ever asked of anyone.

Oregon’s wine industry is barely 60 years old. It was built by people with little real reason to believe it would work, on land nobody thought belonged to Pinot Noir. There were no guarantees– only hope.

This year, I celebrate an America that is young, unproven, occasionally stubborn… and remains a work in progress, much like Oregon wine.

I’ll be on my deck this Fourth, glass in hand, watching the sun set behind Portland’s West Hills. As fireworks dot the night sky, I’ll toast to the not-yet-finished. Cheers to the next vintage, whatever it brings.

Michele Francisco spent her childhood reading and writing, eventually graduating from UCLA with an English degree. She attended graphic design school and began a career in design and marketing. After moving to Oregon in 2010, Michele studied wine at Chemeketa Community College and began Winerabble, a Northwest-focused wine blog. She has been a cheerleader for Oregon wine since her arrival.