Carrot Cake, Parma-style

Elise Stimac2018, Pairing, Recipes, White WinesLeave a Comment

Parma Style Carrot Cake - Recipe Giada de Laurentis

Parma-style Carrot Cake by Giada De Laurentiis This fabulously subtle and unique Carrot Cake, Parma-style recipe by Giada De Laurentiis, makes repeat performances in our family ever since we discovered it on the Food Network. Lightly sweet, not too spicy, well-balanced and zingy with a touch of fennel and lemon zest, this carrot cake can be eaten for breakfast, lunch … Read More

2018 Vineyard Grower’s Update

Elise StimacFamily, Growing, Vineyard, WildlifeLeave a Comment

Bloom on vines at Three Feathers Estate & Vineyard

2018 Vineyard Grower’s Update The 2018 season in the vineyard began with pruning in early February. The winter was cool and dry punctuated with rainy periods, but not characteristically wet. Even spring was not very wet despite lingering cool temps and Bud Break was a month later than last year, on May 2. Once the plants started growing it was … Read More

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream with Blackberry Pinot Noir Sauce

Elise StimacFarm Life, Pairing, Recipes

Recipe for Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream with Blackberry Pinot Noir Sauce from Three Feathers Estate & Vineyard.

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream with Blackberry Pinot Noir Sauce What could be more quintessentially Oregon than Pinot Noir and Blackberries?  Three Feathers Estate was once home to a blackberry farm and the land is still covered with wild blackberries in abundance.  I came up with this sauce when I was testing our 2017 grapes for ripeness and could not bear … Read More

Lines on the Vines

Elise StimacGrowing, Vineyard

Vines and tendrils reaching upwards on their trellis wires on Th

2017 Vineyard Season Update We have been frantically busy since our last post about the vineyard at bud break in May.  I analogize the season in the vineyard to a horse race with us in a race to keep up with the pace of the vines as they grow.  There’s weeding and mowing, fertilizing and disease control and the perpetual … Read More

Living with the Wildlife

Elise StimacFarm Life, Wildlife

Nubian goats eating grass in their pen, Ford truck in background.

Living with the Wildlife Our Ford F-150 gets a lot of use during the growing season, but when it is idle, it is parked in a dry spot by our goat barn. Last summer we noticed an odor inside the cab; a faint odor of manure.  We checked our shoes, nothing.  As the odor persisted we looked further, under and … Read More

New Buds on Pinot Noir Grapevines

Elise StimacGrowing

Springtime buds on grape vines on Three Feathers Estate, Chehalem Mountain AVA, Yamhill County, Oregon, United States.

New Buds We go out frequently to see if the vines are coming to life. Today I could detect the tiniest little swelling on a new bud. We have had a record breaking winter of ice, snow, rain and mud with many slides in the valley.  With the coming of spring it has warmed a bit and we have had … Read More