When I first joined LIVE I was doing so because of my values and beliefs. That is, I want our vineyard and winery to be producing environmentally and economically sustainable fruit and wine. I knew the grapes and the wine made from them, would be of a higher quality and better for the environment. As we have produced wine we have found that the professional buyers, that is, distributors and wine stewards,especially in Oregon and Washington, are aware of what LIVE means and stands for. And they prefer to buy wine that is a sustainable product. And as we have worked with distributors in other states, I have found that they may not know what LIVE means but as long as it means certified sustainable, they prefer wines that are of that quality. Also. the consumer are becoming more in tune to certification and want to drink wines that are certified.
The point I want to make is that being a LIVE member not only serves my values but it also is very worthwhile. Illahe Vineyards is in a better position financially because we are a member of LIVE and keep the standards set by LIVE.
LIVE is a very good investment.
Lowell Ford, owner
Illahe Vineyards
LIVE Supporters
6060 Bethel Heights Road NW
Salem, Oregon 97304
tel: 503/581-2262, fax: 503/581-0943
Bethel Heights is a family owned and operated estate winery in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA of the Willamette Valley. Established in 1977 by two families, twin brothers Ted and Terry Casteel and their partners Pat Dudley and Marilyn Webb, Bethel Heights has expanded in recent years to include second-generation leadership and ownership. The winery now produces around thirteen thousand cases each year, most of which comes from the seventy-acre estate vineyard, with its backbone of thirty-year-old own-rooted Pinot noir and Chardonnay vines. Several different Pinot noir wines are produced each year, including the age-worthy “Estate,” various block-designated and vineyard-designated special bottlings in small lots, and the barrel selected, blended “Casteel Reserve.” Pinot gris and Pinot blanc round out the portfolio.
Bethel Heights vineyard manager and co-owner Ted Casteel was one of the founders of the LIVE program, and Bethel Heights 1999 Estate Grown Pinot Noir was the first certified sustainably grown wine released in the U.S. Bethel Heights Vineyard has also been certified Salmon Safe since 1997.