Fisher Winery
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LIVING WITH THE LAND

“We have no art; we try to do everything as beautifully as possible.” -Balinese proverb

       It was the opportunity to create something, from the ground up, that drew us to this raw, rugged mountain setting.   Luckily, we realized quickly the importance of doing everything in our power to understand the ecological underpinnings of this place, in order to produce expressive wines and to sustain the land as well.   Like those who came before us, we want to be at one with the land.   We have discovered that the land is the only real asset we have to work with, so we vowed to become learnèd caretakers and enlightened stewards of our little piece of earth.

       Many in our industry are besotted with the bright lights of notoriety.   On our mountain parcel, we find a peaceful and enduring satisfaction in earning our place among the rhythms of Nature.   The reality of “growing” a wine of identity and personality comes out of walking the vineyard, out of knowing the capability of each vine, out of babysitting each wine lot until it expresses as much of itself as possible without becoming a caricature of itself.   It is hard work, and there are trials, but the efforts are fulfilling in and of themselves.

CREATIVITY, WITH RIGOR

“In order to hit a bird on the wing, you must have all your will in a focus.   You must not be thinking about yourself, and, equally, you must not be thinking about your neighbor; you must be living in your eye on the bird.   Every achievement is a bird on the wing.”

-Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

       Our family is familiar with craftsmanship.   It is in our marrow.   There was a time, in Detroit , when “Body by Fisher” stood for the very highest standard in automobile workmanship.   We take that theme seriously here at Fisher Vineyards.   Most of us know how to grow quality fruit:   which varieties to plant on a given parcel; how to assess optimal cropping levels; determining maximum flavor maturity.   Most of us know how to produce fine wine:   intense fruit selection prior to de-stemming; monitoring fermentation temperatures closely; the finest in tight-grained oak barrels.

       What sets the finest apart from the rest is the rigor applied to one’s craft, the close and continuing attention to those minor details that some let slide.   We love the process enough that it is a joy, it is literally a life to insinuate ourselves so intimately into every wine’s growth, from ground to grape, from juice to bottle, from package to wine glass.

SHARING FAMILY, SHARING ESTATE

“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.”

-Henry David Thoreau

      We have come to the realization that what we are creating here is a life, and not a lifestyle.   The one is substance, the other merely form.   We are basic, direct people.   We abhor pretension and arrogance as superficial and harmful to wine.   One thing we are certain of is that we have something worthy of sharing, and it’s not just the wines we make.

       We feel that we are offering something of the land we work—and something of our “selves” as well—when we present our wines to you.   When we do pour our wine, there is an incessant wonder of, “How are our children going to show themselves today?”   We feel close to our wines because we have been in touch them from the outset:   we work the earth, we are hands-on winemakers, we design the labels, to go on the road to share the results of our life’s labor.   This mountain is our future, and it remains to be seen whether or not it is the “gem” it seems to be.   And it is hard to put into words just how satisfying that is . . . but you might just be able to taste it in our wines.

       We also make this promise to you, and to ourselves:   We will not be deluded by “success”; we have no intention of growing or becoming larger; our sole goal, here on our little patch of the planet, is to improve the quality of the wines we grow, inch by inch, vintage by vintage.   We believe that that will give us a life worth living, breathing the air, tasting the fruit, and drinking the drink.