Fairsing Vineyard, Author at Fairsing Vineyard

A Cellar Collaboration

As a family-owned vineyard in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, Fairising nurtures world-class Pinot noir and Chardonnay for our estate wines.

Since 2005, we have worked to shape wines that reflect the beauty of our sustainable vineyard and share our story with depth and finesse.

With each vintage, our barrel-select Fáinne Pinot noir proves to be a pinnacle expression of these efforts.

The Fáinne Pinot noir is cellar-crafted from the finest fruit from across the vineyard to reflect the nuances of the vintage and the diversity of our terroir.

Throughout the growing season and during cellar-aging, Fairsing collaborates with our winemaking team by walking the vines, sampling clusters, and monitoring cellar fermentations to identify select fruit and exceptional barrels for the Fáinne Pinot noir.

While growing seasons, clonal selections, and French oak cooperages vary, the goal is to guide select barrels through extended aging and then blend a distinct proportion of each to craft a layered and nuanced embodiment of the vintage.

Barrel aging is pivotal in crafting our Fáinne Pinot noir.

For this process, our winemaking team utilizes neutral and new French oak barrels sourced from distinct cooperages.

In the cellar, there is a meticulous evaluation of our Pinot noir. As the wines develop, exceptional barrels are identified and evaluated for extended aging.

With extended aging, the gentle micro-oxygenation within the barrel softens tannins, enhances texture, and promotes the development of tertiary aromas and flavors.

With more time in the barrel, there is deeper interaction between the wine and oak compounds to impart flavors and add complexity.

During the blending phase, the Fairsing team and winemakers convene to collaborate and compile the Fáinne Pinot noir.

The focus is to blend a robust and multilayered wine for enjoyment in the near term and one bound for beautiful development in the cellar.

Together, and after taking the time to taste and experiment with a variety of compilations from selected barrels, the Fáinne is crafted as a peak expression of the vintage.

The label on a bottle of Fáinne is as intentional as the wine inside.

Specific label components nod to the sustainable design of our tasting room.

The lengthy arch at the top of the label reflects the span of the barrel ceiling supporting the living green roof above, while the gray color and pebble texture pay homage to the room’s curved walls of board-formed concrete.

Unique to the Fáinne label is its gold Celtic Knot.

While other wines in Fairsing’s portfolio bear a crimson or white clover, the Celtic Knot is symbolic of our Irish heritage and the intertwining farming and merchant traditions of our ancestors.

The word Fáinne itself means ring or circle in Irish. It’s a fitting name for this impeccable Pinot noir, as it encompasses a commitment to honor both our heritage and the legacy of our family-owned vineyard.

When selecting a Pinot noir to pair with a family gathering or to commemorate something special, the intentionally crafted and flavorful Fáinne Pinot noir is an ideal choice.

Explore - Fáinne Pinot noir

Three bottles of the Faising VIneyard barrel-select Fáinne Pinot noir with gold Celtic Knot on the front label

The Fairsing Vineyard barrel-select Fáinne Pinot noir magnum and bottle with gold Celtic Knot on the front label with a glass of wine and small pumpkins nearby

Fairsing Vineyard magnum of barrel-select Fainne Pinot noir in a wooden gift box

Fairsing Vineyard Pinot noir wine barrels aging in the cellar

Bottle of Fairsing Vineyard 2015 Fainne Pinot Noir

A Sparkling Process

Sparkling wines have long been synonymous with elegance, celebration, and special occasions.

The mere sound of a popping cork – whether it’s with a lively release or a soft sigh – the signature pop evokes a sense of festivity and joy.

As Fairsing introduces its 2022 Vintage Blanc de Blanc, we’re taking a moment to delve into the method behind the effervescence in the first wine of our sparkling program.

For years, our wine portfolio has included Pinot noir, Chardonnay, and Rosé of Pinot noir – all still wines crafted entirely from fruit grown at Fairsing Vineyard.

Early plans to craft an estate-grown sparkling wine were met with obstacles related to capacity, quality, and production minimums.

In 2022, our winemaking team presented Fairsing with an opportunity to craft a small lot of 100% estate-grown sparkling wine at a local state-of-the-art facility.

As a family-owned vineyard, this solution not only aligned with our tradition of crafting true estate wines, but it also provided the opportunity to learn from industry leaders focused exclusively on the finishing of méthode traditionnelle sparkling wines.

With the 2022 growing season, Fairsing began the journey of crafting a sparkling wine in the traditional method, or méthode traditionnelle.

The traditional method is used to make some of the world’s finest sparkling wines, particularly Champagne.

Méthode Champenoise

While this winemaking method is labor-intensive and requires a second fermentation in the bottle, the result is an elegant sparkling wine naturally infused with carbon dioxide gas, which creates effervescence, or tiny bubbles.

To craft a vintage Blanc de Blanc, Fairsing hand-harvested select Chardonnay vines planted along the highest crest of the vineyard in September of 2022.

A base wine of 100% estate-grown Chardonnay was crafted from Dijon 76 (77%) and Dijon 96 (23%) selections. This wine was allowed to ferment in neutral French oak barrels for seven months.

To start a second “in-bottle” fermentation, the base wine was transferred to individual bottles and a combination of sugar and yeast, or the “liqueur de triage,” was carefully added before the bottles were sealed with a crown cap.

Captured inside the bottle with nowhere to go, the carbon dioxide generated from the secondary fermentation creates tiny, delicate bubbles.

The wine was left “en tirage” from May 2023 to May 2025. During this period, the wine rested on the lees, or spent yeast cell, which releases compounds that impart layers of complexity and flavor.

Disgorgement of our Blanc de Blanc occurred in May of 2025.

During this step, each wine bottle was inverted and its neck quickly frozen to trap the sediment of spent lees at the top of the bottle.

With the necks frozen, the bottles were turned upright, their caps removed, and, given the bottle’s internal pressure, the sediment expelled.

To replace the volume lost by the expelled sediment, a dosage of sugar and the base wine were added to each bottle, and the wines were then corked, the muselet secured, and labels applied.

A Sparkling Role

While an exacting and meticulous winemaking process, the tiny bubbles or mousse of a sparkling wine crafted in the traditional method are truly worth the effort.

Beyond the visual spectacle of effervescence in the glass, the bubbles of a sparkling wine act as a messenger, lifting the wine’s delicate aromas to the olfactory senses to deliver a symphony of scents.

The tiny bubbles of a sparkling wine also impart texture to the wine. The sensation of lightness and elegance after a sip of bubbly creates a delightful contrast to the wine’s body or structure.

In addition to transporting aromas and providing texture, the slight acidity created by the CO2 in sparkling wine helps to cut through rich and creamy foods.

This natural acidity gives a sparkling wine equilibrium and makes it the ideal companion for a range of rich dishes from crab quiche to fried chicken.

Bubbling with Gratitude

The journey of crafting our first sparkling wine has been fascinating.

From harvesting select Chardonnay clusters in 2022 to popping the first cork on this inaugural Vintage Blanc de Blanc, our admiration for our winemaking team and their talents has greatly expanded.

We have long treasured the sense of celebration that accompanies a bottle of sparkling wine.

We look forward to shared celebrations and the future happy traditions that include our sparkling wines. Sláinte!

ADD TO CART - 2022 Vintage BLANC de Blanc