We are going to keep this open until Monday morning (Jan 29) at around 6:00 am PST.
I know you have a lot of ground to cover on Berserker Day 15. So, our offer is right at the top of this post. Further below you will find a more in depth introduction to us, details about our wines and a game, with a chance to win a
free bottle!
ABOUT US, BRIEFLY - Shiba Wichern Cellars is a two-person operation producing ~1000 cases of Pinot noir, Auxerrois and the occasional “pet-nat” sparkling wine in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. We heartily welcome back
repeaters and old friends. Explorers and new friends, we hope you enjoy our offerings too!
WINE OFFERS - In an effort to have something for everyone, we have 12 wines on offer! With the sole exception of the sparkling red, every offer here is Berserkers FIRST or Berserkers ONLY!
- We grabbed our entire 2014 line-up of Pinot noirs from the library.
- We have a Red Sparkling Pinot noir
- We have a slew (SEVEN!) of pre-release wines.
- Everything is Ă la carte so you can build your own selection.
- Click on one of the ORDER HERE buttons to order - they’re
everywhere.- Special requests or questions can be posted here or sent via private message.
SHIPPING - Shipping is included with full case and half case purchases. There is a $20 flat fee for 3 packs.
Exceptions: We can’t ship to UT, DE, AR & MS. Folks in AK, HI & RI contact us first to make arrangements. Please be sure to read the entire “Shipping” section below!
BD15 OFFERS
Library Offerings
My favorite vintages thus far in our time making wine have been 2013 and 2014. We offered some 2013 Pinot noirs in BD14. So, for BD15 we’ll put up some 2014s. I hope you enjoy!
- 2014 Willamette Cuvée, Library List Price $60.00, BD15 Special Discount $51.00
- 2014 Eola Springs single vineyard, $85, $72
- 2014 Havlin single vineyard, $70, $59
- 2014 Barrett Hill single vineyard, $77, $65
Act quickly on these! I only have 24 bottles of each to offer.
Red Sparkling – the passion project!
Akiko really loves Lambrusco sparkling red-wines. This sparkling of ours is no attempt to copy the Italian classic, but more to take inspiration from it. It is pretty close to everything that we want in a red sparkling: Mild mouthfeel, but not light. Gripping tannins, but not harsh. Raspberries and a hint of fresh-bread on the nose. Saline and slightly savory on the tongue. Being a disgorged pétillant naturel the bubbles are fine and gentle.
- 2022 “Willamette Sparky” Pinot noir Sparkling, List Price $30, BD15 Special Discount $24
Pre-Release Offerings - White & Rosé
These are pre-release offerings, which means that these wines are still in barrel, puncheon and tank for a few more weeks. Racking, blending and bottling will happen over the next two months. We’ll be racking the rosé, for example, from barrel tonight (Friday), in fact. Shipping will be in April!
- 2022 Havlin Auxerrois List Price $27, BD15 Special Discount $22
- 2022 Willamette Blanc (Auxerrois, Pinot gris, Pinot noir blend), $23, $19
- 2022 Pinot noir Rosé, $27, $22
Pre-Release Offerings - Pinot noir
Below is our full line-up of 2021 Pinot noir bottlings. The single vineyards Pinot noirs are available for BD15 only! After that they go away until Labor Day, which is their official release date.
We are releasing them early to Berserkers, because last year we only had our 2020 Willamette Cuvée to offer - we made no single vineyard Pinot noirs in 2020. We are excited to be able to share a full Pinot noir line-up with you again! The single vineyard bottlings are ready to drink right now, but the longer you wait, the bigger the reward.
- 2021 Willamette Cuvée, Pinot noir, List Price $27, BD15 Special Discount $22
- 2021 Bellevue Cross, Single vineyard Pinot noir, $35, $28
- 2021 Havlin, Single vineyard Pinot noir, $40, $32
- 2021 Nuestro Sueño, Single vineyard Pinot noir, $40, $32
SHIPPING
Whether we like it or not, shipping is a very important part of our wine-buying experience. We try to make it as painless and reasonable as possible, but their are some constraints. So, please read all of the notes below.
- For full case and half case purchases shipping is included in the final price. 3 Packs are a flat fee of $20 for shipping
- Please order in quantities of 3, 6 or 12 bottles.
- If you order 4 or 5 bottles we will charge a $40 flat fee.
- If you ordered any pre-release wines, your order will ship in April. Otherwise, we’ll ship as soon as the temperature gets into a safe zone.
- We can’t ship to UT, DE, AR & MS. AK, HI & RI contact us first to make arrangements.
THE GAME
We are in the process of planting a new vineyard with the goal of producing an estate field-blend white. So far we have 12 varietals planted (not counting different clones). If you can guess one of the varietals, you get a free bottle of wine.
BONUS - there is one varietal that I am pretty sure no one will guess. If you guess that varietal, you get SIX bottles free!
All games need rules. So here we go:
- You are allowed to make ONE guess after you’ve placed your order. (That’s a legality thing. Some states don’t let us give away booze as a prize if you haven’t bought any…)
- Make your guess by responding to this thread.
- Once a varietal has been guessed correctly, it is out of play. (Hint: if you see someone has already guessed a varietal, choose something else…)
- If you guess correctly, I will refund you the amount of the lowest cost bottle in your order.
THE LIBRARY WINES
That is the 2014 vintage on the sorting line. That red building is the Whistling Dog facility.Grapes from two of the vineyards in our 2014 line-up were sourced from Erin at Evesham Wood. We were already farming our blocks at Havlin vineyard, but in only our second vintage we still needed a little help sourcing fruit. Erin very generously offered us some fruit from Barrett Hill and Eola Springs Vineyards. Akiko had worked with grapes from these vineyards in 2012 and 2013 at Evesham, so we knew that this was special fruit.
Barrett Hill - this wine drove me crazy. About 6 months before we were finally ready to release this wine (after about six months of bottle aging) it had a strong wintergreen nose! Not really what anyone is looking for in Pinot noir, but mouthfeel and balance were lovely. We dithered and discussed. In the worst case I was bracing myself for having to scrap the whole lot. By time release came around, it was more eucalyptus than wintergreen and the balance was still lovely. It had also become a charming interesting wine instead of a total freak. After about 24 months in bottle the fruit finally showed up on the nose. Over the years the fruit tones eventually caught up with the herbal tones and has stayed that way since. Not many bottles of this wild wine left.
[Originally 103 cases made. Native ferment, no fining, no filtering, some whole cluster, 3.59 pH, 13.5% ABV, mostly used French oak cooperage with one new Taransaud barrel.]
Eola Springs - this is a piece of ephemeral history. Not that the wine is fading, but the block that these grapes came from was ripped out when the ownership changed a few years back. Every time we open one of these it shows better than the last time. On release back in 2017 it was an alcoholic, tannic, acidic thug. It barely seemed like an Oregon Pinot noir. Now, 20 years later, it is pretty and charming.
[Originally 23 cases made. Native ferment, no fining, no filtering, 3.42 pH, 13.9% ABV, 50% new French oak]
Havlin - this was our second vintage with Havlin and we were still very much in the process of figuring things out. Luckily for us, beginners luck is real, because we still haven’t matched this vintage from Havlin. 2016 did come close, but the balance between the big three (fruit, acid, tannin) in 2014 is spot on. This wine has certainly mellowed as it has aged, but it is still very much fresh and bright.
[Originally 84 cases made. Native ferment, no fining, no filtering, some whole cluster, 3.59 pH, 13.5% ABV, 100% used French oak cooperage]
Willamette Cuvée - Probably my favorite thing about pouring the 2014 vintage for people in the tasting room was how identifiable the different vineyards were in the Willamette Cuvée. Particularly the Barrett Hill and the Eola Springs really stood out. Everything about this wine is more subtle now. The different vineyards have homogenized to the point where I am no longer certain that i can pinpoint specific characteristics from the individual vineyards. In other words the Willamette Cuvée has finally become its own wine.
[Originally 235 cases made. Native ferment, no fining, no filtering, some whole cluster, 3.58 pH, 13.5% ABV, mostly used French oak cooperage (1/2 BBL new French oak)]
Pretty common place to find Akiko thinking about her wines…
THE PRE-RELEASE WINES
2022 Willamette Blanc - Currently, this wine is unblended. Blend trials so far show a lively white that should me our “crowd pleaser” goal.
Values below are estimates:
[140 cases, pH 3.28, 12% ABV, Skin contact (partial), mix of Acacia puncheon, neutral oak and stainless, native yeast fermentation, no filtering or fining, no additions except a tiny bit of SO2]
2022 Havlin Auxerrois - A little bit of skin contact and a little over a year in the acacia puncheon really give the typically light and gentle Auxerrois the extra intensity and structure to let it speak loudly, but remain well balanced and fresh.
Values below are estimates:
[107 cases, pH 3.28, 12% ABV, Short skin contact, Acacia puncheon aged, native yeast fermentation, no filtering or fining, no additions except a tiny bit of SO2]
2022 Rosé - a blend of the same three vineyards that our Willamette Cuvée is composed of. The grapes for Rosé are picked about 4 weeks before the grapes for the red wines are picked. The wine is nearly a blanc du noir; showing more of a gold or peach color depending on the light than a true pink. The nose, however, is clearly and unmistakably Pinot noir Rosé. Racy and refreshing with lots of tartness and low alcohol will make this a great refresher this summer.
Values below are estimates:
[75 cases, pH 3.26, 12% ABV, aged in neutral french oak for 16 months, native yeast fermentation, no filtering or fining, no additions except a tiny bit of SO2]
2021 Willamette Cuvée - our Pinot blend of all vineyard sites. In 2021 it was 3 sites: Havlin, Nuestro Sueno and Bellevue Cross. Every year we set the same goal for this wine - balance. Luckily for us every year the wine comes out different. 2021 is a little richer than previous vintages and it spent a little more time in barrel than previous vintages. It is still bright, lively and shows great acid to tannin balance, but right out of the gate it just has more depth than previous Willamette Cuvée bottlings.
Values below are estimates:
[407 cases, pH 3.64, 13.7% ABV, aged in neutral french oak for 20 months, native yeast fermentation, no filtering or fining, no additions except a tiny bit of SO2]
2021 Havlin single vineyard Pinot noir - Havlin vineyard is in the Van Duzer corridor AVA and is planted to Pommard, 115, 667 and 777 clones,
Values below are estimates:
[74 cases, pH 3.74, 13.9% ABV, aged in neutral french oak for 16 months, native yeast fermentation, no filtering or fining, no additions except a tiny bit of SO2]
2021 Bellevue Cross single vineyard Pinot noir - Bellevue Cross vineyard is in the McMinnville AVA and is planted with 30 year old own-rooted Pommard clones.
Values below are estimates:
[74 cases, pH 3.53, 13.6% ABV, aged in neutral french oak for 16 months, native yeast fermentation, no filtering or fining, no additions except a tiny bit of SO2]
2021 Nuestro Sueño single vineyard Pinot noir - Nuestro Sueño vineyard is in the Eola Amity Hills AVA and is planted to Pommard, 115, 144 and Waedenswil clones.
Values below are estimates:
[74 cases, pH 3.65, 13.5% ABV, aged in neutral french oak for 16 months, native yeast fermentation, no filtering or fining, no additions except a tiny bit of SO2]
WHO IS SHIBA WICHERN CELLARS?
Yup, this is my favorite picture of us.Akiko Shiba (the boss) has a degree in viticulture and enology from University Geisenheim in Germany’s Rheingau. She also has the vision and the single mindedness needed for growing grapes and making wines. I keep the equipment running.
We lease blocks at vineyards in the McMinnville, Eola-Amity Hills and Van Duzer Corridor AVAs. We perform the labor from pruning to picking in our blocks. Not because we think we do it better and we are certainly not fast or particularly efficient, but doing the labor keeps us 100% in tune with what is happening with every vine in every row. This in depth understanding of the growing season allows us to further refine and adjust how we handle the grapes and subsequently the wines in the cellar.
2023 was Shiba Wichern Cellars 11th vintage and the second in our “new” facility in the hills above Willamina Oregon. In additional to living here and making wine in the barn next to the house, we are also slowly planting grapes.
By typical commercial standards we’re planting all wrong. We’re planting own-rooted vines. We’re planting a white field-blend. We’re planting in amongst the towering Oregon white-oaks. We’ll be farming (militantly) regeneratively. We’re not doing all of that just to make our lives difficult, of course. There are lots of reasons and ideas driving us, but the most important one is to create the situation for ourselves to make the the best wines we possibly can.
Break time while planting the nursery…
