Organic Matters

By Gail Oberst Life’s twists and turns often alter one’s career path. Before Dai Crisp, longtime Oregon vineyard manager, began caring for his parents’ four acres of Pinot Noir– a former dude ranch they purchased in the 1970s, he set his sights on theater, studying at Oregon State University and UC Irvine.  Then, a love of farming called him back to vineyard work in 1985. On the farm, Crisp began experimenting with organic methods on the wine grapes and other crops. Farming organically was rarer for the time. He took on additional work in the Southern Willamette Valley– planting, hedging, harvesting, and much more. “I did every single job in the vineyard,” he recalled. In 1989, with experience and a good reputation in hand, Crisp was hired by Chancy Croft, founder of Polk County’s Croft Vineyards (with his family). Croft approved his plan to create an organic vineyard. “I’d always questioned the use of herbicides,”

by Hilary Berg · source ↗