Hello!
From the onset, we have and still “do-it-all” at iOTA Cellars. By the “we,” I mean myself, my wife, Johanna, our sister-in-law, Lynne as well as the crews of wonderful people through the years that have helped us farm our grapes. I’m the vineyard manager for Pelos Sandberg Vineyard and currently the lead winemaker, after taking the helm from my wife Johanna, who still lends crucial support in this area as we raise and nurture our two children along with the grapes. Lynne helps out at our harvests, open houses and with sales, marketing and social media support.
In a nutshell, iOTA Cellars has always been a family-team endeavor. We live and work on this idyllic 14.2 acre vineyard nestled in the picturesque Eola-Amity Hills of the Willamette Valley and our children attend school in the little town called Amity, just 2.5 miles down-the-road. No famous winemakers, or wine consultants here producing our wines. No three tier gravity flow winery with a huge staff. Just us most of time, other than at harvest/crush when we get some helping hands, meticulously farming and making our wines, Pinot Noir, Rosé of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, under 1200 cases at a time. We tend our vines and work at a tiny winery in a beautiful setting, paying attention to the details, caring and putting in a lot of sweat equity.
We have also sold our grapes to friends and colleagues that you may have heard of and whose wines you may be familiar with already, like Big Table Farm currently, and in the past, Beaux Freres, Bergstrom, EIEIO and Rex Hill. If you’d like to do some further “arm-chair” traveling, check out our website to learn more about our story and/or order some wine in the future. [www.iotacellars.com]
Appreciate your interest!
Don Sandberg
iOTA Cellars
co-owner/winemaker/vineyard mgr.