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This website will hopefully serve as a doorway to information. You will notice a few Italian words or expressions from time to time. I love the language as it is also part of my history. There are notes included for words/terms of interest.

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Nemarniki is named after the village from where my father immigrated (Croatia. Formally Yugoslavia). It seemed a fitting name….in my parents honor. My mother’s family immigrated from Italy and Sicily. The Nemarniki labels are graced with their photos. Wine and bread made by one relative or another were always a part of the table. My father would say “Vino per l’anno, pane per il giorno” (Wine for the year, bread for the day). Perhaps influenced at an early age, working with grapes seemed my destiny.

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With the help of family and friends, the first vines were planted in 2011. I am forever grateful and indebted to these willing souls who so easily gave and continue to give me support in this endeavor. Moltie grazie atua voi.

 

The Vineyard

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Nemarniki Vineyard is situated in the Laurelwood District AVA, which is located in it's entirety within the Chehalem Mountains AVA in Oregon's Willamette Valley. At an approximately 800 foot elevation, the vines stretch their roots into the Laurelwood soil primarily comprised of Loess and Volcanic Basalt.

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In 2014 Nemarniki became certified LIVE and SALMON SAFE and has continued to achieve certification every year. A proud accomplishment of sustainable farming practices which are essential to Nemarniki’s philosophy of attaining quality versus quantity as well as respect for our Earth. That same year Francisco Cervantes Flores joined Nemarniki bringing his many years of vineyard management experience. He cared for the vines as much as I do; he retired in 2020. I must also mention the Latinx crews. They are hard working people and are often forgotten. The wine industry could not exist without their labor. They are truly stewards of the vineyards. Muchas gracias. 

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The Wine

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2009 was the first vintage for Nemarniki wine, a humble beginning producing four barrels of single clone (Pommard) Pinot Noir. Perhaps it was beginners luck in producing the first commercial vintage, it is a fine wine and continues to drink well. Before becoming a legal entity, wine was made in dorm rooms at college, and after that garages and basements. My neighbors were not exactly crazy about the two to three weeks of visiting fruit flies during fermentation, but did try the wine and gave me great feedback. My guinea pigs, God bless them.  Since then, I have had the privilege and pleasure of working for and besides accomplished wine makers and growers as well as other industry entities. The willingness to share knowledge and information seems synonymous with the Oregon wine industry. I am most grateful to all that have helped me learn. Grazie! My education is forever ongoing with classes, seminars and conferences. My scholastic background of science has lent itself well in understanding the world of winemaking and viticulture.

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Thank you to the wineries who support Nemarniki Vineyard by buying my fruit:

• AMATERRA/51 WEEKS WINERY

• DAY WINES

• FULLERTON WINES

• JACKALOPE CELLARS

• MALOOF WINES

 

This website is written by an aging (I like to think gracefully), somewhat outre grower of grapes and maker of wines….a dream come true. I have much to be thankful for.

 

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Notes:

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American Viticulture Area (AVA)

Each AVA is identified as “a delimited, grape growing region distinguished by geographical features, boundaries of which have been delineated by an approval map.” The regional designation of winegrowing regions in the US is controlled by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

 

LIVE

LIVE stands for Low Input Viticulture and Enology. LIVE is a member governed not-for-profit program that uses third party certification to verify what they publicly claim about their sustainable practices. Through its standards and reliance on collaborative research, LIVE promotes the use of environmentally safe, economically feasible and socially equitable management practices in the vineyard and winery.

 

Vines Grown at Nemarniki Vineyard

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Pinot Noir Clones

• Pommard

• 777

• Wadenswil

• 115

 

Chardonnay Clones

• 76

• 96

 

Early ripening Muscat (also called July Variety)

 

Riesling Clone

• Geisenheim

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Gamay Noir

 

Aligote

 

 

Barrels

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One barrel (Burgundy type)  =  228 liters / 60 gallons yielding  300 750ml bottles (25 cases)

One ton of grapes  =  2.5 barrels