Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Joe Swick is a fifth-generation Oregonian whose family’s roots are based in eastern Oregon and the Columbia Gorge area. Joe worked his first harvest as a cellar assistant at Owen Roe in 2003. Over the next 10 years, Joe worked more than 15 harvests across many of the world’s great winemaking regions including Portugal, Italy, New Zealand, Tasmania, and California. In 2013, he returned to the Willamette Valley in Oregon to make wine form the Pacific Northwest under his own name. Joe sources his grapes from organic, biodynamic and sustainable vineyards. His focus is on Pinot Noir, but he also works with several other grape varieties from the colder areas of Oregon and Washington. His focus is on producing terroir driven, additive free wines, using native yeasts, aging in old barrels and adding minimal sulphur during bottling. Through his experiences and travels, he concluded that wine should be made simply and authentically, and most importantly, express place and vintage. In his words: “I like the real deal. No maquillage [makeup].”