About Us

The name VIDON (vee-dohn) comes from Vicki and Don, founders of VIDON vineyard. It is also the name of a French Intellectual Property law firm headquartered in Rennes and founded by Patrice Vidon. We were invited by Patrice and visited him in 2011in his Chateau Near St. Malo that was built in 1670 .

Don's vision for VIDON was shaped by two life experiences - having been born and raised on a farm in North Dakota and living in France on a post-graduate assignment. As a result, he likes farming and he loves good Burgundy wines. This led to his plan to develop a small vineyard with a winery that produced premium estate Pinot Noir wines. He does most of the work himself except for the vineyard hand labor, something he's not afraid of - there's real pleasure in developing new skills and creating something from scratch. He believes that "it's the journey, not the destination" that is most satisfying.

Winemaking

Our boutique winery on the vineyard practices minimal intervention in winemaking. The processes are gentle and natural with gravity used whenever possible to avoid pumping - meaning a forklift is often required. Our style is not to make the big, fruit-forward wines that garner high marks with major wine publications so we no longer submit samples for review. Our Cellar Club and other customers feedback is what is most valued.

The grapes are picked by hand and delivered in small bins to the winery on the vineyard. The fruit is generally very clean when it arrives but it is hand-sorted again before passing into the de-stemmer and 1 ½ ton fermentation tanks. After an initial "cold soak" (below 60 degrees) for 3 to 5 days to extract color and flavor from Pinot Noir's small, thin-skinned grapes, fermentation is allowed to occur spontaneously with indigenous yeasts. The cap is punched down by hand, usually twice each day in the beginning and as needed thereafter. After fermentation is complete (usually 7 to 10 days) the wine is allowed to settle for a few days before being moved into French oak barrels and then into the barrel room for aging and malolactic fermentation.

We produce only premium Pinot Noirs with between 1,000 and 1,300 cases annually. All our Pinot Noir wines are Estate with the exception of Chardonnay and Pinot Gris purchased from the Dundee Hills and when available, Tempranillo, Syrah and Cabernet Franc.  Recently planted blocks include Syrah, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Viognier and this spring Tempranillo will be planted.

Why the Bee?

The Bee on our labels and capsule came about because of the old well house on the property that contained a very large hive between its studs. After our home was built in the summer of 2003, we heard much buzzing while sitting on the deck one evening. Upon looking under the deck, we discovered that the electrician had left a hole that led to the space between floors. As they do every year, bees swarmed and set up housekeeping in our new abode. This experience resulted in many photos and a few stings and led to our use of the bee on our packaging.