Page 35 - Grapevine NovDec 2021

In The Winery

“We take great pride in producing drinkable wines so that when we leave, the property will be better
on release,” he told The Grapevine Magazine. than it was when we found it.”
“When we offer tastings, our visitors enjoy all of
our wines, not just one or two. That’s quite an Whatever direction Mathy and her team decide
accomplishment.” to go, you can be sure that the winery will remain
a favorite go-to destination as long as she is in the
When not in the winery, the vineyards or greeting picture. “It’s a beautiful, old farmhouse, and it’s
customers in the tasting room, Mathy and her staff very quaint in the way it’s oriented,” Mathy said.
are active members of the community. Mathy, for “When you walk through the breezeway, you see
example, has been involved with the Boys and Girls the beautiful hills of Dry Creek Valley. It’s so cozy,
Club for a dozen years and has served on boards so comfortable, that you just leave your worries
that help various children’s causes. The winery also behind.”
donates proceeds to melanoma cancer research If that view isn’t enough, when the tasting room
in honor of Mathy’s late father. During the recent is open, you can relax by the stone fireplace, con-
fires, Mathy’s staff of 20-plus people took it upon structed of old railroad pieces, and admire the 1892
themselves to cook for firefighters and help find penny-farthing bicycle that sits nearby. The bicycle
homes for displaced people. is the last Christmas gift Mathy received from her
late father. It also features on the Dutcher Crossing
“When people ask me what the greatest thing is wine labels as a tribute to their wine journey
about being a winery owner, I tell them it’s watch- together, a journey that made a dream come true
ing my staff grow and mature to become better for a young girl from Wisconsin.
professionals and better leaders,” she said. This is
where the excitement is for me right now.” For more information on Dutcher Crossing, visit
Mathy has established a dynamic where all of the www.dutchercrossingwinery.com
staff members consider themselves part of a fam-
ily. “When the fires break out, we call each other
first and say, ‘Hey, I need help,’ and no one says ‘I
can’t.’ It’s always ‘Come, we’ll figure it out.’”
Unfortunately, Dutcher Crossing lost 98% of its crop
to smoke taint in last year’s fires. “It was awful,”
Mathy said. “But when I look back, I see that the
community grew together, and the relationships we
had built also grew. And it could have been worse.
If the firefighters had not done their job, it would
have been catastrophic.”

As Dutcher Crossing looks to the future, the team
is considering options for diversifying by creating
more wine brands or finding opportunities for
grape-growing in Oregon and Washington State.
But what’s primarily on everyone’s mind are the
unknowns: those that come with fires, smoke dam-
age and climate change. One challenge Mathy and
Briggs face, for example, is how to balance cover
crops that provide nutrients to the soil but also add
fuel to the fires. “We may have to make strategic
changes in the vineyards,” she said, “and will face
some hard choices in the next five or six years. But
primarily, we want to be good stewards of the land

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