Coattails is a partnership between the three sons – Jared, Michael, Jr., and Nathan – of Michael G. Etzel, operating partner of Beaux Frères Vineyards in the Ribbon Ridge AVA of Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Raised on the estate until each of the three departed in his own time to Oregon State University, these second-generation winemakers are employing the benefits of learning the craft firsthand as far back as their earliest memories will take them, while also collectively discovering their own voices in both the vineyard and winery.
Michael, Sr. arrived in the Willamette Valley with his wife Jacqueline and their three boys in 1987, shortly after having spotted a serendipitous classified ad while on a family vacation in Oregon a year earlier. The ad described an 88-acre pig farm in federal foreclosure, what would later become the property where the Beaux Frères Vineyard stands today. The family's initial goal for that property was simple: to grow great fruit and to raise the boys in a quiet, nurturing environment. And while those two principals were steadfastly followed, the undeniably world-class fruit that came out of the vineyard under Michael, Sr.’s stewardship would up the ante for what the family's endeavor in Oregon would ultimately prove capable of achieving.
With the release of their first vintage in 2007, the Etzel brothers provided their own proof that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Devoted to the memory of their mother - who also played a significant role in planting the Beaux Frères Vineyard - these wines demonstrate an uncompromising commitment to meticulous stewardship in the vineyard, craftsmanship and precision in the winery, and an artful approach to their final presentation in the bottle. Decidedly evocative and intricately layered, the Coattails wines represent a quintessential addition to the Oregon story.
