The September Allocation
Two Wines From 2022
On September 1, we’ll release two new Burnt Hill estate wines through our Member Allocation: 2022 Gamay and 2022 Terrafirma.
2022 is a vintage we’ll never separate from the year I was diagnosed with AML. Almost overnight, on April 10th, the rhythms we had taken for granted—the return of spring, imminent bud break, another growing season ahead—felt very far away.
That spring, our team planted another 10,000 vines by hand at Burnt Hill. I joined on FaceTime from a bed on the blood cancer floor at Hopkins on Earth Day and watched years of planning manifest without me there. It was hard and beautiful at the same time.
There was something humbling about watching it all continue. We weren’t in control of very much that year, but the kind, hard working people around us kept showing up.
We held onto the hope that I would one day return to those rhythms.
And, thanks to the best medical care in the world and the grace of God, I did.
2022 Gamay
Burnt Hill Gamay has always felt a little otherworldly. Ethereal and whimsical, almost elusive. It never asks for much attention, but somehow makes you stop and think.
It draws you toward the land it came from, the season that shaped it, and the people who cared for it along the way.
This Gamay was harvested on September 7, 2022. Lisa guided it through a natural fermentation in large ash foeders made from trees grown here on the farm, followed by three quiet years resting in barrel. From the vintage, we selected just two barrels to bottle individually.
The passage of time feels important. Not because three years in barrel is some technical achievement, but because while this wine was changing, so was I.
2022 Terrafirma
Terrafirma has always been a wine of the earth and its people. Dark, grounded, and steady, it brings together red varieties growing across Burnt Hill into a wine born from living soils, deep roots, and a farm we understand as its own living organism.
In 2022 we were given a beautiful growing season. We let much of the fruit hang through the remnants of Hurricane Ian, trusting the fruit and the forecast. The gamble paid off. Sunshine, wind, and cool nights followed, and the grapes came in beautifully ripe in the final weeks of the season.
Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot were each harvested in their own moment. Lisa fermented them naturally and gave each wine time to evolve in foeder and neutral oak before bringing them together three years later.
Individual parts, rooted in the same earth, becoming stronger and more complete together.
Three years later, we get to share these wines together.
Wine marks time in a strange and beautiful way.
We’re deeply proud of these bottles, grateful for the people who carried our family and farm through that vintage, and so happy to offer 2022 Gamay and 2022 Terrafirma first to our members beginning September 1.
With gratitude,
-Drew Baker, farmer and founding partner
2022 Terrafirma — Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot grown at Burnt Hill, fermented naturally, and given three years to find their way together.