Dry Farming
We also strongly believe in the values of dry-farming — that is to say growing our grapes without the use of any irrigation. (They are so strongly convinced in France that irrigating is simply illegal there.) We get plenty of water from October thru June here in the Willamette Valley. (If you've ever been here in the winter or spring, you'll know what we're talking about!)
The beauty of working with old, non-irrigated vines is that their roots go down deep (50, 60 feet or more) through many layers of soils, sub-soils, and various strata of rock. It is generally believed that the roots' penetration of these many different layers is part of what brings greater complexity and depth of flavors to the resulting fruit.
Why do the roots go so deep? In order to seek water and nutrients. If you irrigate the vines and give them water that's easy to drink at the surface, the plant is essentially infantilized — with its roots spreading our horizontally just below the surface rather than searching for all the goodies down below. Ultimately, like most of winegrowing/winemaking, the best results often stem from simply letting nature take its course.