Umpqua Valley Wine: Melrose Winery
Melrose Vineyards is located on the bench of the South Umpqua River where once stood an early French Settlement.
Umpqua Valley Wine history suggests that it was in the Mid 1800s when the Archembeau family settled and became owners of this settlement by filing a land grant. Through the years, many different agricultural crops have been produced on this site.
Melrose Vineyards’ owners (Wayne and the late Deedy Parker) arrived in 1996 to make Umpqua Valley Wine.
Wayne, with a successful 20-year history of growing grapes to be used as raisins in the San Joaquin Valley, was on a mission to plant a sizeable vineyard. He had predicted that Southern Oregon would be one of the next great viticulture areas in the United States. As it turns out, Wayne was correct.
The original vineyard of 82 acres was planted in the summer of 1996. During the first winter, there occurred a “100-year Flood.” This unforeseen event had a devastating effect on the property because five acres of the fertile land was washed away with the flood waters.
This event showed the true nature of the land, and that flood-related damage was a real problem. Once realizing the threat of Mother Nature, the entire property was developed to prevent irreparable damage caused by future floods.
As the first crops were harvested a few years later, the uniqueness of this river bottom site was shown to be a worthwhile investment. The grapes received rave reviews from the high-end wineries purchasing the fruit.
Given the great success of their grape production, the Parkers decided to make Umpqua Valley Wine.
In 2000, the first wines were in the barrels and it was decided that the 100-year-old barn on the property, complete with breathtaking views, would be the ideal location for the Melrose tasting,room.
The barn tasting room was rebuilt from the ground up, leaving only the main timbers of the structure intact in order to maintain its structural integrity and historical value.
Many original features of the structure were retained so you can still enjoy the authenticity of the original barn, creating a wonderful place to enjoy delicious Melrose wines while you slip back in time.
Hillcrest Winery in the Umpqua Valley
Hillcrest is Oregon’s oldest estate winery and the birthplace of Oregon Pinot Noir.
It was founded by the “Father of Oregon Wine”, Richard Sommer,
Dyson DeMara, now the owner, enjoyed a career in the wine industry spaning 32 years and multiple continents, including Europe, South America and Asia.
He has worked for Pine Ridge and Robert Mondavi Winery and his experience includes viticulture, winemaking, marketing and research.
DeMara previously owned a winery in Napa Valley and currently is the owner and winemaker of HillCrest Winery and Distillery, Oregon’s oldest estate winery. In addition to Oregon he also makes wine in Spain, France and Germany.
HillCrest was honored along with such wineries as Baron Ricasoli of Tuscany, the creator of Chianti and Schloss Johannisberg, the site and birthplace of German Riesling.
They use the most traditional of techniques to capture the perfume and textures of our unique vineyard sites. These techniques include all dry-farmed, old vine, hillside vineyards followed inside by the use of patented fermenters, 30-60 day skin contact on red and barrel aging of 2-4 years.
Beginning in 2010, they now produce wines from different corners of the old world. These wines, like our Oregon wine, come from the grapes that helped develop the reputation of these world class wine areas.
The varieties they make include Carignan, Grenache, Syrah, Lladoner Pelut, Frappato, Nero D’Avola and Riesling.
The family’s wines are not sold in stores.
Paul O'Brien Winery in the Umpqua Valley
Paul O’Brien Winery sources grapes from dry farmed, hillside vineyards throughout the Umpqua Valley. This approach allows us to ensure that we are selecting vineyard sites that are perfectly matched to a particular variety. We have partnered with eight different growers who are dedicated to growing the finest winegrapes for the Paul O’Brien wines.
The Paul O'Brien People
So who is Paul O’Brien, you ask? Well, he is the culmination of twenty years of friendship between two winemakers who share a passion for fine wine, great food and a gracious life. Dyson Paul DeMara and Scott O’Brien Kelley met while working at Robert Mondavi Winery in the Napa Valley.
Since then they have travelled the world’s wine regions learning the old world traditions and sharing new world techniques. In 2013 the duo came together to start the Umpqua Valley’s first urban winery in the historic Hansen Chevrolet building in downtown Roseburg, Oregon.
Scott Kelley began his career in winemaking at Edgewood Estate in the Napa Valley after graduating from University of California, Davis.
In 1999, he joined the Robert Mondavi Family of Wines as Assistant Winemaker at La Famiglia di Robert Mondavi before being promoted to Director of Winemaking in 2001.
In 2003 his winemaking role expanded to include representing Robert Mondavi’s interests in Italy, working with the wines of Luce, Lucente and Ornellaia as well as in Australia on a joint venture with Rosemount Estates.
Since then he served as GM/Director of Winemaking for Estancia Estates in Monterey County, California before making the jump to Oregon to fulfill his dream of starting his own winery.
The Umpqua Valley has a special place in Scott’s heart as he grew up fly fishing the North Umpqua River with his father. He knew that someday he would move to the area to make wine and raise a family.
Scott, his wife Dena and their son Logan have recently settled in Roseburg.
Trella Vineyards
The Williams family established Trella Vineyards in 2011. After moving to Roseburg in 2007, the family began making friends with local winemakers and grew to appreciate the potential of the Umpqua Valley.
They rapidly evolved from wine neophytes to enthusiastic consumers, and eventually caught the fever for winegrowing. An 80 acre hillside parcel at the base of the Callahan Mountains was slowly tamed and a small vineyard was planted by hand in 2012.
A second planting was made in 2013. With help from all three generations of the family and handfuls of sympathetic friends, Trella Vineyards grew to seven acres of vines.
Terry Brandborg of Brandborg Winery became the winemaker in 2015 and his award-winning expertise yielded spectacular Trella wines.
You’ll also like:
Columbia Gorge & Mount Hood APA
