Capital press., September 13, 2019, Page 32, Image 32

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CapitalPress.com
Friday, September 13, 2019
Young couple starts winery from scratch
By CRAIG REED
few different styles of
and Jane are the mid-
For the Capital Press
dle names of the two
wine.”
owners, who are both
The business plan
now 31 years old.
for the JosephJane
Leon Glaser is in
Winery is to purchase
his 10th year of com-
grapes from South-
ern Oregon growers
mercial wine mak-
ing. He learned the
to make wine for the
details of that profes-
JosephJane label and
sion by doing some
to custom crush and
internships at differ-
make wine for grow-
ers. Leon Glaser said
ent wineries and by
his goal is to annu-
working at his fam-
ally make 600 to 800
ily’s winery. He also
cases of wine for his
learned from his
own label and to cus-
mother, Sandra Gla-
tom crush 100 tons
ser, who was one of
of grapes for other
the first students to
Craig Reed/For the Capital Press
labels. He said sig-
attend classes and
graduate from the Leon and Kayla Glaser opened their nificant progress has
viticulture program new winery, JosephJane Winery, in been made to meet
those goals.
at Umpqua Commu- 2017.
nity College.
“We make sure we
“We cross taught each other,” Leon Gla- have a full menu of wines, from dry to sweet,”
ser said of the mother and son sharing infor- he said of the JosephJane label. “Whatever
mation. “I am comfortable making quite a wine you like to drink we’ll have one or two
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ROSEBURG, Ore. — Leon Glaser
learned about winemaking and about the
industry while working for his family’s vine-
yard and winery business.
When that business, Glaser Estate Winery,
was sold in September 2016, Glaser was only
28 years old, but he had the confidence and
experience to venture out on his own.
Two months after that sale, Leon and his
soon-to-be wife, Kayla, purchased 4.3 acres
of ground that had previously been a hay field
with a good dose of wild blackberries.
“I didn’t want a fixer-upper property with
issues we had to deal with,” Glaser said. “I
wanted to start from scratch.”
The land was cleared and a winery and
tasting room with inside and outside seating
were constructed.
“From my experience at the previous win-
ery, I had an idea about what did work and
what didn’t work in the design and layout of
the winery and tasting room,” Glaser said.
When construction was complete, the
JosephJane Winery in the Garden Valley
area a few miles northwest of Roseburg was
opened by the young couple in 2017. Joseph
wines that you will prefer.”
Glaser said being a good winemaker
involves organization, cleanliness and “doing
everything with the grapes and with the wine
making when it needs to be done.”
“I’m also flexible with trying new tech-
niques and styles,” he added.
While Glaser works full-time with the
winery, Kayla Glaser is a full-time nurse in
the day surgery department at Mercy Medical
Center in Roseburg. But she does find time to
manage the JosephJane wine club and social
media, to do the business’ bookkeeping and
to help in the tasting room.
While wine is their specialty, the Glasers
also offer six local beers on tap in their tasting
room and they finished constructing a wood
fired pizza oven in July.
“I’m really happy with our current
sales,” Leon Glaser said. “Ninety to 95 per-
cent of our sales are through the tasting
room. It’s nice to be able to tell our story
directly to consumers. When people come
in, they know I’m behind the bar or within
50 steps of the room and that I’m available
to answer their questions.”
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