Capital press., September 13, 2019, Page 39, Image 39

Friday, September 13, 2019
CapitalPress.com
9
From a hobby to a
commercial vineyard
By ALIYA HALL
For the Capital Press
ALPINE, Ore. — As wine hobbyists, Sue
and Neil Shay were not originally planning
to create a commercial vineyard when they
bought their 6-acre property in 2010.
“We bought it for the view,” Sue said.
“We were already wine hobbyists before
we moved here, we have been making wine
together since the early 2000s. We thought it
would be a hobby vineyard and we’d grow
wine from that, and sometime over the sum-
mer we knocked our heads together and
decided to become a commercial winery.”
The Shays had started by planting a quar-
ter of an acre in 2013, clearing out the over-
grown Christmas tree farm.
From there, they ordered 2,500 vines for
the following spring, and continued to pur-
chase more vines. Bluebird Hill Cellars was
born, named after the population of bluebirds
that inhabit the property.
The Shays grow 80% Pinot noir grapes,
15% Chardonnay grapes and 5% Pinot gris
grapes. As of last year, their wine was pro-
duced half-and-half from their grapes and the
grapes from other vineyards.
At 1,000 cases of production, they have
10 wines: a red and white blend, three whites,
one rosé, four Pinot noirs and one Syrah.
One of the biggest challenges for the
Shays was scaling up production. The first
year they opened with 214 cases of seven dif-
ferent wines.
“That for us seemed like we were making
a lot because before that we only made one
barrel (around 25 cases),” Neil said.
To avoid any big mistakes, the Shays hired
an Oregon State University student consul-
tant, and Sue said in retrospect it was a “great
idea” that made the learning curve much
easier.
“One of the things we love about wine, you
can spend your whole life learning about it and
still not know it all,” Sue said. “It’s constantly
challenging and you’re constantly learning.”
Along with the winery, they also rent two
rooms out as a bed and breakfast. Having a
bed and breakfast was always a dream for
Sue, but she said that life had gotten in the
way. As things were picking up with the vine-
yard in 2015, Sue opened the bed and break-
fast at the house.
“It’s worked out really well,” she said, “A
lot of people like to stay on the vineyard.”
She added that bed and breakfasts at a
vineyard are starting to be more common, and
since they opened a few other smaller winer-
ies have started doing it, too.
“Sue is a great hostess,” Neil said about his
wife. “She has a 9.9 out of 10 rating on book-
ing.com.”
For Sue, the biggest reward has been the
sense of accomplishment “of what we put
together, just the two of us. Being able to
say we built this, we planted this vineyard.”
While that is part of it for Neil, another
big part has been the feedback they have
received about their wines.
“We’re pouring 10 wines and for some-
one to go through the tasting and say all
these wines are really good,” he said.
One couple had told him that they had
the best selection of wines in the South-
ern Willamette Valley. “That was a nice
compliment.”
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Sue and Neil Shay with
their dog Winston
at their vineyard,
Bluebird Hill Cellars, in
Alpine, Ore.
Aliya Hall/For the Capital Press
V19-4/100