Friday, September 9, 2022
CapitalPress.com
5
Melrose Vineyards: ‘Tenacious’ owner makes dream a reality
By CRAIG REED
For the Capital Press
Craig Reed/For the Capital Press
Craig Reed/For the Capital Press
Cody Parker works on the chemistry aspect of wine in the lab at Melrose Vineyards.
Parker has been the lead winemaker at the family business near Roseburg, Ore.,
since 2009.
purchased and planted. The
Parkers’ son, Cody, moved
back to the family business
in 2009 after studying to be
a winemaker in California.
He turned Melrose Vineyard
grapes into wines at neigh-
boring wineries until Melrose
completed the construction of
its winery in 2013. An event
venue was part of that project.
“Deedy said if we built it,
they would come,” Wayne
Parker said of the event venue
that now draws several spe-
cial gatherings a month. “It
was part of the business plan,
but I also like to cook for those
events.”
Deedy Parker died in 2011
after a long battle against can-
cer so wasn’t able to see the
success of the event venue that
she proposed and was con-
structed two years later.
“My parents were vision-
ary,” Cody Parker said. “They
were not afraid of change,
to uproot their lives and to
take on a new opportunity.
They persevered and found
success.”
Cody said both he and his
father are passionate about
the vineyard and growing the
grapes, but then “his passion
is to cook and mine is to be a
flavor maker, a winemaker.”
“I’d say I’m maxxed out
for my age,” said Wayne
Parker, now 69. “I love this
industry. We were small and
then all of a sudden we got
big. It’s a great big job now,
but I figure I got the big-
gest playground in Douglas
County.”
Wayne Parker has remar-
ried and his wife Kerry helps
run the business.
Cody Parker has pur-
chased 50 acres and planted
it to grapes. He’s also devel-
oped and manages 50 acres
of vineyard for other owners.
“I want Melrose Vine-
yards to become a legacy
estate, to maintain and build
on its success and to promote
Umpqua Valley’s wine qual-
ity and potential tourism,”
Cody Parker said of the
future he sees for the family
business.
Wayne Parker describes himself as a consumer of wine
who loves to cook. The owner of Melrose Vineyards pre-
pares salmon fillets for a wine dinner at the vineyard’s
event venue.
Anthony and Matt will help you
CONSERVE WATER AND ENERGY AND
PUT THE SAVINGS IN YOUR POCKET!
Anthony Tasselli
(left)
Is a Drip/Micro Specialist, fully trained in Irricad
Design, plus a certified Nelson Twig System
Designer. Ag and Environmental Tech degree
from NC State.
Matt Corcoran (right)
Is a Certified Irrigation Designer with over 30
years irrigation experience, specializing in Micro-
Irrigation, Filtration, and Water Treatment.
Ernst Irrigation is a full service dealership, including
a Supervising Electrician on staff. We can handle it!
Website: www.ErnstIrrigation.com
S223647-1
S182777-1
ROSEBURG, Ore. — A
flood that wiped out 10 acres
of wine grape grafts that had
been planted during previous
months did not deter Wayne
Parker.
“I’m tenacious,” said
Parker, remembering his
first year in Oregon in 1996.
“Everybody thought I was
going to quit and go home.
But here I am.”
Parker and his wife, Deedy,
had sold their vineyard and
catering business in Fresno,
Calif., and moved north for
a change of pace and a lit-
tle less heat. They consulted
with Cal Henry and his son,
Scott Henry, the owners of
Henry Estate Winery, and then
began transitioning the pasture
land they had purchased in the
Melrose area west of Rose-
burg into a vineyard.
“Scott Henry wanted to
build the wine industry in Ore-
gon and I was in the develop-
ment mode,” Wayne Parker
said of establishing Melrose
Vineyards.
But a South Umpqua River
100-year flood during the
1996-97 winter washed out
5 acres of bank and 10 acres
of new plantings. The Parkers
didn’t quit on their dream and
goal, but instead spent three
months cleaning up debris
that was hung up on the young
vineyard’s trellis system. With
the help of federal funds, the
bank of the river was rebuilt
and solidified and the ground
was planted again with grafted
canes.
The vineyard totaled 80
acres of Pinot noir and Pinot
gris grapes. The first crop was
harvested in 1999.
A year later an adjoining
50 acres was purchased and
planted to Pinot noir.
The business continued to
expand with a 100-year-old
barn on the property being
renovated into a wine-tasting
room and nearby parcels of
100 acres and 30 acres being
20179 Main St. • St. Paul, OR 97137 • 503-633-1111