Eugene weekly., May 17, 2012, Page 42, Image 42

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UNCORKED
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THERESE AND BRIAN SCHAFER
O F T E B R I V I N E YA R D S
P H OTO B Y R O B S Y D O R | D I G I TA L L AT T E . C O M
The Sun Also Rises
A crop of new wineries grows in sleepy little Monroe BY LANCE SPARKS
T
he Broadleys’ home, a dark, beveled-cedar
single-story, sits near the top of the hill
above their vineyards. From the front deck,
the south Willamette Valley is revealed to
the east — lush, green with farms, fi elds
and stands of oaks and fi rs. On clear days, snow-capped
peaks of the Cascades gleam in the sunlight, from Mt. Hood
in the north to the Three Sisters in the south.
In front of the house, the B R O A D L E Y V I N E YA R D S
are just beginning to fl ush with new growth; especially
enticing is the set of north-facing vines that produce the
grapes for Claudia’s Choice, Broadleys’ premier bottling,
their prize-winner.
The Broadleys pioneered this area, displacing
Christmas-tree farms and goat ranching (Morgan Broadley
has brought back goats) and proving that wine grapes,
vinis vinifera, could thrive here and yield world-class
wines. Thirty years of successful growing blazed a trail to
Monroe, and others have followed.
Now, just downslope from the Broadley homestead
and southerly around the hill along Orchard Tract Road, a
handsome wrought-iron gate, painted a shade of celadon,
marks the entry to W H Y B R A V I N E YA R D S . Nothing here
invites visitors, especially not the slinking German shepherd
who tracks the car just outside the driver’s door. At the end
of the steeply sloping crushed-basalt driveway sits a trailer
under trees, a few sheds and outbuildings nearby.
Christi Alvarez — in broad-brimmed hat and blue
rubber gloves — stays here with her two watchful hounds.
She actually lives in Sun River and comes over to carefully
tend her 11.5 acres of pinot noir. The vineyard was planted
6 EUGENE WEEKLY’S UNCORKED
in 1992, but wines wearing the Whybra label didn’t appear
until 2007. Whybra 2009 Pinot Noir is not widely distributed
but can be found at the Longbranch Saloon, just across the
highway from the Broadley tasting room in Monroe.
Downslope, around the bend and up another crude
driveway, we fi nd the pole building that Brian and Therese
Schafer converted to an apartment for themselves and a
winery for their newly established T E B R I V I N E YA R D S .
They’ve just released their 2009 pinot noir, a palpable hit.
Before he retired, Brian had been fi re chief in Lake
Tahoe but concluded “fi refi ghting at age 60 is not a good
idea.” How good an idea was it to start a vineyard?
“What the hell was I thinking? A vineyard? Gimme a
break.” No breaks; Brian built the house by hand; Therese
turned it into a comfortable, attractive home.
In the attached winery the Schafers keep a camp tent set
up for when the (fully grown) kids and grandkids come to
visit. The Schafers are a strikingly attractive couple, fi t and
lively, who “always loved wines.”
When Brian’s retirement approached, they started
shopping for land, someplace sweet, someplace they
could explore “life after fi re”: “The further south we got,
the more we liked it.” That included the wines; then they
tasted Broadley Claudia’s Choice.
Now, Brian says, “Our goal is to make pinot noir that
stands up not only to the best wine in the state but is also one
of the best in Monroe.” Holding hands, Brian and Therese
amble down a grassy lane to introduce us to their neighbors.
Just across the fi eld from TeBri, Phil and Nancy
McCullum, both retired educators, have launched S W E E T
E A R T H V I N E YA R D S . They bought their fi ve acres
in 2005, with 3.5 acres of pinot noir and pinot gris that
had already been planted in 2003. They bottled their fi rst
vintage in 2009 and have been winning prizes since: Sweet
Earth 2010 Estate Pinot Noir won Gold and a Grand Award
of Excellence at this year’s Oregon Wine Awards; the SE
2011 Rosé of Pinot Noir took Gold at Newport’s Wine and
Food Fest. Their tasting room is ready to open on weekends
during the coming season, Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Further downslope, making a couple of curves along
Coon Road, we roll into L O N E O A K V I N E YA R D S to meet
Dave and Yvonne Miller. Their house faces south, looking
across four acres fi rst planted in 1999, now growing pinot
noir, pinot gris, syrah and even one row of Sangiovese.
Yvonne retired from Elmira High School; Dave’s retired, a
“machinist by trade,” but still working.
Dave says they started the vineyard “to supplement
our health insurance.” He opens the doors to their two-car
garage, revealing “maybe the world’s smallest winery”
— fermenting tanks, barrels and all in a space that could
hold two compacts. Lone Oak 2008 Pinot Noir Reserve,
however, is seriously good wine, top-shelf quality but
accessible price, and the next vintages should be exciting.
More vineyards are being planted around Monroe, even
in this wobbly economy. The Broadleys’ success, the suc-
cesses had by Steve Girard at Benton-Lane Vineyards just
a couple miles south of Monroe, even the successes of the
area’s newbies, all these have viniculturalists and their
agents scouting the warm slopes of the eastern edge of the
Coast Range foothills.
There’s no doubt anymore: This is wine country —
damn good wine, too. F
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