Willamette Valley Vineyards, Inc. was formed in May 1988 to produce and sell
premium, super premium and ultra-premium varietals. The Company was originally
established as a sole proprietorship by Oregon winegrower Jim Bernau in 1983.
The Company is headquartered in Turner, Oregon, which is just south of the state
capitol of Salem, Oregon. The Company’s wines are made from grapes grown
in vineyards owned, leased or contracted by the Company, and from grapes purchased
from other nearby vineyards. The grapes are harvested, fermented and made into
wine at the Company’s Turner winery (the “Estate Winery” or
“Winery”) and the wines are sold principally under the Company’s
Willamette Valley Vineyards label, but also under the Griffin Creek and Tualatin
Estates labels. The Company also owns the Tualatin Estate Vineyards and Winery,
located near Forest Grove, Oregon (the “Tualatin Winery”).
The Company holds U.S. federal and/or Oregon state trademark registrations for
the trademarks material to the business, including but not limited to, the WILLAMETTE
VALLEY VINEYARDS, GRIFFIN CREEK, PIERRE PANBRUM VINEYARDS, WILLAMETTE, SIP.SAVE,
WHOLE CLUSTER, MADE IN OREGON CELLARS, OREGON BLOSSOM, and IT’S WILLAMETTE,
DAMMIT marks.
The Company, one of the largest wine producers in Oregon by volume, believes
its success is dependent upon its ability to: (1) grow and purchase high quality
vinifera wine grapes; (2) vinify the grapes into premium, super premium and
ultra-premium wine; (3) achieve significant brand recognition for its wines,
first in Oregon and then nationally and internationally; (4) effectively distribute
and sell its products nationally; and (5) continue to build on its base of direct
to consumer sales. The Company’s goal is to continue to build on a reputation
for producing some of Oregon’s finest, most sought-after wines.
Based upon several highly regarded surveys of the U.S. wine industry, the Company
believes that successful wineries exhibit the following four key attributes:
(i) focus on production of high-quality premium, super premium and ultra-premium
varietal wines; (ii) achieve brand positioning that supports high bottle prices
for its high quality wines; (iii) build brand recognition by emphasizing restaurant
sales; and (iv) develop strong marketing advantages (such as a highly visible
winery location, successful support of distribution, and life-long customer
service programs).
To successfully execute this strategy, the Company has assembled a team of
accomplished winemaking professionals and has constructed and equipped the Estate
Winery into a 12,784 square foot state-of-the-art winery that includes a 12,500
square foot outdoor production area for the harvesting, pressing and fermentation
of wine grapes.
The Company’s marketing and selling strategy is to sell its premium,
super premium and ultra-premium cork-finished-wine through a combination of
direct sales at the Estate Winery, the McMinnville Tasting Room in McMinnville,
Oregon and Tualatin Estate Winery and sales through independent distributors
and wine brokers who market the Company’s wine in specific targeted areas.
Ingram Estate and Elton Vineyard – The Company purchased 86 acres near Hopewell,
Oregon, for vineyard plantings. Adjacent to the purchased land is an additional
109 leased acres, also for vineyard development. The Company believes the site
is ideally situated to grow premium Pinot Noir and planted 42 acres in 2015. The
Ingram site is also adjacent to Elton Vineyards, where the Company leases 54 acres
of established vineyards. The Company intends to plant 31 leased acres at Ingram
and one acre at Elton in 2016.
Pambrun Vineyards – In 2015, the Company purchased 42 acres in the Walla
Walla AVA near the town of Milton-Freewater, Oregon. Additionally, the Company
has an option to buy another 45 acres. The Company believes this site is ideal
to grow Cabernet Sauvignon and other Bordeaux-varietals. Wines produced from
this vineyard are expected to be sold under the Pambrun label.
Loeza Vineyard – The Company purchased 62 acres near Gaston, Oregon in
2014, for vineyard plantings, and believes the site is ideally situated to grow
premium Pinot Gris. The site is close to Tualatin Vineyards which allows the
Company to leverage existing crews for vineyard development and operations.
Grape Vines - Beginning in 1997, the Company embarked on a major effort to
improve the quality of its flagship varietal by planting new Pinot Noir clones
that originated directly from the cool climate growing region of Burgundy rather
than the previous source, Napa, California, where winemakers believe the variety
adapted to the warmer climate over the many years it was grown there.
These new French clones are called “Dijon clones” after the University
of Dijon in Burgundy, which assisted in their selection and shipment to a U.S.
government authorized quarantine site, and then two years later to Oregon winegrowers.
The most desirable of these new Pinot Noir clones are numbered 113, 114, 115,
667, 777 and 943. In addition to certain flavor advantages, these clones ripen
up to two weeks earlier, allowing growers to pick before heavy autumn rains.
Heavy rains can dilute concentrated fruit flavors and promote bunch rot and
spoilage. These Pinot Noir clones were planted at the Tualatin Vineyards with
phylloxera-resistant rootstock and the 667 and 777 clones have been grafted
onto seven acres of self-rooted, non-phylloxera-resistant vines at the Company’s
Estate Vineyard. The Company also planted 943 clones at its Estate and Ingram
Vineyards in 2015.
The Company’s Winery and production facilities are capable of efficiently
producing up to 132,000 cases (314,000 gallons) of wine per year, depending
on the type of wine produced.
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