Our Producers
Meet
In late June of 2014, Kristin and I hopped in the car after a shift at Spago and drove overnight from Colorado straight to Oregon wine country. I had been invited to Pinot Camp that year so we figured we’d make a trip of it. Kristin would visit some wineries while I bounced around with my fellow “campers.” Afterwards, we’d check out the coast, catch up with some family, and hustle back to work just in time for the July 4th weekend. Two months later, Kristin was gearing up for the first of what would be five harvests with Brian and Jill O’Donnell at Belle Pente Vineyard.
It would be difficult to overstate the role that Brian and Jill played in welcoming us into Willamette Valley’s winemaking community. They graciously hosted Kristin’s initial visit in 2014, brought her on for harvest that fall, welcomed her into their home and into their family, and invited me to come along for the ride. Many of the relationships we’ve developed over the years, including with many of the people we work with today, have some connection to Belle Pente. If not for Brian and Jill, our visit in 2014 might now be a dusty blip on a foggy road winding through our lives rather than the beginning of what we hope will be many things to come.
Shovel Blanc
Kristin Cardwell and I met in 2009 while working together at Spago at The Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch in Colorado. We became friends quite quickly, but, despite some half-assed efforts on my part, it wasn’t until early 2014 that we start dating. We got engaged in 2015, married in 2016 and moved to the Willamette Valley in 2017 to pursue her career in winemaking.
The idea for Shovel Blanc was first conceived while Kristin was cleaning out a press during the harvest of 2015. Why not make a beautiful rosé and name it after the ubiquitous white shovel used in wineries all around the world? Why not, indeed!
It took six years from conception for her idea to become a reality. In the spring of 2022, Kristin Cardwell Hunter released the first vintage of her ingeniously delicious Shovel Blanc Rosé 2021 from select sites across the Willamette Valley. Now Raise Your Shovel Blanc!
Granville Wine Co
Our relationship with Granville began during that fateful vintage of 2014. That first year, Ayla Holstein, the better half of Granville Wine Co, and Kristin were both harvest interns at Belle Pente. These two strong, hardworking women became fast friends doing “punch downs” and digging out fermenters. Since then, Kristin married me, Ayla married Jackson, and children soon followed: Louie Holstein in 2018; Callahan Hunter in 2019 and O’Della Holstein in 2020. As our families grew, our families grew closer.
In 2019, after two years as Assistant Winemaker at Belle Pente, Kristin accepted that same position at Granville, becoming Jackson and Alya’s first and only employee. Kristin’s role at Granville would change over the ensuing years with pregnancy, motherhood and COVID-19 affecting daily life, but of course, that’s what it’s like to be part of a family.
Martin Woods Winery
While the O’Donnells were responsible for welcoming Kristin into the world of production, it was Evan Martin, Assistant Winemaker at Belle Pente in 2014, that taught her the day-to-day details of winemaking. Focused and intense, hardworking, thoughtful and above all meticulous, Evan’s skill in the winery was evident from day one. Kristin worked alongside and learned from Evan for three harvests before he stepped aside in 2017 to launch Martin Woods, opening the door for a new Assistant Winemaker to join Belle Pente Vineyard.
Having made his first few vintages at Belle Pente from 2014 to 2016, Evan was ready to hit the ground running when he left BP. He released his 2014 wines, constructed a fully operational winery in his garage and got busy expanding production from tiny to small. For someone like myself - contemplating his own uniquely-modeled wine company, Evan offered a glimpse of what one person could do with a bit of talent, focus and lots of hard work.
Carlton Hill Vineyards
Of all the friends and colleagues I’ve had the privilege of getting to know across the Willamette Valley, there is no one I find more endearing than my good friend David Polite, proprietor and resident of Carlton Hill. David’s dry sense of humor and east coast attitude come drenched in a heavy dose of cynicism that I find irresistible. Sitting on the porch of his historical Carlton Hill farmhouse looking over his sea of vines, talking sports or politics, I could just as easily be staring out over the rolling waters off Cape Cod. The fact that David smokes a pipe and named his dog after his favorite scotch just adds to his charm.
Thankfully, David’s Pinot Noirs reflect his more delicate side, the hopeful, sensitive aspect of his persona that expresses itself subtly, yet delightfully. Carlton Hill wines are beautifully aromatic with a delicate texture that is always backed by firm acidity. I am tempted to refer to them as “Burgundian” in style, but that’s not quite right. Like David, Carlton Hill wines are unique in their own way, independently defined, and a pleasure to be around.
EIEIO & Company Wine
Jay McDonald is another gem of a human being that I’ve gotten to know over the past five years. A serious winemaker that doesn’t take himself too seriously – after all, he did name his winery after a nursery rhyme – Jay approaches winemaking like he does most things in life: head-on, no bullshit, and please, for f##k’s sake, no fools. And if you don’t get this vibe when you meet him, my guess is you arrived on time, asked good questions, loved his wines and drove off with a couple cases of seriously delicious Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
When I began developing Lemon Rock, I knew I needed to talk with Jay. His business acumen, commitment to standards, and overall capacity to operate as a one-man show are attributes I wanted to absorb and apply. And of course, EIEIO was on the short list of producers I absolutely wanted to work with and I needed the opportunity to pitch it to him. Since that meeting, Jay and I’s working relationship and ongoing correspondence have developed into what I expect will be a lasting friendship.
Broadley Vineyards
I got to know Jessica and Morgan Broadley while driving around the Willamette Valley showing their wines to my diverse set of accounts. Much like Jackson and Ayla, the Broadley operation is a family affair with Morgan making the wine and Jessica handling just about everything else…including graciously extricating Morgan from tastings with dipshit buyers.
We had more than a few laughs that day in the car and a few more when I toured the vineyard and tasted through the 2019 vintage a year later. The wines evolved over the course of an hour as did our conversation and pretty soon we decided to work together on this new venture in Colorado.
Force Majeure Vineyards
I was first introduced to Force Majeure on a boondoggle of a work trip to Walla Walla in 2019. We were there to visit and taste with producers we already represented at Handcrafted, but my boss was on the prowl for more suppliers so there were some samples to taste when I rolled into town. After running my sales route that day, battling traffic to get out of PDX late that afternoon and finishing up the five-hour drive to Walla Walla, I was hoping to chug a bottle of crisp white wine and go to bed. Instead, my boss put these intensely dark reds in front of me and asked me what I thought about them. I had my doubts, I admit, not to mention an intense thirst for something else, but what I tasted was unlike anything I had tasted before. Deep, rich, concentrated wines that somehow maintained a sense of balance and elegance. I added my ‘yes’ vote to the consensus immediately.
Handcrafted picked up Force Majeure shortly afterward and in February 2020 I worked the market with Todd Alexander, Force Majeure’s renowned winemaker. I didn’t know that it would be the last time I would have another person in my car for many months. At the end of the day, Todd invited me and the family to visit the estate for a few days, stay in their guest house, and get to know more about Force Majeure. We made tentative plans to put something on the calendar for April. Little did we know.
Corollary Wines
We didn’t meet Jeanne and Dan until the summer of 2021 as I was getting Lemon Rock up and running. I was looking for a new producer of high-quality sparkling wine to compliment my small syndicate of talented winemakers when Kristin and Jeanne met at HIFI’s soft-opening. A couple of weeks later, Kristin was begrudgingly chasing Cal around their backyard while I got to know Jeanne, Dan and Corollary Wines.
The wines were refreshing on that hot summer afternoon and the company lovely. We discussed working together and made tentative plans to do so. But, alas, I was not the only one to enjoy the sparkle of Corollary’s bubbly. By the end of the summer, Jeanne and Dan had sold out of their inaugural vintage before I could secure an allocation. This will not be the case in 2022.