Lundeen Wines

Michael Lundeen is a third-generation Oregonian who found his calling after returning to his family’s Yamhill County farm. In 2001 he and his father planted the first Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris vines there — Poverty Bend Vineyard, which has been the heartbeat of the wines ever since.

He spent his first day in the business scrubbing mildew off glycol tubes at WillaKenzie and thought it was the greatest job in the world. He stayed two years, working under Laurent Montalieu and Thibaud Mandet, then moved to Belle Pente and on to Domaine Serene, where he served as cellarmaster under Tony Rynders.

The turn came in 2005, when he worked a season at Castello di Verduno in Barbaresco with his friend Mario Andrion. In the basement of every house there was a winery. He realized you don’t have to be big, just good. He founded Lundeen Wines in 2006, became founding winemaker at Illahe Vineyards in 2007, and joined Walnut City Wineworks in McMinnville as winemaker and general manager in late 2010 — a short hop from his own estate vineyard.

For years he grew, made, bottled, and marketed the entire Lundeen label almost single-handedly, at around 750 cases.

The sparkling is where the reputation sits. Traditional method, with extended time on the lees that most producers this size can’t afford to give — a Brut Rosé aged four years en tirage, a Blanc de Noirs six, and an Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs that spent a full decade. One retailer called the Brut Rosé light-years the best in the Willamette Valley, and noted you’re unlikely to read about it anywhere.

There’s also Desirée, a force-carbonated sparkling named for Michael’s wife and made to reach a genuinely accessible price without losing energy.

Desiree Lundeen co-owns the winery. She and Michael met in Portland in 2004 and married in 2010 at the family farm. She spent nearly a decade in public service for Yamhill County and now teaches kindergarten, and she’s often the one hosting.