Grochau Cellars

John Grochau found wine on a bicycle. In his early twenties he raced for a French team in the Loire Valley, riding through Champagne, Burgundy, and across the Loire for several years. He came home to Portland, went into restaurants, and spent more than a decade selling wine at some of the city’s best — including fourteen years at Higgins.

Then he switched sides. A year in Sonoma, then work at Erath, then four years as Doug Tunnell’s assistant at Brick House. He and his wife Kerri founded Grochau Cellars in 2002.

His winemaking philosophy fits on a napkin: don’t screw it up, and resist the urge to do too much. Modern winemakers have a staggering array of options available, and the temptation to beat a fine wine over the head with new oak is everywhere. He avoids all of it. Minimal handling, native yeast fermentation, no enzyme additions, very little new oak.

The restaurant background shows in what comes out. These are food wines — balanced, textured, built to make a meal better rather than dominate it. Fruit comes from organic and sustainably farmed vineyards across the valley, including Zenith, Björnson, and Witness Tree in the Eola-Amity Hills, chosen through close relationships with growers.

The range keeps expanding. Alongside Pinot Noir and Chardonnay sit a line of natural wines and the Convivial series, made with Beaujolais-style methods — including a Tempranillo that upends what most people expect from the grape.

After more than twenty years, John shortened the name to GC Wines to reflect what it had become: not one person’s project but a much bigger family. Winemaker Colin came up through the Carlton Winemakers Studio, Erath, J. Christopher, and Day Wines, with a stint as head distiller at Westward. He races bikes too. He and John ride together, and both believe in team winemaking.