Approachment Wine Company

Jessica and Paden West met as lab partners in the Northwest Wine Studies program at Chemeketa. Both had come the same route: wine shops and tasting rooms first, then internships, then formal study.

Jessica interned at Bethel Heights in 2013, working directly with winemaker Ben Casteel and viticulturist Mimi Casteel, before earning her winemaking degree. Paden, a Willamette Valley native, interned at Penner-Ash in 2010 under Lynn Penner-Ash and assistant winemaker Brian Irvine. He now serves as head winemaker at Benza; Jessica makes the Approachment wines.

They founded the label in 2020, based in McMinnville. The premise is energy and place, with a willingness to work outside the expected: skin-contact Pinot Gris, carbonic-style Gamay from the Van Duzer Corridor, Grenache and Syrah from Les Collines Vineyard in the Blue Mountains, alongside Willamette Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Their line about it is that they get to make their own rules.

In July 2026 they released their first sparkling wine, timed to the Method Oregon celebration — Willamette Valley Pinot Meunier aged 26 months on the lees, the beginning of a long-term commitment to traditional method production. Paden’s take: Oregon has quietly become one of the most exciting places in the world for sparkling wine, and they’d spent years learning and investing before putting anything out.

Reviews have been strong. Owen Bargreen scored the 2023 Les Collines Grenache 94 points and the Oregon Pinot Noir 92, calling the latter excellent value.

Visits are by appointment. The space is small and casual, and they describe it in exactly those terms.