Björnson Vineyard

The idea started in 1985 at the University of Minnesota business school. Pattie asked Mark about his long-term goals. He said he wanted to live in the country, plant an orchard and garden, and raise a big family. She laughed and told him to look her up when he wanted to get married.

They did marry, raised four children, and worked in the Twin Cities. On a drive home in 2000, Pattie told Mark he had to stop telling people they were going to move to Oregon and plant a vineyard because everyone thought he was crazy. His reply: I don’t care what they think.

By 2005 Mark was president of the west region for UnitedHealth Group’s Medicare Advantage product, and the family of six moved to Portland. Within months they’d bought a 107-acre Douglas fir timber farm in the Eola-Amity Hills, complete with forests, streams, and a twenty-foot waterfall. Neither knew how to run a vineyard, so both enrolled in the Wine Studies program at Chemeketa Community College. Pattie interned at Bethel Heights from 2011 to 2013, learning under Ben Casteel.

They cleared and planted 28 acres between 2006 and 2012, naming each block for one of their four children. In 2013 Pattie led construction of the winery as general contractor, finishing days before the 2014 harvest, then transitioned straight into making the wine.

The site sits on volcanic soils formed by lava flows fifteen million years ago, with sedimentary soils at lower elevations left by the Missoula Floods. Van Duzer winds blow through, producing smaller berries with concentrated flavor and bright acidity.

Everything is 100% estate. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay lead, alongside Aligoté, Sauvignon Blanc, Gamay Noir, Auxerrois, and Gouais Blanc — an ancient variety that’s one of Chardonnay’s parents and almost never planted commercially. Scott Sabbadini joined as head winemaker in 2019, with a UC Davis degree, a year at the Enological University of Conegliano in Italy, and work in Sonoma, New Zealand, and the Columbia Gorge. Mark runs the vineyard, Pattie oversees winemaking.

The tasting room, built in 2017, has a limestone fireplace and a deck looking east.