Domaine Willamette

Jim Bernau founded Willamette Valley Vineyards in 1983 and did something nobody else had: he crowdfunded it. In 1988 he obtained SEC permission for a self-underwritten public offering, and roughly 1,200 shareholders invested an average of $1,700 each. By 1993 that had grown to 4,500 shareholders, many of whom worked the vineyards themselves, collectively donating six to seven thousand hours of labor a month. The community now numbers more than 27,000 owners, and the company trades on the NASDAQ. It remains the first SEC-authorized, community-funded business in the United States.

Domaine Willamette is his sparkling project, opened September 19, 2022 after five years of construction. It’s Oregon’s first winery built exclusively for méthode traditionnelle sparkling wine, centered on an underground aging cellar cut into the Dundee Hills. Jan Bernau, who joined the company as a consultant in 2008, oversaw the design and construction — working with the architects, landscape designer Steven Koch, and local artists to create the tasting room, cellar, and gardens.

Bernau Estate Vineyard covers 20 acres named in Jim’s honor, on a gentle southwest slope of deep, well-drained Woodburn soils. The original 15 acres of Pinot Noir went in during 1994; nine acres of Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay, and additional Pinot Noir followed in 2019. The site is LIVE certified, Salmon Safe, and received Demeter Biodynamic certification in 2023. Granite sculptures on the property, including a giant cow horn at the entrance, reference the biodynamic preparations used in the vineyard.

The Brut is estate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, second-fermented in bottle and aged 24 months on the lees. Beyond the estate sparkling, the tasting room pours single-vineyard and limited bottlings from across the group: Elton in the Eola-Amity Hills, Tualatin Estate in the Tualatin Hills, Maison Bleue in The Rocks District, Pambrun from Walla Walla, and Willamette Valley Vineyards.

The outdoor pavilion is built from mass ply panels that sequester roughly 60 metric tons of carbon dioxide, some of the timber salvaged from the Beachie Creek Fire. Mount Hood and Mount Jefferson are both visible east from the property.