Eminent Domaine

In 2002, Jeff Meader was compelled to sell an investment property in Portland to the city and TriMet under eminent domain. The compensation came in well below market rate, and the property ended up serving purposes other than the greater good the law requires. Out of that came the chance to do something else entirely.

He reinvested in a small piece of land in the Ribbon Ridge AVA. The label began in 2006 with 150 cases of Pinot Noir. The seven-acre estate vineyard was planted in April 2009 — two acres of Pommard, two of Dijon 777, and an acre and a half of 115, closely spaced at 640 feet. The first estate vintage was bottled in 2011, the tasting room opened in 2016, and the whole family moved onto the property in 2018.

The name reflects all of it: the legal experience, a dedication to the Oregon wine industry, and a love of what this region produces.

Production averages around 1,600 cases a year, focused on Pinot Noir with small amounts of Chardonnay and Rosé.

The setting is what people describe first. The tasting room sits at roughly 640 to 680 feet with an unobstructed view across the Willamette Valley to the Coast Range, and a back patio built for golden hour. There’s a fire going when it’s cold. Guests routinely mention watching wildlife and the sunset from their table.

General manager Camille Stabler came to wine sideways — a background in fine arts and African economic development that took her to South Africa, Ghana, and Mozambique — then fell for a winemaker and ended up on Ribbon Ridge. She and Merritt bought the farm directly across from the estate in 2013, and she interned at Patricia Green Cellars before joining Jeff and Heather in 2016.

The family also runs a vacation rental a couple of miles away, the Little Farm Cottage, on nine acres of vineyard with pigs, chickens, and barn cats.