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In 2008 Cincinnati natives Dave and Sara Specter took their first vacation to Oregon's Willamette Valley, and during that trip the pair couldn't help but dream of one day starting their very own winery in the region. Little did they know just four years later that seemingly improbable dream would become a reality.
The Specters originally caught their serious case of the wine bug in 2006 after a successful at-home kit winemaking experiment, and before long Dave joined a local amateur vintners club and began making wine from both locally grown Ohio grapes as well as fruit trucked in from California. He got the knack for it quickly, eventually leading to him leaving his career as a corporate tax attorney to try to pursue winemaking full time in the Cincinnati area. After the tragic passing of a dear friend, Dave & Sara determined that life was too short to put off chasing their dreams and in 2012 they packed up and moved their family to Oregon. They soon found what they viewed as an ideal property to develop in a 10 acre defunct Christmas tree farm just outside Newberg and began the journey of founding their very own vineyard and winery.
After purchasing their new property it took Dave & Sara a bit of time to get it cleared and ready for planting, and in 2014 the first 3 acres of Pinot Noir vines went into the ground. Inspired by their location on Bell Road and also by Dave's years as a French Horn player they named the new operation Bells Up Winery, which is an ode to an orchestral "Bells up moment" when horn players raise their instruments high and play with extra gusto during a key moment in the music.
Today Bells Up Winery has blossomed into a small but formidable producer, crafting around 500 cases of wine annually using fruit sourced from both their young estate vineyard and from a handful of other small vineyards in the area. The Specters admirably perform nearly every function of the winery themselves - with Dave serving as winemaker and Sara taking charge as the Chief Marketing Officer. Their bubbly, quirky, and delightfully sarcastic personalities shine brightly in everything they do, and their wines are as wonderful and unique as they are.
After previously getting the chance to try and write about some impressive Bells Up wine and hearing a bit of the story we knew we had to pay the winery a visit on our latest trip to the Willamette Valley. When we arrived and made our way into the facilities we were immediately greeted by Dave & Sara themselves as if we were old friends, and then the two graciously talked us through nearly every aspect of their boutique production. We walked through their winery facility and barrel room, which despite being modest in size were efficiently set up and immaculately maintained, and then headed out to the vineyard to see where the real magic happens.
As we explored the Bells Up Vineyard we first couldn't help but notice that it sits on a near-ideal piece of land. This humble 10 acre plot rests in the middle of a gently-inclined slope with perfect southern exposure that will receive ample sunlight throughout all parts of the growing season. Soils across the estate are quintessential Willamette Valley Jory, a reddish-hued volcanic loam, that has proven optimal for the production of high quality wine grapes. The property itself also creeps up to almost 600 feet in elevation at its highest point, which helps avoid troublesome low-lying fog, frost, and overly fertile soil. If one were looking to select a potential Grand Cru vineyard site in Oregon it would probably look almost exactly like the Bells Up Vineyard.
While the Bells Up Vineyard is planted primarily to Pinot Noir we also noticed a small number of rows containing a rather peculiar white grape. Sara explained that the grape we were observing was Seyval Blanc, a hybrid wine grape variety that Dave had worked with back in Ohio which became popular there for its weather resistance and reliable yields. The Specters loved working with this variety so much back home that they knew they wanted to bring it along with them to Oregon, and they eventually planted it across a half-acre of their estate in 2015.
After roaming around the vineyard and observing many of the wonderful nuances of the picturesque property we made our way back up to the balcony of the barrel room to try some wine. Dave led the tasting with a pour of his estate Seyval Blanc - the same peculiar grape that we had just observed in the vineyard - and it instantly wowed us with its incredible energy and zing. It was our first time trying a varietal example of this grape and we are pleased to report that it was delightfully intense and citrus-driven with a distinct grassy quality, similar to an extremely layered and complex Sauvignon Blanc.
We then sampled an incredible estate rosé dubbed "Prelude", which made use of the property's young vines that Dave felt were not quite ready to produce red wine. This deeply colored rosé of Pinot Noir displayed incredible complexity and aromatics, more comparable to a full-fledged Pinot than a crisp pink quaffer. We then were led through three unique Pinot Noirs crafted with grapes Dave had sourced from select small growers near by. While every Bells Up wine we tried was impressive we found these Pinots to be spectacular; each displaying incredibly high-toned and pure aromatics that distinctly captured the essence and magic of what we affectionately call "Pinot Funk". There is something inexplicably breathtaking about putting one's nose to a glass of world-class Pinot Noir, and that sensation hit us rapidly and deeply with each of the Bells Up Pinots we tasted. After enjoying our way through the main part of the tasting Dave also was gracious enough to sample us through some Walla Walla Valley Syrah that was maturing in barrel, and again we were impressed by the quality, complexity, and construction of the wines.
As we finished up, said our goodbyes, and got ready to depart we knew our visit to Bells Up Winery was one we wouldn't soon forget. We were thrilled to have gotten to spend so much time enjoying an afternoon with Dave & Sara. The Specters are truly an inspiring husband and wife team that are putting all that they have into chasing their dream, and the results they have achieved are simply exhilarating. As wine enthusiasts and a passionate husband and wife team ourselves we hope that someday we can match the level of commitment these two embody, and we look forward to continuing to follow their remarkable journey for years to come. Make sure to stop in to Bells Up Winery for yourself next time you're in the Willamette Valley and don't forget to say hi to Dave & Sara for us while you're there.