Raptor Ridge Winery
Scott and Annie Schull have built Raptor Ridge into a
promising new winery that is already releasing excellent Pinot noir,
Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris. The winery is nestled atop a heavily forested
ridge in the Chehalem mountains 25 miles southwest of Portland. The
winery shares its twelve acre estate with families of Raptors (buteos
and accipiters). These birds of prey such as Redtail Hawks, Kestrels
and Sharp-Shinned Hawks constantly watch over their every move. Hence
the name- Raptor Ridge.
ABOUT RAPTOR RIDGE WINERYIn each vintage year, Raptor Ridge produces about 1000 cases of wines
using traditional Burgundian winemaking techniques. High quality
is the focus, not higher quantities. Raptor Ridge shares a twelve-acre
estate with families of Raptors (buteos and accipiters)- birds
of prey such as Redtail Hawks, Kestrels and Sharp-Shinned Hawks.
We are nestled atop a heavily forested ridge in the Chehalem moutains
25 miles southwest of Portland, Oregon.
Our foggy ridge is ideally suited to a naturally
cool winemaking regime important in capturing delicate aromas and
flavors. Our wines age in French oak with racking in synchrony with
the full moon. Our goal is to deliver in our wines all of the natural
flavor, delicate aromas and beauty offered by Oregon's Willamette
Valley winegrowing region.
ABOUT
THE VINEYARDS
OF RAPTOR RIDGE
Five distinctive
vineyards throughout Oregon's Northern Willamette
Valley supply premium wine grapes for Raptor
Ridge. Shea Vineyard and Wahle Vineyard,
located between the small towns of Carlton
and Yamill in the Willakenzie area supply
our Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, respectively.
Located high in the Red Hills of Dundee, Murto
Vineyard provides some intensely spiced Pinot
Noir grown in volcanic, Jory soils.
Both
Murto and Wahle vineyards are well over 20
years old- among the oldest in the Willamette
Valley winegrowing region. Our youngest vineyards:
Harbinger and Teunge vineyards, are just
now coming on-line supplying us with Pinot
Noir and Pinot Blanc fruit from DiJion clones.
RAPTOR RIDGE
WINEMAKING PHILOSOPHY
Our winemaking philosophy has two tenets: one committing the winemaker
to deep personal involvement with the vines and every barrel of wine;
the other balancing science with tradition. Our approach to winemaking
focuses as much on the vineyard as it does the cellar.
Winemaker Scott Shull
is personally involved alongside growers and field hands in pruning,
trellising, cluster counting, cluster thinning, leaf pulling, quality
monitoring, and all harvest decisions. Uniquely- during harvest,
Scott is in the field picking fruit alongside seasonal workers, and
personally transports the wine grapes back to Raptor Ridge were he
oversees the "crush." Family and friends
are involved in processing the fruit into fermentation vats while Scott
personally adjusts nutrients, inoculation, fermentation processes,
and wine handling procedures.
It's Scott's philosophy to intervene as little as possible
in the miracle of wine, while employing a full knowledge of fermentation
science only to avoid diminishment of quality or removal of flaws.
Raptor
Ridge owners
trade high technology
for deep forest and
hand-crafted wines
By Christina Kelly (7/01)
Nestled atop a heavily forested ridge in the Chehalem Mountains, Raptor
Ridge Winery owners Scott and Annie Shull are shedding their high technology
cloaking for a simpler country life.
It isn’t less work, and Scott
Shull essentially carries two full time jobs to carry it off, but at
the end of the day, the Shulls are satisfied in the choice to share
their winery with the Raptors living on their 12 acres.
Scott works for Intel during the day, and spends the rest of his waking
moments, including weekends, on his wines Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, and
Chardonnay. The winery produces a little over 1,000 cases per year. Plans
include some growth up to 2,000 cases per year, but no more.
“We want to stay at the boutique level,” said Annie. “There
is something very magical about this place and we want to keep it that
way. It is like living in paradise we are so blessed.”

Annie
moved from St. Paul, Minnesota to Oregon six years ago, where she met
her future husband Scott at Intel. As a marketing consultant, Annie worked
a more creative side of the industry, but said she always wanted to have
her own business.
“I’ve always been interested in having a family business,” she
said. “I have an entrepreneurial spirit, and am a country girl
at heart.”
Everything fell into place when she and Scott met. A strategic and business
planner for Intel, Scott spent his free time making beer, keeping bees
and learning about fermentation science. Prior to meeting Annie, a friend
introduced him to winemaking about 11 years ago. He offered his first
commercial wine in 1995.
“When I first moved out to Chehalem Mountain, many of my neighbors
were wine grape growers,” Scott said. “I started out making
wine as a hobby in 1989, then I got bit by the bug. I joined the Westside
Winemakers Club, where we would get together for the love of wine.”
After the Shulls were married in 1998, the couple focused on a business
plan that allowed Annie to leave the high tech industry and dedicate
her efforts to the winery marketing, distribution and planning. In their
10-year plan, Scott hopes the winery will support both of them. Until
then, he is content to work full-time at Intel, then work full-time at
the winery. In October, friends and family come together to help the
winery with the crush.
In a state that’s gaining a
reputation for good Pinot Noir, Raptor Ridge stands on its small production
and attention to details nurturing, babysitting and coaxing each barrel
produced. Scott says his wines have something a little extra his hand-crafted
care and attention.
“Friends tell me that there’s nothing like hand-crafted
wines,” Scott said. “They have a unique flavor, aroma and
texture. Wines made in mass can be lovely, but they miss something. I
concentrate on every single barrel in our winery. It’s just not
possible to do that when you produce mass quantities.”
Raptor Ridge (so called because the estate is shared with such birds
of prey as Red-tailed hawks, kestrels and owls) wines are aged in French
oak, and Scott takes a minimalist approach to the grapes. All the grapes
are purchased from growers in the area, although the couple hopes to
purchase property more conducive to grape-growing in the future.
Two Pinot Noir wines come from Raptor Ridge Murto and Shea Vineyards.
In a recent tasting of the two Pinots, the panel was split between the
two wines.
The 1998 Murto was more brooding of the two a dark, inky garnet color
with lots of blackberry on the palate. It actually seemed closer to a
Syrah than a Pinot Noir, although the familiar taste of Pinot Noir was
clearly there. It was spicy, with lots of structure and tannins for aging.
The grapes originated from the Red Hills of Dundee.
The 1998 Shea Pinot Noir had bright
red fruit flavors with bing cherry tones. If the Murto is brooding,
this pinot is a happy-go-lucky fellow, with a silky texture and a little
more finesse. It is lighter than the Murto, although I think the two
wines should not be compared. The fruit is different, as are the growing
conditions and the “terroir.”
Scott is vice president of the North Willamette chapter of the Oregon
Wine Growers Association, and is very interested in terroir the soil
together with the climatic conditions of a district or vineyard. Oregon,
he says, is a very young wine country, and as such, has not fully developed
the concept of terroir.
He points out the fact that Oregon wineries are producing other good
wines, besides Pinot Noir, but are not getting as much notice.
“Oregon Merlots and Cabernet Sauvignons are overshadowed by California,” Scott
said. “And Oregon Chardonnay gets no respect. Our growers are learning,
as we all are.
“We are not yet a wine culture
in this country, but over the next 20 years, if things go as they are,
there will room at the table for other wines. If there is more room,
the romantic part of winemaking will meet with the economic side.”
To keep a steady pace of growth, Annie says the younger generations
need to learn wine appreciation.
“Baby boomers aren’t always going to be around,” Annie
said. “We’ve got to teach the generations coming up about
the appreciation of fine wine so we have an audience in the future.”
The winery is open only by appointment.
The Shulls don’t mind
sharing a bit of their paradise with those who appreciate the time-consuming
efforts of a boutique winery. And, when the fog lifts from the Chehalem
Mountains, visitors may get a glimpse of the other families sharing the
ridge the noble raptors.
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