Oregon Wines of Ghost Hill Cellars

Ghost Hill Cellars is a fifth-generation farm in the Yamhill-Carlton District of Willamette Valley, Oregon. The land was purchased by the Bayliss family in 1906 and started as a dairy. Then, it became a sheep farm, followed by a cattle farm. Today, the combination of the Bayliss and Bower families is devoted to wine, but they do rent a substantial amount of the property to other farmers.

When they decided to grow grapes, they didn’t exactly know how to do it. So they brought in Ken Wright of Ken Wright Cellars, who tasted the dirt and looked at the soil conditions. He liked it so much that he offered to buy it, but they knew that meant they had something great. So Ken ended up buying the property right next door with his partner, Tony Soter, while Ghost Hill set about learning the art of growing grapes.

What’s so special about this location? The vineyard is located in what has become known as the “Savannah Ridge” part of the Willamette Valley, where they get lots of rainfall. It consists of 100% Willakenzie series soil on top of marine sediment bedrock and is almost perfectly southwest-facing at an elevation of 400 feet.

At first, the family grew grapes and sold them to other wineries. Then, they produced their own first vintage in 2006, exactly 100 years after the land was purchased by the Bayliss’s. Today, with 24 acres under vine on the 234-acre estate, they produce 1,500 cases annually. It’s a Certified Sustainable vineyard and salmon-safe.

They grow five clones of pinot noir that thrive in their soil and climate. The vintage can be quite different from year to year, however. With warmer temperatures, they find they’ve been picking the grapes earlier and earlier in the season.

Ghost Hill only had a temporary winemaker in the beginning. Then, they were lucky enough to bring on Eric Hamacher in 2015, who is a luminary in the Oregon wine world. His approach is traditional and very similar to that of Burgundy winemakers, with natural wild yeast fermentation, gravity-powered handling, and minimal intervention. Working for the family took him back to his roots.

Mostly, he doesn’t fight the vintage. “The best wines are still made by resisting the temptation to do something,” he says. It’s a “lighter” style typical in Oregon that involves letting the fruit and terroir shine through.

Ghost Hill wines spend 18-24 months in barrel, and all are estate wines except for the sparking wine. They produce four Pinot Noirs. Pinot Noir Blanc, which is made with no skin contact, Pinot Noir Rose, Bayliss-Bower Vineyard Pinot Noir, and Prospector’s Reserve Pinot Noir. The latter is made from the oldest vines on the estate.

When asked which wine she likes best, Bernadette Bayliss-Bower said, “The wines are like children. You love them all the same for their own traits.”

But what about the name? Where does “Ghost Hill” come from? When the property was purchased, it was on what was already known as Ghost Hill Military Road because during the Gold Rush, a man camped there, where he and his horse were both attacked for their treasure. In 1906, when the Bayliss family purchased the property, his bones were still visible there, as well as the horse’s saddle. So Ghost Hill Cellars is known as a haunted winery, as the miner’s ghost supposedly still wanders the hill, trying to find his stolen gold. Their logo pays tribute to the miner.

You can visit Ghost Hill, which has a new large tasting room (as of April 2024) built to look like an elegant barn and with 360-degree views of the Willamette Valley. The winery’s hospitality center features retractable glass doors, a fireplace, and outdoor firepits. The tabletops are large slabs of black walnut, and the bar was made from a floor beneath the altar of the nearby Trappist Abbey chapel.

Of course, they can also ship to many states within the U.S.

I received a complimentary bottle of their Pinot Noir Blanc, which has a beautiful rose gold color. I enjoyed its acidity and notes of citrus (including lemon), pear, red cherries, and rose.