GROWTH SPURT.

Byline: Joe Mosley The Register-Guard

JUNCTION CITY - As the name now implies, it's about the wine: Pfeiffer Winery.

The place remains Lane County's second-oldest vineyard, and the highly regarded grapes still are a source of owners' pride. But the establishment's old name - Pfeiffer Vineyards - was replaced this month when wine-making operations and a tasting room got a new home in a converted barn at Robin and Danuta Pfeiffer's 238-acre farm west of Junction City.

"We've been gearing ourselves toward doing this over the past several years," says Danuta Pfeiffer, who owns the winery with her husband, Robin. "We've now come to a place where we're able to expand our (product) line. We've been discovered, and we now know that people want the wine."

The Pfeiffer family - including Robin's parents and three siblings - planted their first 15 acres of pinot noir grapes in 1984, and now have a total of 38,500 vines on more than 70 acres. Varieties including pinot noir, pinot gris, chardonnay and muscat are now grown.

The property had been in the family since 1947, originally as a sheep ranch. While Robin is now the majority shareholder in the vineyards, his two brothers and sister still have ownership interests.

Robin and Danuta Pfeiffer began producing wines under their own Pfeiffer label a few years ago, under a custom crushing arrangement with nearby High Pass Winery. Grapes from the Pfeiffer vineyards were crushed at High Pass, and small quantities of wines were produced using the neighboring business' winemaking equipment and expertise.

High Pass owner and winemaker Dieter Boehm will continue as the Pfeiffers' winemaker of record - outside consultants will also play a part - but, as of this year, all of the wines will be produced with the Pfeiffers' own equipment.

"It makes sense now, after we take the grapes off the vines, we can put them in the crusher right on site," Danuta Pfeiffer says. "We are in full control of the entire process, from growing the grapes to crushing the grapes to making the wine. And we ourselves will have a closer relationship to it.

"The last few years, we've been producing maybe 600 cases, and now we're going to go up to 1,000, or maybe 2,000," she says.

"In the past, we've always run out of wine halfway through the season. People are starting to buy our wine before it's even bottled, so they're sure to get some."

The winery offers only direct sales from its own premises.

The Pfeiffers' new operation is Lane County's 16th winery, and like most of the others, it will be a very public business. Pfeiffer Winery's new tasting room will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday through Sunday - including this weekend's grand opening.

Lisa Lawton, community relations director for the Convention & Visitors Association of Lane County Oregon, says the area's wineries have become a big draw among both area residents and visitors from outside Oregon.

"It's definitely one of our highest-requested items from visitors," Lawton says. "With the increased recognition of Oregon's wine industry, we're really seeing an elevated exposure (of local wineries)."

The local visitors' bureau is working with similar organizations throughout the Willamette Valley to market the area as a wine-producing region. An example of the interest that's being generated is a tour organizer that will be bringing a group of German bicyclists to Oregon for a winery tour.

"And they want to include the Lane County wineries," Lawton says.

Pfeiffer declines to discuss specific costs associated with the family's new winery and tasting room, but says it's been a major project - right down to the bar that was created from old timbers that were sanded and finished.

"We've been working on it about six months, and it's taken a lot of time and money and sweat and energy," she says. "Let's just say it took everything we had, but it was a labor of love."

Visitors will find a tasting room with seating for 70, along with concrete floors, a fireplace, arched displays and spot lighting.

"For people to get to the wine-tasting room, they actually have to walk through the winery," Pfeiffer says. "So they'll get a taste of it all by the time they get to the tasting room."

WINERY OPEN HOUSES

For more information about some of the wineries that will be open in Lane County this weekend go to www.visitlanecounty.org/ memorial