Grape expectations.

Byline: Joe Mosley The Register-Guard

Now follow closely: Iris Hill Winery, which never actually had a winery, announced that it has dropped the word from its name. It's also planning to break ground this spring on - yes, its own winery.

Meanwhile, another familiar name in Lane County wine-making is producing wine under its own label for the first time in 16 years.

The wine-pioneering Hinman family, which launched Lane County's first winery in 1979 and then sold it in 1993, produced their first wine under their new Five H label this fall.

Doyle and Sue Ann Hinman and their three children - 23-year-old Chelsea, 21-year-old Brady, and Cody, who is almost 18 - started the venture as a side project as family members follow their various tracks in the local wine industry.

The new label "is just a supplemental thing," says Doyle Hinman, who has spent the past 15 years in marketing and sales for Henry Estate Winery of Roseburg.

"It better be fun and profitable - and profitable before fun - or it's going to lose its zing," he says. "It's been an experiment, and so far, so good."

The initial Five H offering - 1,545 cases of 2006 Columbia Valley White Riesling - was produced using the German "sussreserve" technique of blending unfermented grape juice back into the fully-fermented wine to enhance its overall fruit character.

The Hinmans used grapes produced and processed in Washington's Columbia Valley, then shipped to the local Eugene Wine Cellars to be fermented and blended. The 2007 vintage, which will be released next fall, is from a different Columbia Valley vineyard.

Hinman says his family has no plans to plant its own grapes or build its own winery, but may add a Syrah variety under the Five H label - with grapes likely to come from Washington's Walla Walla area.

Sue Ann Hinman has remained active in the state's wine industry since the family sold its vineyards and winery to Eugene's Chambers family.

The Hinman's daughter, Chelsea, is currently working in marketing and sales for King Estate Winery of Lorane. Her brothers have grown up in the wine industry and plan to further their wine-making education, according to the new wine label's Web site (fiveh.net).

The Five H label is currently sold in Wisconsin, Iowa and New York, along with a handful of local restaurants and retailers: The Broadway, Chef's Kitchen, Capella Market, Jiffy Market and Long's Market.

Iris Vineyards, meanwhile, is operating under a new - and shorter - name as it heads into what President Mike Lambert calls "the process of totally reinventing this business."

A new winery that will more than double the company's winemaking capability is a key part of the makeover, which also includes the new name, a new label, a renewed emphasis on quality wines and a higher price point for its products.

In the interim, the old Iris Hill tasting room - which is adjacent to the home of company owners Pamela Frye and Richard Boyles - has been closed, and the whole operation is doing its business out of a former Napa Auto Parts warehouse in?Creswell.

"We call it our Napa facility," Lambert says, in a joking reference to California's famed wine-growing region.

Iris Hill Vineyards, which planted its first grapes in 1996 and produced its first vintage under its own label in 2001, has contracted in the past to have its wines made at Territorial Winery and Eugene Wine Cellars. This year's production totaled about 10,000 cases.

The new Iris Vineyards winery will most likely be built at or near the vineyard site between Crow and Lorane, and probably will include a new tasting room, Lambert says.

"We're looking for a tasting room site that has its own unique identity," he says. "The previous one shared the same footprint with the owners' house."

Lambert says construction may begin by early spring, depending upon a final decision on location as well as permit issues with Lane County. He declines to discuss the cost of the project, other than to say the changes won't come cheap.

"It will be a lot, but I'm not at liberty to divulge what it will be," Lambert says. "But we're going to be a winery that has a capacity of 25,000 to 30,000 cases of wine, and the cost of any such facility is considerable."

Iris Vineyards specializes in pinot noir, pinot gris and chardonnay varieties. Until last year, all of its grapes came from its own 44 acres of vineyards.

"In order to expand the brand more rapidly, we will be outsourcing grapes from (other) premium Oregon vineyards as well," Lambert says. The company will begin expanding its grape acreage next spring.