Open: Year-round
Melrose Vineyards is located on the bench of the South Umpqua River where once stood an early French Settlement. It was in the Mid 1800s when the Archembeau family settled and became owners of this settlement by filing a land grant. Through the years, many different agricultural crops have been produced on this site.
Melrose Vineyards' owners (Wayne and Deedy Parker) arrived in 1996. Wayne, with a successful 20-year history of growing grapes to be used as raisins in the San Joaquin Valley, was on a mission to plant a sizeable vineyard. He had predicted that Southern Oregon would be one of the next great viticulture areas in the United States. As it turns out, Wayne was correct.
The original vineyard of 82 acres was planted in the summer of 1996. During the first winter, there occurred what is considered a "100-year Flood." This unforeseen event had a devastating effect on the property because five acres of the fertile land was washed away with the flood waters. This event showed the true nature of the land, and that flood-related damage was a real problem. Once realizing the threat of Mother Nature, the entire property was developed to prevent irreparable damaged caused by future floods.
As the first crops were harvested a few years later, the uniqueness of this river bottom site was shown to be a worthwhile investment. The grapes received rave reviews from the high-end wineries purchasing the fruit.Given the great success of their grape production, the Parkers took to their next dream - Melrose Vineyards wines. The dream was to have a small boutique winery. In 2000, the first wines were in the barrels and it was decided that the 100-year-old barn on the property, complete with breathtaking views, would be the ideal location for the Melrose tasting room.
The barn tasting room was rebuilt from the ground up, leaving only the main timbers of the structure intact in order to maintain its structural integrity and historical value. Many original features of the structure were retained so you can still enjoy the authenticity of the original barn, creating a wonderful place to enjoy delicious Melrose wines while you slip back in time.
