Shea Wine Cellars & Vineyard, News & Reviews

INVESTING IN TERROIR
Dick and Deirdre Shea traded Wall Street for winemaking
Wine Spectator, December 31, 2008

It's easy to imagine Dick Shea, co-owner of Shea Vineyards with his wife, Deirdre, at his former career on Wall Street. He's clean-shaven, with jeans and work shirt as pressed as any business suit. When rocks from the gravel driveway get kicked onto the cement crush pad, Shea nudges them back into place.

Wanting things just so has served Dick, 61, and Deirdre, 55, quite well, as has their business sense. Shea Vineyard, located in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA of Willamette Valley, is arguably the best-known grape source in Oregon, supplying Pinot Noir for many of the state's top producers, including Beaux Frères, Bergström and Ken Wright Cellars. The 200-acre property contains 140 acres of vines, of which 135 are Pinot and 5 are Chardonnay. Since the 2004 vintage, Wine Spectator has reviewed 37 Pinot Noirs whose labels indicate that they were made with Shea grapes; 28 of them received 90 points or more on its 100-point scale.

Dick and Deirdre started the vineyard in 1989, thinking of it as an investment. They lived in Connecticut at the time, and Dick worked on Wall Street. He had never been interested in wine, but the family that founded his firm owned famed Bordeaux estate Château Haut-Brion. That piqued some interest, and when a retailer offered a case of Adelsheim Pinot Noir Elizabeth's Reserve 1986, he gave it a try. "I just thought it was fabulous and unlike anything I'd had before. I didn't even know they made wine in Oregon," he says.

One month later, he was on a plane to Portland to look for a Willamette Valley vineyard to buy. Dick approached it like a savvy investor, doing thorough research. "I learned a lot just going up driveways and asking people what they were doing. If I'd done that on Wall Street, walking into Goldman Sachs, they'd think I was crazy and call the police," he says.

Rather than focusing on the Dundee Hills—the only part of Willamette with a significant Pinot Noir track record—he chose a property in an undeveloped area. "It's Investment 101. If you follow that thinking [of only buying the known quantity] to its conclusion, you'd just buy in Napa Valley," says Dick.

The first substantial crop, in 1992, came during an economic downturn when the grape market was weak, so some of the Pinot wasn't picked. Their big break came in 1994, when Ken Wright, then winemaker at Panther Creek, asked them to reduce yields and aim for more ripeness in a particular block. Wright left Panther Creek that vintage to start his own winery, but both he and his former employers wanted Shea grapes that year, and both wines excelled.

After that, vintners were lining up, and the Sheas now sell to 19 wineries. Clients express particular admiration for Javier Marin, the vineyard manager, who is responsible for meeting their (different) viticultural expectations. Pinots made from Shea Vineyard tend to be deeply concentrated and supple, with bold structure.

The Sheas moved to Portland in 1999, the same year they launched their own brand, Shea Wine Cellars. Last year, they made 5,500 cases, with five Pinot Noir bottlings and one Chardonnay. Prices range from $35 per bottle (for the Chardonnay) to $75. Their 7,000-square-foot winery has enough space to accommodate the anticipated maximum production of 6,500 cases.

The land that cost them $3,000 an acre in 1989 might now bring 20 times that. And Deirdre and Dick recognize that good business segued into a great lifestyle. "It was planned as an investment, but we didn't expect the emotional connection that developed to the vineyard," she says. —Daniel Sogg

THE 2004 PINOT PASSION AWARDS, SPECIAL AWARD ISSUE 2004
PINOT'S MASTER VINTNERS OF 2003

Dick Shea, Shea Wine Cellars, Newberg, Oregon

It's not really a unique story—a guy gets into wine while pursuing a career on Wall Street. He's got disposable income, likes to try new wines. In the mid '80s, he's visiting his brother in Seattle and hears about a 200-acre parcel for sale in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. After he does his due diligence on the property, he buys it, leaves Wall Street and becomes a winegrower. The Shea Vineyard was born and it doesn't take long for top winemakers to get in line for the grapes.

In 1996, Dick Shea took his dream one step further and with his wife Deirdre began quietly making his own Pinot Noir and Chardonnay under the Shea Wine Cellars label. I, for one, am truly glad he did.

His wines are among the most beautiful expressions of perhaps the best Pinot country in Oregon. They're big, full of complex fruit, with great structure and most importantly they are incredibly balanced. And on top if it all, Dick's a nice guy. These are wines you really have to try.