Ackley Brands to build Demeter-certified custom-crush facility in Oregon

Seattle-based Ackley Brands isn’t looking to grow into one of largest wine companies in the U.S., but it is preparing to build in Hillsboro, Ore., what it bills as the first Demeter-certified Biodynamic custom-crush facility in the Pacific Northwest.

“We’re thrilled to embark on this new journey of partnership with other producers in the Willamette Valley,” Ackley Brands president Brandon Ackley, a graduate of Washington State University, said in a news release. “With this facility, we can pursue our goal of producing exceptional wines, and also empower grape growers and winemakers to practice sustainable winemaking.” 

Ackley Brands will move production of its three Oregon labels — Biodynamic visionary Montinore Estate, luxury brand Landlines Estates and entry-level Borealis Vintners — to the new facility just north of the Hillsboro Airport. Groundbreaking is scheduled for Oct. 1. The timeline will have it ready for the 2024 harvest.

Last year, the company opened The Grove tasting room in McMinnville and joined Wine Walk Road in Woodinville’s Schoolhouse District with both Montinore and Landlines. Those two new spaces coincided with the permanent closure of the historic Montinore tasting room on its Forest Grove estate.

Hillsboro operation to handle 250K cases

The Ackley Brands Custom Services vinification and storage facility will have the capacity for 250,000 cases each year and also accommodate standard wine production. However, an underlying goal is to serve as an incubator for winemakers who want to bottle Demeter-certified wine.

“We’re excited to open our doors to producers like us, clients who match our passion for certified Biodynamic and organic wines,” said Ackley Brands general manager Cyndi Buehler.

Among the features of the 35,000-square-foot facility will be a Pulsair Systems tank mixer, a dedicated cold-storage space for fruit chilling and three distinct barrel storage rooms for various winemaking techniques. It will also accommodate sparkling wine production.

In early 2016, the formerly named Ackley Beverage Group — directed by a family-owned private equity company — made a splash with its investment in the Marchesi family’s sustainably farmed Montinore Estate project west of Portland. That included Rudy Marchesi’s 210-acre Demeter-certified vineyard. Later that same year, Ackley followed up with the purchase of what’s now-called Tidalstar Vineyard in the Yamhill-Carlton American Viticultural Area and the launch of Landlines.

In 2021, Ackley rolled out a Washington state brand — Cataclysm Wine Co. — that included a collaboration with the Monson family in the Goose Gap AVA for an acclaimed Cabernet Sauvignon at $16 per bottle.