Five Generations Strong: The Story and Legend
Life comes full circle. Bernadette Bower grew up on a farm in Carlton Oregon, left to teach in Guam, met her now-husband, lived internationally for many years, and returned to the farm to grow grapes and create Ghost Hill Cellars and Winery. “We’ve lived in Singapore, New Zealand and have visited many wine regions. My husband, Cameron, has friends in the Barossa Valley in Australia and has talked with them about starting a winery. Together we decided to go headlong into the wine business,” Bernadette said.
Her family has been farmers in the area since 1906. They started in the cattle business (her Wisconsin-born and bred grandmother started a dairy). Mike Bayliss (Bernadette’s father) wanted to plant grapes in the 1970s but was vetoed by his dad, who farmed beef cattle. “We’ve always been farmers and keeping the farm in the family and viable for future generations is our top priority,” Bernadette said.
Their property sits in a picturesque valley in the Red Hills of Dundee. “Our area is called Savannah Ridge. In 1999 we started planting Bayliss Bower vineyards. We started with sixteen acres of Pinot Noir and some Chardonnay and finished in 2002. Our first harvest was in 2006. Today in 2024 we’re producing 1500 cases of wine,” Cameron said.
And they have a ghost!
Here is their story- taken directly from their website:
In the 1850s, prospectors discovered gold in the southern region of the Oregon Territory. From the moment gold was struck, the Oregon Territory was flooded with miners seeking their fortune. During the rush, a gold prospector whose identity had been lost to history traveled from the goldfields of Southern Oregon to Portland to sell his gold and make his fortune. He made the fateful decision to stop for the night and set up camp at the top of what is currently the Bayliss farm, the place we now know as Ghost Hill. At the time, the hill and the surrounding land were heavily wooded making it an ideal place to camp in peace. During the night, someone snuck into his camp to rob him of his gold. The miner was killed and his horse was mortally injured. His hard-earned poke of gold disappeared into the night. To this day, the miner is said to wander the hill looking for his stolen gold and to right the wrongs that befell him.
While the miner never recovered his gold, we have found our treasure with our Pinot Noirs
What makes Ghost Hill Cellars special?
“Both the microclimate and the Willakenzie soil,” Cameron said. “Climate change has been good to Oregon, allowing our grapes to grow and ripen more.”
According to the USDA.gov website, Willakenzie soil consists of moderately deep, well-drained soils formed in loamy colluvium and residuum derived from sandstone, siltstone, and tuffaceous materials. “Willakenzie soils occur on smooth, convex hills and foothills. Slopes are 2 to 60 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 50 inches and the mean annual temperature is 52 degrees F.”
Eric Hamacher started making their wines in 2015. He had been buying their grapes and one day said “Hey if you ever need anything let me know.” They let him know they needed a wine makes and he’s been it ever since.
Besides Pinot Noir, Ghost Cellars makes a Pinot Blanc. They’re some of the first people to make this in the valley and it’s their best-selling wine right now. It retails at $34.00 making it very affordable.
I tasted the 2021 Reserve Pinot Noir with my group of writers. The comments that were said are:
- The color and the nose set you up for success
- Flavors of red cherry, raspberry, pomegranate
- Flavors of baking spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon
- There is black cherry and mulberry on the back of the tongue
- And the famous forest floor description (I know it sounds crazy, but imagine the smell of a forest after the rain. That’s forest floor.)
“We also have a rose wine that we sent to Wine Spectator. To our surprise our 2014 was selected in the top 70 roses of the world,” Cameron said.
“The wine business, once you get into it, takes on something of its own”, Cameron said.
For more information go to: ghosthillcellars.com. Find them at 9700 NE Oak Springs Farm Rd, Carlton. OR 97111.