Sue

We moved to the Willamette Valley in 2010 and after almost a year of searching for a home out in the country, found a six acre, hilltop property in the Village of Alpine, located west of Monroe, Oregon. Before moving in, it was suspected the lawn and pasture areas on the property might be a suitable habitat for bluebirds. As a pleasant introduction to our new residence, we were greeted by several families of bluebirds the very day we unloaded the moving van and moved into the house. As a well-known symbol for happiness, we welcomed and acknowledged our bluebird neighbors by naming our property “Bluebird Hill”. Daily, we are greeted by our bluebirds and other friendly birds that frequent our feeders.

In 2011, we began to clear overgrown Christmas trees from what was formerly a tree farm. It became immediately apparent to us that our property was particularly well-suited to become a wine grape vineyard. Our location in the valley is surrounded by commercial wine grape producers in all different directions, and our hilltop location, soil, and southern aspect all contribute to making our property an excellent site to grow grapes. A small block of grapevines was planted in 2013 followed by more in the next two years. We hope to produce wine from these grapes when they mature, including the flagship wine of Oregon, Pinot noir.

Neil continues his employment at Oregon State University as a professor of Food Science, while Sue works part-time in the Oregon wine industry and serves as your hostess at Bluebird Hill. We, and our bluebirds look forward to sharing our comfortable country home and panoramic views with you and your traveling companions!