McCollum Family Vineyard has opened its 318-acre estate in Carlton, Oregon to the public for the first time, launching an appointment-only tasting experience that marks the winery's entry into direct-to-consumer hospitality and signals a longer-term buildout of a multi-purpose wine destination in the Willamette Valley.
CJ and Elise McCollum, co-proprietors of McCollum Family Vineyard, acquired the property in 2021, converting a former Christmas tree farm and grazing land into 56 planted acres of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay within the Yamhill-Carlton American Viticultural Area. The estate now supplies fruit for the label's core lineup, which includes Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Rosé, and a Blanc de Blancs.
The Experience
At the center of the new hospitality offering is a restored vintage Airstream trailer positioned beneath the estate's oak canopy, functioning as an outdoor tasting bar. Guests can book a flight of four current-release wines for $30 per person, or order by the glass or bottle. A charcuterie-style food pairing, sourced from Good Company Cheese Shop, is available for purchase separately. Visits are available Thursday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., by appointment, and children are permitted. The format is deliberately low-barrier — a direct-to-consumer activation designed to broaden the label's reach beyond traditional retail and restaurant channels where Willamette Valley Pinot Noir typically commands a more formal setting.
Direct hospitality has become a critical revenue lever for small and mid-sized estate wineries, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, as the wine and spirits sector navigates softening on-premise demand. Tasting room revenue typically carries margins well above wholesale, and cultivating repeat visitors is increasingly important for building the kind of brand loyalty that sustains allocation-based sales models.
Expansion Plans
"To finally invite people to sit among these vines, sip these wines and look out over the land we've poured our hearts into is what this has all been leading toward," said CJ McCollum, co-proprietor. "This isn't just about tasting wine. It's about sharing a place that means everything to our family."
The Airstream activation is framed explicitly as a first phase. The McCollums have disclosed plans for a permanent tasting room and multi-purpose event destination incorporating strolling green spaces, an on-site kitchen sourcing produce from the estate's garden, and views of the property's old-growth oak trees. No timeline or capital figure for that buildout has been disclosed. The estate-to-experience arc mirrors strategies pursued by other owner-operated Oregon wineries looking to capture a greater share of the agritourism dollar — a segment that has drawn increased investment from Willamette Valley operators seeking to offset wholesale pricing pressure. McCollum Family Vineyard builds on the foundation of the McCollums' earlier label, McCollum Heritage 91, and positions the Carlton estate as its long-term flagship expression.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
