Remembering Roger Layne, vineyard owner and Oregon wine pioneer

A memorial service will be held on Sunday, May 21, for Roger Layne. Fifty years ago Layne, along with his wife, Barrie, founded Layne Vineyard in Grants Pass. Layne died on Jan. 11, 2023, at the age of 88.

Roger and Barrie Layne moved from Watsonville, California, to Grants Pass in the fall of 1972. The Laynes settled with their young son Cameron in the Applegate Valley, where they planted five acres of cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay and Southern Oregon's first merlot vines. It was one of the few vineyards in the region at the time.

Growing grapes for a living was new to the Laynes. Before the move, Layne was an engineer working for an aluminum extrusion company. Barrie, with a degree in bacteriology from the University of California, Davis, worked for Green Giant. In 1974, a second son, Courtney, joined the family.

The Laynes sold their fruit to Valley View Winery in Jacksonville early on. As they planted more vines, the Laynes began selling fruit to other local wineries, such as Bridgeview Winery in Cave Junction. Eventually, Willamette Valley winery owners became interested in their vineyard.

In the late 1970s, David Adelsheim of Adelsheim Vineyard needed wine to sell while waiting for his estate vineyard in Newberg to come online. There were few Willamette Valley options then, so Adelsheim purchased merlot and semillon grapes from a vineyard in Pasco, Washington.

The strategy had a drawback. Adelsheim said many consumers were confused by an Oregon winery with the word "Washington" on their labels. In 1985, Adeslheim started buying merlot grapes from the Laynes, instead.

"Roger was the gentlest soul I ever knew," Adelsheim said. "It seems that many people moved to the area south of Grants Pass to escape from civilization. Some were ornery, and you didn't want to have to negotiate with them. But Roger and Barrie were completely different. They simply didn't like conflict. When we had to discuss pricing, for example, I sometimes had to urge them to raise their price."

It turned out the vineyard's fruit was as nice as its owners.

During a 1986 visit to Adelsheim's winery, French winemaker Christian Moueix of Château Pétrus and Dominus fame tasted Adelsheim's first Layne Vineyard merlot from barrel. Adelsheim said Moueix "was blown away" and wanted to know more about the vineyard.

When Adelsheim visited Moueix in France the following year, the French winemaker gave him a gift for the Laynes – cabernet franc cuttings.

"It was a selection from Pétrus that he wanted them to try in their vineyard," Adelsheim said. "He believed that the small amount of this cabernet franc, when blended with the merlot at Pétrus, was what made that château's wine so special. I’m pretty sure the Laynes and Moueix never met. But Moueix loved their vineyard."

Herb Quady of Quady North in Jacksonville was also impressed when he discovered Layne Vineyard in 2004. Quady, who made wine for Troon Vineyard then, needed merlot grapes. He took an unmarked gravel road up a hill, where another small valley opened to reveal Layne Vineyard.

"I remember thinking, ‘why aren't people talking about this beautiful old vineyard?’" Quady said he thought the main reason the vineyard flew under the radar was that the Laynes were private people who didn't have much use for self-promotion.

The Laynes were, however, good neighbors. Quady said Roger and his son Cameron frequently rode bicycles to the Applegate Store in Jacksonville. Along the way, they would stop to visit neighbors, including Quady.

"Roger was always willing to offer advice or help fix broken equipment, which I appreciated," Quady said.

As an example of Layne's "MacGyver skills," Cameron Layne remembers when his dad wanted a forklift, but a standard on-road version with small tires wouldn't work in their vineyard. "So he built his own, using the engine from an old Oldsmobile," Layne said.

When you speak with Roger Layne's friends, you frequently hear words like "generous," "genuine," "funny" and "clever." He also loved his family and playing with his grandchildren. Annie Clegg, Roger's sister-in-law, described Layne as "the salt of the earth."

Brianne Day of Day Wines in Dundee purchased fruit from Layne for several years. She knows what she is going to miss most about the man. "Every time I’d visit his vineyard, I’d get a big hug and see that smile that never stopped. He was old-school cool in finding what makes oneself happy in life and not having anything to prove to anyone else. I always appreciated his interest, support and encouragement. I’m going to miss that smile that never stopped," Day said.

Roger Layne was preceded in death by his wife, Barrie Clegg Layne, in 2007. He is survived by his sons Cameron and Courtney Dardee Layne and three grandchildren. Layne Vineyard, which grew from five to 35 acres, will continue under Cameron Layne.

May is officially Oregon Wine Month, with a motto of "choose true character." Roger Layne's life embodied that slogan.

-- Michael Alberty writes about wine for The Oregonian/OregonLive and Wine Enthusiast Magazine. He can be reached at [email protected]. To read more of his coverage, go to oregonlive.com/wine

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