ABOUT Bobby Rowett

I learned to make wine the traditional way — by working as an apprentice to winemakers that I admired. Luc and Eve Cartier at Mas de Gourgonnier, Dean Hewitson at Hewitson Wines, Melanie Krause at Cinder Wines, Marcus Goodfellow at Goodfellow Family Cellars, and Andrew Davis at The Radiant Sparkling Wine Company guided my intuition and taught me technique. In 2013 I started Mellen Meyer to participate in the phenomenology of wine as a sparkling wine maker.

Our Journey

I have always primarily relied on my intuition and senses to guide me. They led me along the path to winemaking and are still my most valuable tools in the cellar. Motivated by creativity and exploration, I spent my college years studying continental philosophy. After graduation the wine business appealed to the phenomenological perspective I had developed and I landed at the newly opened Boise Co-op Wine Shop. I liked the friendly atmosphere and the emphasis on wine education fostered my passion for knowledge. It was a happy environment where we taught people more about this hobby that brought joy to their lives. 

I had always wanted to travel to Europe, so when a friend moved to France I took the opportunity to visit him in the Burgundy valley. I wanted to explore and experience wine country, to see the history of wine culture, to be in the vineyards, and see how the French people were eating and drinking and integrating the wine into their life. It was like seeing a creature in its natural environment with all the rich context and history. I explored wine cellars that were hundreds of years old and visited with the families that ran these vineyards and heard what it meant to them. Inspired, I decided to stay longer than I originally intended so that I could work at a winery and be immersed beyond being a tourist. 

In the south of France, I found my way to Mas De Gourgonnier, an organic farm and winery that has been in operation since the 18th century. It was very remote and they boarded me next to their residence in an old building that felt a lot like a haunted house! Only their daughter spoke English and I had not yet learned French, so I was feeling very isolated. Nighttime storms are frequent north of the Mediterranean Sea and often left me feeling a little scared and lonely. After one particularly rough night, I was questioning why I was here and the owner showed me a moth (which they actually call a butterfly of the night) that he told me is a sign of a good place. It was just the thing I need to transform my fear into inspiration and it was that day that I realized I wanted to start my own wine label. 

At that point I was on a mission. I could see the winery on the horizon and juggled three jobs for several years to learn all sides of the wine business. During this time I was exposed to the world’s finest bottles of grower-produced Champagne and absolutely fell in love with their nuance and variety. I wondered why weren’t wineries making sparkling wine in that style in the United States?  And so after years of exploration I had the clear vision that would become Mellen Meyer. 

I knew the Willamette Valley was the natural place to make the winery happen. Our cool climate and exceptional Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vineyards are the prime place to make world-class sparkling wines in North America. In the Summer of 2012 I went to work for Marcus Goodfellow at Goodfellow Family Cellars, who would become my biggest winemaking influence. The following Spring I met my future wife, Julie Meyer, and we started Mellen Meyer that Fall.