Brick House Vineyards

Doug Tunnell built an unusual path to winemaking. He worked as a CBS News foreign correspondent from 1975 to 1992, with postings that included a stint living in a small wine town in France's Rhone Valley, where his interest in wine first took hold. He and Melissa Mills, also a broadcast journalist, returned to Oregon and acquired a 40-acre farm in what would later be designated the Ribbon Ridge AVA. The first Pinot Noir vines were planted in the spring of 1990 around the old brick farmhouse at the center of the property; Chardonnay followed the same year, and Gamay Noir was added in 1992. The estate's name comes directly from that brick house, which remains a visible feature of the property today. In 1995 Tunnell planted Dijon Pinot Noir clones 113, 114, and 115 on an 8.5-acre block, expanding the clonal range beyond the original Pommard plantings.

• Doug Tunnell worked as a CBS News foreign correspondent from 1975 to 1992; interest in wine sparked during a posting in France's Rhone Valley
• Tunnell and Melissa Mills founded Brick House Vineyards in 1990 on a 40-acre farm in Ribbon Ridge
• First vines (Pommard Pinot Noir and Chardonnay) planted spring 1990 around the old brick farmhouse that gives the estate its name
• Gamay Noir added in 1992; Dijon Pinot Noir clones 113, 114, and 115 planted in 1995 on an 8.5-acre block

Brick House sits in the Ribbon Ridge AVA, a small sub-AVA of the Willamette Valley near Newberg distinguished by its uplifted marine sedimentary Willakenzie soils, conditions different from the volcanic basalt sites of the Dundee and Eola-Amity Hills. The estate has been farmed under certified-organic principles since first plantings in 1990, an early commitment in the Willamette Valley. Brick House achieved Demeter biodynamic certification in 2005, putting it among the foundational biodynamic estates in Oregon alongside Cooper Mountain and a small handful of contemporaries. The 40-acre property has roughly 30 acres under vine on a southeast-facing slope, with approximately 45,000 vines and annual production of around 3,800 cases.

• Located in the Ribbon Ridge AVA on uplifted marine sedimentary Willakenzie soils, distinct from volcanic basalt sites elsewhere in the valley
• Certified organic from first plantings in 1990; Demeter biodynamic certified in 2005
• 40 acres total with roughly 30 acres under vine on a southeast-facing slope; approximately 45,000 vines
• Annual production around 3,800 cases, kept small to maintain estate-only fruit and hand-bottled releases

The Brick House range is organized around three varieties from the estate vineyard. Pinot Noir is the dominant focus, with four bottlings of increasing concentration. The Select Pinot Noir is the entry-level estate blend, drawing on the broader vineyard for an approachable house style. The Cuvée du Tonnelier Pinot Noir is composed primarily of Pommard clone (UCD 4) from the original 1990 plantings; the name means the Cooper's Cuvée and honors the winemaker's father, whose French family took the surname Tonnelier (cooper). Les Dijonnais Pinot Noir is a barrel selection from the 1995 Dijon-clone block, drawing on the warmest part of the vineyard. Evelyn's Pinot Noir, named for the winemaker's mother, is the flagship: a barrel selection of equal parts Dijon and Pommard clones, raised on its gross lees in barrel for a minimum of 16 months and bottled by hand on the farm, released only when the vintage justifies it. Chardonnay is bottled in two cuvées, with Cascadia as the reserve designation, a barrel-selected Chardonnay raised in neutral French oak with native fermentation, full malolactic, and a year on lees before six months in steel. Gamay Noir is the estate's most distinctive bottle, made in a structured serious style from the 1992 plantings.

• Pinot Noir lineup: Select (entry estate blend), Cuvée du Tonnelier (Pommard-based, honors winemaker's father's family name meaning cooper), Les Dijonnais (Dijon-clone barrel selection from 1995 plantings), Evelyn's (flagship barrel selection, equal Dijon and Pommard, 16+ months on lees)
• Chardonnay: estate Chardonnay plus Cascadia (reserve barrel selection, native fermentation in neutral French oak, full malolactic, one year on lees, six months in steel)
• Gamay Noir from the 1992 plantings; serious structured style and one of very few benchmark Oregon Gamays in commercial production
• Indigenous-yeast fermentations and classical aging consistent across the range; hand-bottled on the farm

In February 2025 Brick House named Savannah Mills as winemaker. Mills is the niece of founder Doug Tunnell and Melissa Mills and had been working at the estate since 2013, with a progression that mirrors a traditional Burgundian cellar apprenticeship: cellar master in 2015, assistant winemaker in 2018, associate winemaker in 2024, and head winemaker in February 2025. Doug Tunnell did not retire with the transition; he remains at Brick House as vintner and president, continuing to oversee the biodynamic estate vineyard. Mills has been explicit that the goal is continuity rather than reinvention, framing her own approach as staying in the same lane while making the wines from her own hand. The arrangement preserves the dual stewardship that has defined Brick House for 35 years (vineyard farming and cellar work as a single integrated practice) while bringing the next generation of the founding family into the lead winemaking seat.

• Savannah Mills named winemaker in February 2025; she is the niece of founder Doug Tunnell and Melissa Mills
• Mills joined Brick House in 2013; progressed through cellar master (2015), assistant winemaker (2018), and associate winemaker (2024) before taking the winemaking lead
• Doug Tunnell remains as vintner and president; continues to oversee the 40-acre biodynamic-certified estate vineyard
• Mills has framed her approach as continuity within the existing house style rather than stylistic reinvention

Brick House occupies a distinctive position in the Willamette Valley as one of the appellation's foundational biodynamic estates, an early Ribbon Ridge planting decision, and one of the few Oregon producers to make Gamay Noir at a serious commercial level. Doug Tunnell's path from CBS correspondent to biodynamic vintner is one of the more unusual personal stories in modern Oregon wine, and the combination of organic-from-day-one farming, 2005 Demeter biodynamic certification, and the unusual Gamay Noir plantings have given the estate a stable identity within the broader Willamette Valley. The 2025 transition to Savannah Mills as winemaker marks the first significant generational change at the estate in 35 years and keeps both the founding family and the established house style in place.

• Foundational biodynamic estate in the Willamette Valley; certified organic from 1990, Demeter biodynamic from 2005
• Early Ribbon Ridge planting decision on uplifted marine sedimentary Willakenzie soils
• One of the very few Oregon producers to make a serious commercial Gamay Noir from estate plantings (since 1992)
• Savannah Mills (niece of the founders) named winemaker in February 2025; Doug Tunnell stays on as vintner and president