About us
Patton Valley is a boutique winery that has been around for 30 years now. We make sustainable wine because it tastes better and it ensures that our work does no harm to the land, the people, or the greater community. We work with the farmers we have grown to love from vineyards throughout Oregon and Washington. Come explore the charm of our restored 1908 craftsman tasting room and experience our wines while enjoying a curated art gallery.
who we are
Justina Bice ~ Owner | General Manager
Don Bice ~ Co-owner | Data Wizard
Derek Einberger ~ Winemaker
PATTON VALLEY’s HISTORY ~ The first 25 years
Patton Valley Vineyards was started by Monte Pitt, Sherie Pitt and Dave Chen. When they purchased our original vineyard in 1995, Monte Pitt and Dave Chen had been dreaming of planting Pinot noir in Oregon for over 10 years. At the crest of the hill, the 72-acre abandoned hillside orchard, overlooking the Patton Valley, in the small and unlikely town of Gaston, would provide the perfect site for the original 30-acre of the Patton Valley Estate Vineyard.
In 2010, Derek Einberger became the winemaker at Patton Valley Vineyards and quickly created that unique Patton Valley style. Derek’s eclectic and unfettered approach has cultivated a portfolio of wines that are at once playful and elegant. His style of production, from root to fruit to glass, mirrors that of the overarching ethic of Patton Valley: a light, but deliberate hand. Derek became a co-owner in 2013.
In 2019, the owners started to toy with the idea of retirement and what that would look like for their beloved brand. With the difficulties presented in 2020, they decided the time to retire was now. They sold the original vineyard to Ehren Jordan of Failla Wines and started the process to close down their 25-year business. However, being the ever resilient people that they are, they came up with another idea! They offered the brand to Justina Bice, long time Direct Sales Manager, and Derek Einberger. Justina and her husband, Don Bice, took over the brand and Derek is continuing to make the classic Patton Valley wines. Long live Patton Valley and the legacy created by the amazing owners!
PATTON VALLEY NOW AND TO COME
For any of you familiar with us, you know how common it is to have a story centered around Patton Valley. For 30 years, we have shared those memories with each other over a glass of wine. Our goal as the new owners of this amazing brand is to continue building those wonderful stories for years to come. Check out our stories below and tell us yours the next time you visit.
DRINK PATTON. GIVE BACK.
This community is our home! We donate a minimum of 1% of our gross annual revenue to charities in our local community. Every time you visit our tasting room, attend an event or drink your favorite Patton Valley wines, know that you are also giving back to your community.
In 2024, we donated over $4,000 in in-kind donations to multiple local non-profits as well as over $3,000 to the following charities:
Bee Girl - 1% of all Queen Bee wine sales are directly donated.
Northwest Battle Buddies - our Memorial Day fundraiser allowed us to sponsor a service dog for a veteran in need.
With Courage - every year our Drink Pink Rose Festival donates to this amazing local charity supporting Yamhill families suffering from breast cancer.
YCAP - our annual pre-Thanksgiving Art & Wine Fundraiser supports Yamhill Community Action Partnership.
Cruising McMinnville Scholarship Program - our Gears & Grape car show and memberships donate to this great local scholarship program.
Oregon Humane Society
JUSTINA’S STORY
Serendipity is the perfect word to describe my story and how I ended up becoming the owner of Patton Valley. I grew up in New Mexico in the hospitality world, slept on flour bags, baked cookies and walked to elementary school. Working with my mother growing up instilled in me quite the work ethic. When I was a freshman in high school, we moved to Hillsboro, and my parents took me out to the wineries with them often. I simply fell in love! The atmosphere, the culture and the whole wine world grabbed me then. We moved back to New Mexico after that year and I told all my teachers I was going to be a winemaker, which there was laughable.
I was accepted to Cal-Poly and was set to start my wine journey when. . .I feel in love with a boy. To my dad’s utter dismay, I decided not to go. Positive side, I didn’t end up in lots of debt, best side I learned I am not a science person. Naturally my young relationship didn’t last and I ended up in Idaho where I got my degree in Entrepreneurial Management from Boise State. By a complete stroke of luck, the Idaho Wine Commission was hiring for an intern. I ended up working in the Idaho wine industry for a number of years doing a little bit of everything.
When I turned 21, my parents brought me to McMinnnville for Thanksgiving wine weekend, back in the good old days, and we tasted over 60 Pinot Noirs! All the wines were amazing which solidified my desire to end up in the Oregon wine industry, but one wine that weekend stood out. The funny thing, I couldn’t remember which! I knew the label had a folder and a paperclip on it, that was it. So the search began.
I finally made it back to Oregon and started as a Tasting Room Manager with Patton Valley. While cleaning up the computer that first week, I found a picture of an old label with a folder and a paperclip on it. I ran to Derek and asked him what it was, DeClassified, the old label for their every night Pinot Noir. I was shocked! I pulled up photos from that weekend and found one of my mom and I in front of the Patton Valley sign. Five years later, and by pure chance, I now work for the winery I had been searching for.
Fast forward to now, that very sign is hanging outside of my office. The last event at our original vineyard was my husband and I’s wedding. We were the last ones at the vineyard, carved our initials in a post and sad good-bye in August of 2022. Patton Valley has been a part of my life, even though I wasn’t aware of it, for over a decade. Patton Valley is truly special and I am beyond honored to be able to continue the amazing family that our owners created.
DEREK’S STORY
Growing up in Napa with a winemaker for a father, it seems almost like a forgone conclusion that I would end up in the industry. That being said, I tried to forge a different path. I got a degree in sculpture, spent a handful of years brewing beer around Portland, anything I could that wasn’t wine, but I really kept finding my way back. I ended up doing harvest and cellar work in Italy, California, and Oregon. I worked in wine for years before finding Patton Valley, and it was there that I gave into the industry and truly fell in love. Great people, thoughtful craftmanship, and good stewardship all taught me about winemaking, but more importantly, how good businesses operate. I’m thankful I can still dedicate a little time to this impressive winery.
