John Stuart's ultimate goal for wine lovers was to offer them an experience they can't enjoy at gas pumps in Oregon - self-service.
His AgriVino Wine Center near Carlton opened May 5 to the thrill of almost everyone who is part of the north Willamette Valley wine industry.
However, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission instructed Stuart that his cutting-edge business model for wine tasting is unlawful.
After more than two weeks of operation, Stuart said he learned of the decision Friday, May 23 - the beginning of perhaps the biggest weekend in Oregon wine touring.
"It's unbelievable, and I'm obviously outraged," Stuart said. "What's more is the indication that the OLCC basically set us up."
On June 5, Stuart decided his showpiece facility would remain open - only without the high-tech Enomatic wine preservation system.
"I will just eat it and move on down the road," Stuart said. "We will still be here as an event center. It will probably take about a month to dismantle the system."
He intended for his patrons to select from as many as 56 regional wines. They were available at the push of a button, delivering a 1-ounce pour. A personalized access card
limited patrons to 10 such pours in a two-hour visit.
"It's just a shame," said Joe Dobbes, one of Oregon's most respected winemakers. "He would have been essentially an unpaid concierge for the 200 wineries within a half-hour drive of him. It would have been the epicenter of the Oregon wine industry."
More than 25 wineries were on the waiting list to be featured in the tasting rotation, Stuart said.
But Christie Scott, an OLCC spokeswoman, said only Stuart's servers were permitted to push the delivery button.
"In my discussions with staff, I have learned that our Salem office told Mr. Stuart on two separate occasions that the self-serve option of the Enomatic wine preservation system would not be allowable under the current statute," Scott said via e-mail. "Both these conversations happened back in summer of 2007 before Mr. Stuart had ever applied for a license."
Stuart calls that "a falsehood, and I will pay for the polygraph tests."
He claims he never received a hint of concern from the state until May 2, three days before he opened his $350,000 operation.
"I would have never spent what I did if I did not have the belief that the OLCC was in full knowledge of my plan," said Stuart, who accused the OLCC of "file padding" -
fabricating documents.
Inspiration for wine gallery
Five years ago, Stuart and his wife, Judi, left Las Vegas and found refuge in rural Yamhill County. They purchased Abbey Road Farm and painstakingly transformed three grain silos into a remarkable bed & breakfast experience within an
82-acre working farm. Judi's artisan goat cheese is served at breakfast.
"Each day began with a similar question from guests, 'Gee, where do we go? There are 200 wineries within a half-hour drive of here,' " Stuart said.
"My typical retort was, 'Gee, what do you like?' " he said. "That really began the process of examination."
Argon gas, computers and the dazzling array of world-class wineries would have allowed AgriVino visitors to define their palate and discover what characteristics of wine they enjoyed.
"The thing we wanted to promote was you taste the wine here, then as you made selections and wanted to be guided out to the wineries, you met with our concierge, who would provide maps and arrange visits at the wineries and restaurants," he said.
The focus was on the wineries of the north Willamette Valley, with 48 of the 56 tasting stations devoted to the Stuarts' neighbors.
"It would have helped so many people," Dobbes said. "I've got one of my wines in there right now, but you know what was going to happen? John's staff would say, 'Here's what you like, so go see Joe. And when you are in Dundee, go stop by and see Argyle because you like their wine, too."
Orchestrating it was Todd Steele, who left a managerial position at historic Nick's Italian Cafe in McMinnville to lead Stuart's project.
The goal was to serve new releases and library wines, with Pinot Noir from Oregon taking up most - not all - of the AgriVino tasting stations.
"One eight-station unit would have displayed the iconoclast wines of the world," Stuart said. "Our theory is that if you are able to compare those against the wines of the north Willamette Valley, what you will discover is that while there are wonderful wines around the world, the best wines in the world are from right here."
Enomatic systems span the world and the West Coast, including one operated by wineries in San Luis Obispo (Calif.) and Cineotopia - a restaurant/theater in Vancouver, Wash. Clarke's Restaurant in Lake Oswego put theirs behind the bar in July 2006.
"Our machines were the first in Oregon and we LOVE them," Laurie Clarke said via e-mail. "I know that (Enomatic) had to lobby the Washington liquor control people to get the self-serve units at Cinetopia/
Vinotopia approved. Those units are in a special room with a 'no minors' posting on the doors, and I believe they have to have an employee in there at all times monitoring their use."
Cineotopia owner Rudyard Coltman, who also is an attorney, was contacted by phone but declined to comment.
On Dec. 4, 2007, the Washington State Liquor Control Board issued a letter to an Enomatic distributor allowing the system to be sold. The last line reads, "Customers are not allowed to serve themselves in any manner."
Susan Reams, WSLCB communications consultant, told Wine Press Northwest that an agent would
revisit Cineotopia. "If the customer is pushing the button, they are not supposed to," she said.
A key feature Stuart employed at AgriVino was embedded in the plastic card each visitor used to access the stations that once were horse stables. The card stored tasting information that Stuart's members would have been able to retrieve via the Internet.
The Stuarts also turned a corral into a 300-seat amphitheater, with singer Kenny Rankin as the opening act on July 5. The show will go on, Stuart said, as will the events center and commercial kitchen.
A costly battle
AgriVino's supporters didn't expect the OLCC to budge.
Another Willamette Valley winemaker, who asked not to be identified, said, "Right now, the wine industry has a very brittle relationship with the OLCC."
Scott said her agency's duty is merely to enforce laws passed by the state Legislature.
"It is the specific application of a self-serve station that violates Oregon Revised Statute 471.360 that anyone mixing, selling or serving alcohol for on-premise consumption must have a valid service permit," Scott said. "In the proposed application, the service permit holder would not be serving the alcoholic beverage, it would be the individual patrons who dispense the alcohol themselves."
AgriVino's business model was designed for one sommelier, a concierge and a single "floating" monitor (each a licensed server). It was too costly and inconvenient for each guest to be escorted, Stuart said.
"These are 10 1-ounce pours of wine, not 10 shots of tequila," Stuart said. "And thus far, the average total per person was only 4.3 ounces. This was not a place to get drunk."
Stuart pointed out Oregon allows adults to pour themselves a glass of beer from a pitcher or wine from an opened bottle at a restaurant table.
"In (the self-pour) situation, the service permit holder is selling the bottle or pitcher and serving the bottle or pitcher directly to the patron," Scott said. "What follows is known as a self-pour, not a self-serve."
At AgriVino, Stuart said, "The wine is purchased at the station. You now have the ability to go get your wine."
Besides, he said OLCC officials have told him "the statute is not applied uniformly across the state." Stuart calls that "unconstitutional."
Ironically, Section 39 of the state Constitution notes it should "encourage the use and consumption of lighter beverages and aid in the establishment of Oregon industry."
One option for Stuart would have been to follow the lead of Brian McMenamin, who successfully lobbied state legislators to legalize brewpubs in 1985.
Dobbes said, "My hunch is the rest of the Oregon wine industry would have been very supportive. We've gone to the Legislature in the past and had success."
OLCC agents urged Stuart to begin that process last summer and even suggested contacts, Scott said.
"If they had told me six months ago there was a problem, I would have started the process," Stuart said.
A MATTER OF DEBATE
Stuart shared with Wine Press Northwest copies of e-mails he exchanged with OLCC representatives, as well as what appear to be contradictory internal OLCC memos.
One indicated the OLCC was aware of AgriVino's patron self-serve plans in the summer 2007 and deemed it a violation. However, another OLCC e-mail interpreted Stuart's approach as
"self-pour," thus within the statute.
In November, Stuart contacted Wine Press Northwest with news of his Enomatic purchase. The OLCC licensed AgriVino for April 1, but Scott wrote, "The paperwork Mr. Stuart submitted for his license application in March 2008 did not identify the Enomatic wine-preservation system or a self-serve practice."
Stuart contends he completely filled out the application. He said there is no category to indicate a self-serve approach, but he adds the OLLC was aware of his plans based on its multiple visits to AgriVino.
So Stuart hired a private investigator and retained an attorney. On Memorial Day weekend, he served his guests and posted signs informing them of his battle with the OLCC. He was interviewed on the May 31 broadcast of Dobbes' statewide syndicated Vine Time radio program on KXL in Portland.
Ultimately, though, the litigation and the bad blood would have been too costly, Stuart said.
"I did not want to add to the discord that you learned exists between the OLCC and the great folks in the Oregon wine industry," he said.
According to Stuart, the state said AgriVino could re-open - as a bar.
"I've owned bars before, but this is not the right setting, and I don't want to go back on my word with the county," he said. "I've got friends in Vegas who are opening a bar. They may be interested in my equipment."e
ERIC DEGERMAN is Wine Press Northwest's managing editor.
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