Ann & Dean Fisher - Adea
“Winemaking & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”

Dean Fisher is both biker and winemaker. Last year he rode his Harley Davidson 8000 miles from the idyllic undulating hills of Gaston, Oregon where his winery sits, to a western rally stretching from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas - aptly titled Saints to Sinners.

He also peddles a Road King Ultra Classic, a hobby he shares with neighboring winemakers. When he's not cruising with his kindred-spirit winemaking cyclists or spending time with family, he walks amid the hillside vineyard from his house to his winery, Adea.

Adea houses five different boutique wineries, the other four include: Twelve, Matello, Bishop Creek and Cancilla. This coterie of Indies recently started winemaker dinners featuring all five labels, keenly christened the Gaston-5.

A Gastonian since 1983, when his family planted roots in the rustic town, Fisher's segue into the wine industry was conveyed to him via the grape sorting line. A fabricator by trade, he was designing and repairing aerial equipment, but as the wine industry ripened around him, his clientele shifted to designing and repairing winemaking machinery.

Enchanted by convivial barrel tastings and the allure of the nuanced Pinot noir grape, Fisher reflects that diving into the wine community seemed fated.

In 1990 he made his first batch of wine in true Oregonian-style, with a good friend and fellow biker, Michael Etzel at Ponzi Winery. That same year he and Etzel planted "a little vineyard at the bottom of the hill" comprised of left over clippings from the Beaux Frères vineyard.

His first few vintages came from this one-and-a half acre of Pinot noir planted down the hill from his house. "That's kind of how the wine bug bit us." Starting in 1995, Fisher collaborated with other winemakers and growers to produce wines commercially, first at Medici Winery and then at Lemelson.

With the completion of the Adea facility in 2002, the winery celebrates a complete family venture.

"When you pull a cork and pour your wine for people and they really like it, it's gratifying. It's a lot of work for not a lot of money but it's living. It's a lifestyle and that's what it's all about."