Tag: Wayne Bailey

Youngberg Hill is a case study in overcoming distribution challenges and a crowded market  McMinnville, OR, May 31, 2018. It’s the 20-million dollar question on...

Anyone who knows Wayne Bailey knows how important farming is to him. It is where his life began, the son of an Iowa sharecropper. And it is where his life has lead him. Through years of business success as an engineer and a consultant to high profile companies like McDonald’s, Bailey’s work eventually lead him to the vineyards of Burgundy. This was a turning point for Bailey and what began as a three month consultancy expanded into two years in the vineyards of Beaune. “The vignerons there consider themselves farmers,” he remembers, “and so do I. I gravitated toward that. I spent time in the vineyards there and my mind was imagining growing grapes and making wine.” Bailey returned to farming life making Youngberg Hill in Willamette Valley home and livelihood to the Bailey family.

Wayne Bailey, a vintner known for sustainable farming practices advises, “The best fertilizer is the farmer’s footprint.” Bailey’s footprint has far exceeded the 50 acres of his Youngberg Hill estate in Willamette Valley to play a vital role in the Oregon wine industry. But Bailey’s feet took a long circuitous career path to Youngberg Hill. Along the way Bailey left his mark and gained experiences and business acumen that prepared him to design a business model that is unique among his wine industry neighbors.