Meet Denise, co-owner of Native Flora and President of the Dundee Hills Winegrowers Association
Produced in partnership by Travel Dundee and the Dundee Hills Winegrowers Association.
Armed with contagious joy, a pragmatist’s mind, and a knack for accomplishing more in an afternoon than most do in a week, Denise Flora serves as president of the Dundee Hills Winegrowers Association while also handling the business operations of Native Flora, the vineyard and winery she owns alongside her husband, Scott Flora.
While her busy schedule might lead you to believe otherwise, she’s a presence of peace as she
walks the vineyards with her four dogs, tends her garden and the Japanese eggplant she’s
growing for the first time, and plucks weeds from her flower beds. These are beautiful, rich days
and she embraces all they bring.
It’s been nearly two decades since Denise and Scott established Native Flora. They’ve never been motivated by convention and promptly planted themselves on the wrong side of the hill, disregarding the commonly-held belief that grapes need southern exposure to ripen. Instead, they turned to science when they planted their north slope, trusting the work of photosynthesis to ripen their fruit, and were rewarded! Those continue to be the blocks they harvest first each year.
Scott and Denise moved to Oregon from Hong Kong in 2000. Scott’s passion for wine, developed throughout his childhood and his time growing up near Napa, led them to explore the wines of the Willamette Valley. Denise fell in love with the wine grown here and this shared wine enthusiasm led to the purchase of their land in 2005 and the planting of their first vines in 2006. All these years later, Native Flora remains a boutique operation, with Scott and Denise personally managing every aspect of the vineyard and winery. They offer three owner-poured wine-tasting appointments daily, primarily for wine lovers/collectors.
Denise has an influence in the Dundee Hills that stretches far beyond the 20 acres of planted grapes in the Native Flora vineyard. As president of the Dundee Hills Winegrowers Association, comprising more than 85 businesses spanning wineries, restaurants, and accommodations, she leads the initiatives to promote the Dundee Hills AVA as a premier wine destination where Oregon Pinot Noir was born.
As President of the association, she works alongside a volunteer board to create the common message of the Dundee Hills and ensure everyone puts their best foot forward – together. “We have small, by-appointment boutique wineries, like Native Flora, and we have larger wineries that can host much larger groups,” she notes. “From a business perspective, figuring out how all that comes together is an interesting challenge. It doesn’t matter if you’re new to wine or
a wine collector. There is something available in the area for everyone to experience and enjoy.”
Every member of the board has a full-time job. And yet they all contribute anyway… because they care about the Dundee Hills. Collaboration and community have always been at the bedrock of this wine community.
Much has changed in the 19 years since the Native Flora vineyard took root, and that change will continue as oenophiles worldwide discover and fall in love with this special AVA. “In the years to come, I expect we’ll see more restaurants, more places to stay, and more wineries,” she says. “But what I know will remain unchanged is the sense of community among the wine industry and the sense of place in the Dundee Hills.”
Photos by Molly Bailey