Page 86 - SOUTHERN OREGON MAGAZINE FALL 2019

feature | the beauty issue
feature | women in wine

the variety.” Jolee’s grateful for other Southern Oregon women in
wine who willingly share knowledge and encouragement.

LINDA DONOVAN, PALLET WINE COMPANY AND THE
URBAN CORK

After Linda Donovan received her enology degree from UC Davis,
she worked several years at top California wineries. She relocated to
Southern Oregon in 2000 and started a vineyard in Ashland, also help-
ing others as they established theirs. Linda is passionate about bringing
vitality to downtown Medford, and her current location fits that ideal.
The historic building houses her custom-crush winery, Pallet Wine
Company, and there she makes her own label, L. Donovan Wines. She
purchased the attached building in 2014 and two years later opened
The Urban Cork, a tasting room for her 35 clients. She sees each as her
“boss,” working with them to create the wine they envision. She started
years ago with a partner and brought in investors, but recently became
the proud 99% owner. (Some close friends will retain their stake.)

Linda is an energetic, hard-working woman, but in her down time, you
might find her on the trail with her dog, on the beach or at the spa.

SUE BRANDBORG, BRANDBORG VINEYARD & WINERY

Sue Brandborg, in her late 30s with grown children, had never tasted
wine. The internist she worked for in Wyoming offered her red wine
made by Terry, his California fishing buddy. She tried it and liked it. “I
fell in love with the wine before the man.”

Two years later, she met Terry Brandborg at a wine-tasting event, and
discovered they were both going through divorce. He invited her to join
“some of us” for beer and pizza. They started corresponding and a year
later, she moved to California. She jumped into the wine side-business,
still keeping her day job, and a passion was born.

Terry and Sue wanted to do more with their winemaking, and for
two years sought cool, coastal regions to grow Pinots. Nothing. They
tried Oregon, where a stop at Abacela Winery yielded a good glass of
wine and a suggestion to check out Elkton. There they purchased land,
moved, and planted five acres. Their vineyard grew, as did the region.
Sue has helped with harvesting, blending, trials, bottling. She manages
distribution to 25 states, does the books and keeps things tidy.

RUTH GARVIN, CLIFF CREEK CELLARS

Ruth Garvin’s family owned a farm in Sams Valley, then decided to go
into wine. Ruth owned coffeehouses in Portland for 20 years, which she
eventually sold. “I went from early morning to evening liquids,” she says
of joining the family business. Cliff Creek’s first release was in 2006,
and with her retail background, Ruth handled marketing. They opened
a tasting room in the heart of Willamette Valley Wine Country, later
opening one in Southern Oregon. Currently, she and her brother own
the business. Lee runs the vineyard, and Ruth profiles the wine, handles
marketing and distribution, and more.

Cliff Creek has out-of-state markets and a robust Oregon distribution.
LINDA DONOVAN, PALLET WINE CO. AND THE URBAN CORK
84 www.southernoregonmagazine.com | fall 2019