With roots in the Willamette Valley, Melaney Schmidt and Malia Myers founded Landmass Wines in Oregon’s scenic port town of Cascade Locks. Landmass is a 6000-case production, focusing on sparkling wine, from high-quality fruit found in the Willamette Valley, Rogue Valley and Columbia River Gorge.
They’re the only producer we’ve ever met that makes all four different types of sparkling wine: Traditional Method (Champagne Method), Charmat Method (Tank Method), Transfer Method, and Ancestral Method (Pétillant Naturel or Pet-Nat).
We love the wines made by Melaney and Malia and were thrilled with the opportunity to sit down with them in their production facility to hear their story. We hope you enjoy their journey as much as we did and encourage you to taste their wines soon (new tasting room info below!).
Interview with Malia and Melaney of Landmass Wines
Wine Scribes: Ok so first off, why bubbles? Was that always the plan?
Malia Myers: I mean, don’t you just love bubbles?
Wine Scribes: Of course. But how did you decide to focus on sparkling versus other types of wine?
Malia: Let’s take it back. We came of age in our 20’s in hot hot LA. And so we were used to enjoying light, bright refreshing beverages. When getting to know wine, I fell in love with delicate Pinot Noirs; our favorites were from Illahe Vineyards in the Willamette Valley.
Melaney Schmidt: Yeah Illahe are super friendly folks. After running a wine bar for a bit, I started working at Illahe for a year alongside Malia, who worked there two full years. Then I went to school for winemaking at Chemeketa in Salem, where I thought I would want to learn to make Pinot Noir, but I ended up changing directions. While everyone else in school was focusing on making Riesling, Gamay and Pinot, I wanted to do the most technical, most complex wine you could make–and that’s bubbles.
Malia: And it just made sense to us that Willamette is Pinot and Chardonnay country, so it’s perfect for sparkling. Méthode Champenoise sparkling wine is an investment: time, space, technology etc. Thus at the time (around 2018), very few wineries were producing sparkling wine. Argyle kicked that off obviously and now, many many producers are making sparkling wine in the Valley.
Wine Scribes: So you’re at Illahe (whom we’ve tasted with and love). How did you decide that it’s time to start your own label?
Melaney: I went to school and I just got excited. I thought, I can totally do this–which, looking back, is an insane thing to say.
Malia: The barriers for entry for a winery are absolutely crazy.
Melaney: So we started small. Illahe let us make a little wine here and there [on their premises]. At the start, we had three or four barrels and a tank.
Wine Scribes: A lot of winemakers start that way, right?
Melaney: Totally. That’s one of the best parts [of working at a larger winery].
Malia: We moved out of Illahe’s cellar and did the next harvest at Day Wines in 2018, which was a custom crush setup (many small producers in a shared space).
Melaney: From the start of harvest, it was feeling really cramped.
Malia: It’s like if you live with ten roommates and everyone needs to use the bathroom at once. Everyone in the cellar needs the pump and the press at the same time. It’s so stressful. I mean, it’s great to have the wealth of knowledge and physical help all around you, but ultimately we wanted our own space. We knew we better start working hard so we can begin acquiring our own equipment.
Check out our series on Startup Winemakers here
WS: This production space is awesome. A dedicated area for pressing, fermenting as well as one for storage. How did you find your way here?
Malia: Jasper from Son of Man cider, who’s next door. So, we’re just starting our career and we want to get to know the beverage community. We see that Son of Man is throwing one of their big events and we just volunteer to help.
Melaney: Yeah, do you need anyone to help pour or whatever? We just want to see what’s going on.
Malia: The event was at night and we drive down this road and you don’t see the river or anything, wondering, are we in the right place? Then we go in and there’s this great warehouse here right on the water; it was magical. Then we learn the unit next door is going up for rent.
At that point, we’re very Willamette Valley rooted. But we were so intrigued by that area–what’s happening in the Gorge. Is that the right move? We came to check it out and spent time in the Gorge and just loved it. It fit our lifestyle more; we are very active with hiking and our dogs. It reminds me of where I’m from in Colorado, but in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
WS: It really is heaven out here. We understand you process plenty of fruit from this region. What % of your grapes comes from the Gorge vs. others?
Melaney: 50% Gorge, 40% Willamette and 10% Rogue Valley. That’s why we chose the name Landmass: We don’t own a single vine. We don’t own any land. But we are very dedicated to finding the right fruit from the right place. All these different little land masses that we get to pick from.
Malia: We’re never going to be that big estate producer, nor do we want to be. We prefer the versatility and flexibility of finding the best fruit from different regions. For example, the Chenin Blanc we get from the Rogue Valley grows at high elevation at 1900 feet and is perfect for the acidity we’re looking for. The Grüner Veltliner we get from Underwood has the perfect climate and terroir for that expression we want.
WS: Do you host any tastings here in Cascade Locks?
Melaney: We do open houses four times a year. This is where we showcase all the new wines–everything that’s getting bottled–we pour those. We pair it with music and hire a food vendor too. On top of that, if there is a group of 8 or more, we can set up a private tasting.
Malia: We’re also opening up our first tasting room in Portland in a few weeks! It’s located at 4727 NE Fremont St Suite D, Portland, OR 97213 and will be open on weekends starting in April 2025. We’re going for a very casual, fun vibe–bring your dog, come hang out and have a glass of wine!
Melaney: And we’re pricing things affordably. Targeting $12-14 for a glass pour.
WS: Wow that’s a great price point, especially for bubbles. Last question for you: If you had to give one piece of advice to a small producer who’s just starting in the industry, what would it be?
Malia: Buckle up!
Melaney: Yeah. Something I encourage people to do more of now because I wish people had done it with me at the beginning is to communicate as much as possible. Ask questions about costs, how things are run, what’s normal and not normal. Don’t be afraid to ask the community for support on any topic.
Malia: On top of that, and this is something that Melaney’s always been very good at, is to keep the blinders on. Focus and filtering out the noise is so important. It will be different depending on your goals but for us, it was filtering out the noise in the Willamette Valley and finding this unique spot in the Gorge.
For more information, find LANDMASS Wines via their Website and Instagram.
