Guest Blog Post by Beth Barnes, Owner & Operator Chris James Cellars

Chris James Cellars is a local boutique winery and vineyard that is family owned and operated by Beth and Chris Barnes. Our estate vineyard is west of Carlton and we have two tasting room locations in Carlton and Downtown McMinnville. Our portfolio boasts a variety of award-winning unique varietals not commonly found in the area.

With the help of our rockstar tasting room manager, Kris, and our marketing & creative team, our McMinnville location has become a popular spot on 3rd Street to drop by for a flight or a glass of one of our 30+ wines.

We host various events to experience such as weekly wine Wednesdays, game nights, workshops, collaborative dinners, and pop-ups. Our McMinnville location is on the ground level below 1882 Grille, and includes outdoor seating with heating lamps for cooler seasons, and our patio is dog-friendly!

Our estate tasting room is located on our 25 acre vineyard a short distance west of Carlton.  This seasonal tasting room re-opens for the season in March and closes at the end of November. We host a broad range of annual special events on our beautiful patio such as Stargazing in the Vineyard, Birds of Prey Encounter, Brunch, Harvest Dinners and more!

Knowing we have an extensive portfolio, we intentionally rotate the wines featured on our flights at our tasting rooms each week allowing our guests to experience something new at each visit. If you follow our Instagram, @chrisjamescellars, you’ll find weekly flight videos where our in-house expert, Kris, shares the flight details, and what kind of palate adventures you might have with each wine.

As a new addition in 2023, both of our tasting rooms are now available for private rental. Our McMinnville location’s newly added “Hummingbird Room” provides a flexible space for up to 40. The tasting room and patio at the estate are available for groups up to 100. Each is available for a wide range of events such as private parties, business meetings, workshops, pop-ups for artisans, other wineries and restaurants, etc.

Contact beth@chrisjamescellars.com for questions and more information!

Locate our upcoming events on our website www.chrisjamescellars.com, or give us a follow and say hello on our social media’s @chrisjamescellars. We look forward to hosting you and your friends, and family.

(Image credits: The Daydream Agency: Sami Marquez, Shelby Almli, Aly Winstead)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR— BETH BARNES

Beth has a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and an MBA. She now works as a business analyst and spends her time raising their son, Jensen.

Beth supports the business by overseeing the business operations, tasting rooms, and wine club. While farming is not in her blood, she does enjoy living on the beautiful vineyard and producing spectacular wines!