October 26th – After 37 years of winemaking, Willamette Valley entrepreneur, Joe Dobbes, has yet to slow down. In fact, he is doing it again, afresh, once more. Joe and his wife Patricia are elated to announce their newest project, Iterum Wines, in Oregon’s Eola-Amity Hills.
Iterum is Latin for again, afresh, once more. This new venture represents a full circle winemaking story for Joe and celebrates what he is calling, the crescendo of his career.
In 2017 Joe found himself ready for a reset. He had stepped back from his original wine project, Dobbes Family Estate and Wine by Joe, in which he still owns 50% of with partners, Bacchus Capital Management. During this time, Joe took a two-year hiatus from winemaking to focus on the growth of his mobile bottling business, Dundee Mobile Bottlers.
Throughout this hiatus, Joe spent hours tasting through his peer’s wines and revisiting his own wine portfolio dating back to the start of his career. The break from managing a large winemaking operation allowed him a respite, and time to reflect. The natural genesis was Iterum Wines. After more than three decades in the industry, Joe is going full circle and getting small once again.
When asking Joe, what inspired him to create Iterum, his response was simple…
“Iterum is all about getting back to my roots and being highly focused. I am just where I want to be, back in the vineyard getting dirty, farming organically, calling on all my years of experience and creating. I am rejuvenated, excited, blessed to be in this position, and I am making the most exciting wines of my career.” – Joe Dobbes
The Iterum portfolio includes limited quantities of estate bottlings from Joe and Patricia’s Eola-Amity Hills property, The Orchard House Vineyard. The estate is planted on what used to be fruit orchards, now considered to be the heart of Eola-Amity’s wine country. Joe calls this western mid-slope of the Eola-Amity Hills, the Eola-Bench, or the 90210 neighborhood of the Eola-Amity Hills. The 21-acre estate is located at 485 – 625 feet in elevation with 11.98 acres planted to vines. Varietals include Pinot Noir clones 114 and 115, planted in 2000, and Chardonnay clones 548 and 76 planted in 2016. New to the property is Sauvignon Blanc planted in 2021.
The Iterum portfolio includes estate designate Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and soon an estate Sauvignon Blanc. Estate grown Sparkling Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are currently en Tirage and to be released in several years. Also included in the portfolio are a handful of ‘Old Friends,’ bottlings produced from truly exceptional vineyards, varietals, and rare clones which Joe has worked with over the past thirty-seven vintages and are essential to his story.
One of Joe’s ‘Old Friends’ is Oak Grove Vineyard, Sauvignon Blanc.
“I first worked with this Oak Grove Vineyard in 1989. A new personal mission, among many, is to prove that Oregon Sauvignon Blanc can be every bit as phenomenal as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.” – Joe Dobbes
Iterum Wines is now open by appointment only. This experience is located on Joe and Patricia’s personal estate, Orchard House Vineyard, just steps away from the vines. Patricia and Joe intimately host all tastings.
There is a minimum 6 bottle per person purchase requirement per couple when booking the two-hour Orchard House Experience. You will be greeted with locally and seasonally catered bites, a tour of the estate, and a tasting of Joe’s current vintage portfolio. Guests are also welcomed to schedule a pickup and purchase appointment for those looking to purchase without booking the full Orchard House Estate Experience. Those coming from out of town are welcome to book Joe and Patricia’s West Salem Air BnB just 10 minutes from the property.
Visit https://iterumwines.com to make an appointment or email patricia@iterum.wine.
More About Joe Dobbes
Joe Dobbes is a long-time Oregon native and business owner. With a knack for farming, a love for cooking and a degree in biology, winemaking proved to be his career path early in life.
Joe got his start in the Old World in the mid-80’s as an apprentice at Weingut Erbhof Tesch in West Germany. This first winemaking experience abroad led to an excitement to return home and sink his teeth into the Willamette Valley wine world which was at its precipice of gaining international acclaim. At the first ever International Pinot Noir Celebration in McMinnville, Oregon, Joe was offered the opportunity of a lifetime in Burgundy, France. He worked the 1988 vintage in Burgundy under the tutelage of two luminaries, Christophe Roumier of Domaine G. Roumier and Dominique Lafon of Domaine des Comptes Lafon.
Collaborating with these luminaries, opened the cellar doors to numerous iconic wine producers throughout France. Fully aware of the remarkable opportunity he found himself in, Joe immersed himself into the Burgundian winemaking culture and teachings passed on through centuries. Some of which he practices in the vineyard and winery today.
Back home, Joe grew his experience working with Oregon’s own icons like Elk Cove Vineyards, Ken Wright Cellars, and others before spending six vintages as Head Winemaker for Willamette Valley Vineyards from 1996 to 2001. He refers to his Willamette Valley Vineyards tenure as “graduate school”. In 2002 with his life savings in one pocket, Joe started his own multi-faceted winemaking company, Wine by Joe and Dobbes Family Estate in Dundee, Oregon. Wine by Joe quickly grew to be one of the largest wine brands in Oregon and was named the “Number 1 Hot Brand” in the United States in 2011 by Wines Business Monthly.
After 15 years at the helm of his company and wearing many hats, Joe stepped aside in 2017 semi-retiring to form Dundee Mobile Bottlers. In 2018 he realized his dream by purchasing a 21-acre vineyard property and estate home on the west bench of the Eola-Amity Hills of Oregon’s famous Willamette Valley where he and his wife Patricia reside and run Iterum Wines.
