La Bete Wines

Burgundian-Trained Pinot Noir Producer in the Willamette Valley

La Bête Wines is a small-production Oregon winery run day-to-day by winemaker John Eliassen, with his wife Kay Kusy-Eliassen and a small crew of family, interns, and volunteers pitching in at harvest. Trained formally in Burgundy, John brings a non-interventionist, terroir-first approach to Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, alongside small quantities of rare Burgundian white varieties few other Oregon producers touch. The winery opens to the public on Thanksgiving and Memorial weekends, by appointment otherwise, and mails wine directly to customers who order.

Location | History | Amenities | Wines | Wine Club & Availability | Our Review | Photos & Videos | FAQs | Customer Reviews | Add Your Review

Location

La Bête Wines, Inc.
21000 SW Eagle Point Road,
McMinnville, OR 97128
(503) 977-1493

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La Bête’s address sits on SW Eagle Point Road just outside McMinnville — the same stretch of road as well-known neighbors like Coeur de Terre Vineyard and Maysara Winery, both within the McMinnville AVA, a sub-appellation nested inside the larger Willamette Valley AVA. The McMinnville AVA’s boundary is defined by elevation band (200–1,000 feet) rather than simple road lines, so we’d recommend confirming the exact parcel against the TTB map before stating it definitively — but everything about this address points to it sitting within the AVA alongside its immediate neighbors.

History

La Bête Wines is, by John Eliassen’s own description, essentially a one-man winery: he runs the winemaking, bookkeeping, marketing, and distributor relationships himself. Come harvest, that crew grows — interns, volunteers, and family pitch in for crushing, fermentation, and barreling, a setup John’s described as a little slice of Burgundian tradition transplanted to Oregon. One especially dedicated longtime volunteer, Tom Reinert, has earned the nickname “Capo du Cave” for his role blending the winery’s Selection du Cave each year. Kay, John’s wife, holds down a full-time job elsewhere but still serves as the final judge on the winery’s blends, and works the tasting room during open weekends.

John’s path to winemaking ran through Burgundy itself. After years as an amateur winemaker and volunteer at Oregon wineries, he and Kay moved to France in 1987, where he enrolled simultaneously at the Lycée Viticole in Beaune and the Université de Bourgogne in Dijon, graduating with degrees in both Oenologie and Viticulture. He apprenticed during that time at two respected estates: Domaine des Lambrays, a Grand Cru property in Morey-Saint-Denis, and Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard in Chassagne-Montrachet. That grounding in old, traditional Burgundian technique still defines how La Bête makes wine today: minimal intervention, little to no new oak, and a preference for letting each vineyard’s character show through rather than imposing a house style.

The winery released its first vintage in 1998 and has held an annual Fête de St. Vincent each January ever since — an homage to the same celebration held in Burgundy, and also, fittingly, to the family’s late Golden Retriever, named St. Vincent. Each year, the team selects a single standout barrel from the vintage and bottles it separately as the St. Vincent Cuvée. The family thread carries onto the label, too: the Japanese characters on La Bête’s bottles spell out the name of John and Kay’s daughter, Paige, who designed the winery’s website.

Amenities

• Open to the public on Thanksgiving weekend and Memorial Day weekend
• Open by appointment outside those weekends
• Annual Fête de St. Vincent celebration each January, open to fans of the winery
• Direct mail order available

Wines

Best Known For: Non-interventionist, terroir-driven Pinot Noir from top Willamette Valley vineyard sites, plus rare Burgundian white varieties almost no other Oregon producer works with. Annual production runs around 2,000 cases in a typical year, though shorter harvests can bring that down closer to 1,500.

The lineup shifts vintage to vintage depending on what fruit is available, so treat the following as a snapshot of a recent release rather than a fixed, year-round list:

Whites:

• Aligoté, Newhouse Vineyard — sourced from Yakima Valley fruit in Washington State rather than Oregon; La Bête is the only Aligoté producer in Oregon and one of only three in the country
• Pinot Gris — historically sourced from Sanchez Vineyard in the Willamette Valley, though the winery has noted this relationship has ended due to circumstances affecting the vineyard’s access; fermented in a mix of old barrels and stainless drums, in a richer, more evolved style rather than lean and fruity
• Melon, Deux Vert — limited past-vintage availability
• Pinot Blanc, Meredith Mitchell Vineyard — limited past-vintage availability
• Chardonnay, Schindler Vineyard — limited past-vintage availability

Rosé:

• La Fête, Cuvée Silky (NV) — La Bête’s second label, a dry rosé blend of predominantly Gamay Noir with Pinot Noir, named for the family’s late cat, Silky, whose portrait appears on the label

Pinot Noir:

• Meredith Mitchell Vineyard — from a highly regarded site in the hills southwest of McMinnville, on the same ridge as a block farmed by Ken Wright; low yields (often under 2 tons/acre) and thick, well-colored skins produce La Bête’s most structured Pinot
• Selection du Cave — the winery’s base-line Pinot Noir blend, deep in color with ripe fruit and a smooth, full mouthfeel; in some vintages a dedicated Willamette Valley appellation bottling isn’t made at all if fruit is hard to source, with Selection du Cave absorbing that role instead
• Croft Vineyard — elegant and cherry-forward, generally the earliest-drinking and most approachable of La Bête’s Pinots
• St. Vincent Cuvée — an annual single-barrel selection representing the best wine of the vintage, given extra oak and cellar time, with only about 24 cases produced per year
• Calera Clone Block 6 — an extremely limited (around 175 cases) solo bottling from a naturally low-yielding, highly concentrated Pinot clone, deeply colored and powerful, with aromas of red rose petal, violets, raspberry, black cherry, and black tea

Over more than two decades, La Bête’s Pinot Noirs have picked up favorable scores from Wine & Spirits, Wine Advocate, Wine Enthusiast, and Wine Spectator, generally praised for their structure, concentration, and aging potential.

Wine Club & Availability

La Bête doesn’t appear to run a formal subscription-style wine club, but direct mail order is confirmed and working — we’ve had wine shipped to us directly. Beyond that, bottles are available through select retailers, with limited releases like the Calera Clone and St. Vincent Cuvée selling out quickly. Contact the winery directly at (503) 977-1493 or through their website to order or ask about current availability.

Our Review

We haven’t made it out to La Bête in person yet, but we ordered directly and had a bottle of the Pinot Gris and a bottle of the Pinot Noir mailed to us — and both were to die for. Knowing the winemaking philosophy behind them made the tasting even better: no cold-soaking, minimal new oak, and a real effort to let the vineyard speak instead of a heavy winemaker’s hand. It shows in the glass.

Who this winery is for: Pinot Noir drinkers who care about winemaking philosophy as much as the finished bottle, collectors interested in age-worthy Oregon Pinot, and adventurous white wine drinkers curious about rare Burgundian varieties like Aligoté and Melon de Bourgogne that few other Oregon producers touch.

If you’ve ordered from La Bête or visited during one of their open weekends, leave a review down below — and if you know another small-production Willamette Valley winery we should look into, drop us a line.

Cheers,
Brendan

Photos & Videos

FAQs

Can you visit La Bête Wines in person?

Yes — the winery opens to the public on Thanksgiving weekend and Memorial Day weekend, and by appointment at other times.

What wines is La Bête Wines known for?

Non-interventionist, terroir-focused Pinot Noir from top Willamette Valley vineyard sites, plus rare Burgundian whites — La Bête is Oregon’s only Aligoté producer and one of just a few making Melon de Bourgogne.

Does La Bête Wines ship wine?

Yes — we’ve had wine mailed to us directly from the winery. Contact them by phone or through their website to order.

Is La Bête Wines in a wine AVA?

Its address on SW Eagle Point Road sits in the same immediate area as neighboring wineries confirmed to be within the McMinnville AVA, a sub-appellation of the Willamette Valley AVA — though we’d recommend confirming the exact parcel against the TTB boundary map, since the AVA line is defined by elevation rather than road position.

How much wine does La Bête Wines produce?

Around 2,000 cases in a typical year, though shorter harvests can bring that closer to 1,500. Some bottlings, like the St. Vincent Cuvée (about 24 cases) and the Calera Clone Pinot Noir (about 175 cases), are extremely limited.

Customer Reviews

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