When he isn’t running the wine program at The Heathman in Portland, James operates a small and growing winery specializing in single-vineyard wines with minimal manipulation through SE Wine Collective in Portland. James’ inspiration behind winemaking stemmed from the realization that although he loved introducing wines to his diners as a sommelier, he wanted to be “the guy who actually put the juice in the bottle”.James encourages his consumers to “try newbies” when it comes to ordering or purchasing wines. “They have a vision that comes from managing a 100-case production rather than a 100,000-case production, so that’s their baby. And that wine, for better or worse, has more personality than the majority of large-production wines. I believe that wholeheartedly.”
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