Six Wines, Scored from 91 to 97 This summer, the Drink The Bottles team—led by Jeff and Melissa Lawson—tasted...
Tag Archive for: Dave Specter
This July, the team at Drink The Bottles sat down with Winemaker Dave for a virtual tasting and conversation....
We were thrilled to be the first real stop on Kim’s solo wine trip through the Willamette Valley. Kim...
In 15 seasons and 645 episodes, Travel Itch Radio had never given a whole show to a winery. Then...
What happens when you pour three Bells Up wines for a professional French horn player and ask her to...
Bells Up was recently featured on The Sansei Traveler, the personal blog of travel writer Janice Sakata-Schultze, in a...
Winemaker Dave was back on Big Blend Radio recently, joining host Lisa Smith for a return conversation that started...
Bells Up was recently featured in TravelWorld International Magazine’s Winter 2025 issue, in a piece by travel writer Janice...
This morning we got an email from Brian Smith of Wendelin Vines in Kansas. That’s not unusual. Brian occasionally...
There’s something especially meaningful about reconnecting with someone who has followed your journey from the early days. In January,...
The Bells Up Winery Story…
“If you’re this successful in a career that makes you sick, stressed and miserable… how much more successful would you be doing something you love?”
That’s the question Sara asked Dave almost two decades ago, following his mental and physical breakdown from more than a decade as a successful corporate tax attorney. This, while watching Sara’s professional mentor battle pancreatic cancer at age 40.
The answer, for us, was that life is too short to spend unhappy. So we turned the basement hobby that brought Dave joy — winemaking — into Bells Up Winery.
Today — micro-boutique, un-domaine and always open by appointment — Bells Up composes 600 cases annually of handcrafted, classically-styled Oregon Pinot Noir, Rosé, Pinot Blanc, Seyval Blanc, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Schioppettino with grapes sourced exclusively from our estate vineyard and from Summit View Vineyard in Eastern Oregon.