Hip Chicks do Wine

Open: Year-round

Laurie Lewis Wine Goddess spent her formative years in Texas. She was introduced to the joy of wine by way of Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill and "thunderock coolers". She received a degree in psychology from an itty bitty college in the middle of nowhere, so a good time consisted of kicking up her heels with cowboys and tossing back a few. Yee Ha! In the pursuit of anything greener than west Texas, she moved to Oregon with the intent of becoming a social worker.

One fine day, while sipping some Oregon wine in an oh so pastoral setting, she was wooed by the grape. She decided that instead of working to make the world a better place by helping people with their issues, she would make the world a better place by making wine! To learn the art of making Oregon wine, she didn't go to UC Davis (where they teach how to make California wine) or France (where you learn le' French methode), but to Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon. In the winemaking program she was tutored by some of Oregon's sagest wine gurus. She still attends seminars and classes, just to stay on the cutting edge!

Renee Neely Wine Maven- was born in Portland, Oregon. Her family moved progressively east until they ended up in Bozeman, Montana. Her taste buds were introduced to the joys of wine by Annie Green Springs and "California Coolers" (that's when wine coolers were made with wine). She pursued a degree in Theatre Arts so she could move to Oregon and work in a coffee shop (it was either that or wait tables). When she wasn't slinging lattes she put her degree to good use in the bustling Portland community theatre scene.

Renee discovered the joys of Oregon wine at a wine festival and after sampling several, and we do mean several wines, she found that something pink and fizzy tickled her palate the most. After a few more years of sipping Oregon wine and touring Oregon's fabulous wine country she decided to trade in the bright lights and applause for the quiet solitude of being a winemaker (of course she still wants to be famous). She took various classes from Oregon winemakers and grape growers; the out of the country tuition in Europe was just too spendy. She attends various seminars and keeps her palate educated by tasting wines (but her favorite is still pink and fizzy).