Argyle's New Guard: A Careful Transition for Oregon Wine

At Argyle, a pioneering winery located in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, Kate Payne Brown and Erica Miller are stepping into big shoes. Hired just a year ago, Payne Brown is only Argyle’s third winemaker in nearly 40 years. Together with Miller as vineyard manager, they make a formidable team that is pursuing a vision for the winery’s future. Argyle certainly has a venerable past. It was founded in 1987 by Rollin Soles, who is now an Oregon wine icon. He launched Argyle’s outstanding sparkling wine program, and it remains one of the best on the West Coast. His Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays became known for their purity and elegant expression. When Soles retired in 2013, his assistant Nate Klostermann stepped in for a seamless transition. “Whenever there's a new winemaker, there's always a new set of perspectives and ideas,” Payne Brown says. “My goal is not to completely change the style, but I do think there will be an evolution over time that is natural.” Better Wine Through Better Vines This is not the first time that Payne Brown and Miller have worked together. The duo has an almost intuitive rapport. They first became friends and colleagues in 2015 at nearby Stoller Family Estate. Payne Brown built Stoller’s sparkling wine program and Miller was the viticulturist. Miller joined Argyle in 2021 and got to know the winery’s 374 acres of vines before Payne Brown arrived in 2025. Argyle has two estate vineyards, Lone Star and Spirit Hill, both in the Eola-Amity Hills American Viticultural Area (AVA). It also farms Knudsen Vineyard in the Dundee Hills AVA under an evergreen lease that dates to 1987, and has a partnership with Atlas Vineyard Management with Giving Tree, a vineyard located in the foothills of the Oregon Coast Range. Argyle has moved toward sustainability in the past decade, beginning under former vineyard manager Geoff Hall. All of the winery’s vineyards are farmed regeneratively and are certified sustainable by LIVE (Low Input Viticulture and Enology), a nonprofit program that promotes environmentally and socially responsible winegrowing. Miller’s goal is to make expressive wines by creating vibrant environments in the vineyards. For her, that means eliminating herbicides and going to a no-till farming approach with only organic fertilizers and beneficial cover crops, among other practices. “We’re able to see how alive these vineyards have become,” Miller said in a recent Instagram video. “The complexity that we’re adding to these grapes is really adding complexity to the wines as well.” The Knudsen site is particularly significant to the Argyle program. The historic Willamette Valley vineyard was first planted by Cal Knudsen in 1971. When founding winemaker Soles launched Argyle in 1987, the 124-acre vineyard was his key source for still and sparkling wines. “We have such a great relationship with the Knudsen family. They trust us to farm the entire property. It’s more than just farming the vines. I'm trying to build the ecosystem of the entire property, to give it a beautiful heartbeat,” says Miller. So far, changes initiated by Payne Brown and Miller are small refinements, “micro decisions” as Payne Brown says. They’re rethinking canopy management in certain vineyards to better dial in the balance between ripeness and fresh acidity. Miller is identifying specific vineyard rows that excel every year and trying to understand why. “We’re getting more granular,” Miller says. “Like finding 10 rows at a time that we love and keeping those grapes separate in the cellar.” Generational Shift Both Miller and Payne Brown came to the wine industry in roundabout ways. Miller grew up in a farming family in Dufur, Oregon, which is about two hours east of Portland, and knew nothing about wine. She played volleyball for a regional college before deciding to return to her agricultural roots. Studying horticulture at Oregon State, she became intrigued by grapegrowing, and viticulture technology became her emphasis. Payne Brown grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, where her parents always had wine with dinner. She had plans to specialize in optometry. After getting a degree in biology at the University of Oregon, and living in Portland at the time, she started volunteering in the cellar of an urban winery, Hip Chicks Do Wine. Something clicked. She applied to several master’s degree enology programs and was accepted at the University of Adelaide in Australia. She returned to Oregon in 2007 and took a job as assistant winemaker at Archery Summit before joining Stoller. She also helped launch Ambar Estate in Dundee Hills, and she and her husband, Griffin Brown, have their own label, Dolores Wines. One of the reasons Payne Brown and Miller were drawn to Argyle was its sparkling wine program. Bubbly was the first wine that Argyle released and remains a crucial part of what they do, accounting for about 40% of production. Today, Argyle produces 14 sparkling wines, ranging from the nationally sold Willamette Valley Vintage Brut and Blanc de Blancs to limited-edition, site-specific bottlings. “I don't know where my love for sparkling wine came from,” Payne Brown says. “I think early in my 20s, I just gravitated towards it when I chose what to drink.” Becoming a sparkling winemaker, “was something that I willed into fruition.” After a year of working together at Argyle, Miller and Payne Brown are really just getting started. “To take on this big of a project and already have a really great relationship made a huge difference,” Payne Brown says. “I didn't start at ground zero. We hit the ground running last year and it made it so much easier and so seamless.” Besides, Payne Brown says, “If you're not enjoying yourself and having fun and experimenting, what’s the point?” Argyle Winery 91 OR-99W Dundee, Oregon 97115 (503) 538-8520 argylewinery.com Stay on top of important wine stories with Wine Spectator’s free Breaking News Alerts.