Back in November I had met Robert Mellen Rowett at a wine tasting industry event. I immediately fell in love with his sparkling wines. I was thrilled when shortly after, his business partner and wife Julie, contacted me to take some images to update their website for Mellen Meyer Winery. The first project was to collaborate on “winemaker” portraits. We had a vision of doing something that had a very northwest environmental winter feel to it. I definitely did not want a bright sunny day, and was hoping for a foggy morning. I was lucky and the weather was cloudy and misty and my subject photogenic!

Robert Mellen Rowett owner and winemaker for Mellen Meyer Winery, inspecting winter vines in the Willamette Valley, Oregon
The next project was to photograph their bottles of sparkling wine, as well as his Pinot Noir. Mellen Myer Winery’s primary focus is 0n Methode Champenoise. They are a small or boutique producer creating high quality and delicious sparkling wine. For me it was especially fun to edit because the labels are so beautiful! Photographing wine bottles is tricky because they are glass their surfaces are highly reflective. It is important that the label is beautifully lit, because I recognize that vineyards put much thought and expense into producing those labels.
84 Comments