Bravo for Bravuro, the winery that does things the right way
Luci and Steve Saxton, here on one of Bravuro Cellars travel club’s trips to Europe, have operated one of Oregon’s best wineries for a decade (courtesy Steve Saxton)
There is little doubt that Bravuro Cellars — with tasting rooms in Amity and Newberg — is one of Oregon’s premier wineries. Proof is in the dozens of awards Bravuro Cellars has reaped since opening its Newberg shop in 2016.
There is little doubt, too, that the enterprise owned and operated by Steve and Luci Saxton is unique. Bravuro Cellars is the only Oregon winery that uses California grapes to make big, bold red wines. The vineyard also produces Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but its specialty is its varieties of such as Cabernet Savignon, Barbera, Tempranillo, Petite Sirah, Zinfandel and Petite Verdot.
Full disclosure: Bravuro Cellars is a sponsor of kerryeggers.com. That said, there are many reasons to like what the Saxtons have to offer. What follows is a primer:
• First the name. It was originally “Bravura Cellars.” Bravura, which originates in Italian, means bold and daring, “signifying high-level, energetic execution.”
“About six months in, I got a call from an attorney saying, ‘The (copyright) is owned by a winery in Chile. You can’t use it,’ ” Saxton says. “So we changed one letter.”
• The Saxtons developed a taste for bold reds during their time living together in California, but Luci is from Mexico and Steve is a graduate of South Albany High and Oregon State.
“We sometimes get grief from people who don’t like California,” Steve says. “They think I’m a Californian. I’m an Oregonian.”
Of the more than 900 wineries in Oregon, “there are about 20 of us that do big, bold reds,” Saxton says. “We have sort of an informal association. We support each other. Most of the others get their wine from Washington. A couple of them get theirs from southern Oregon.”
Steve says he represents a “contrarian business model.” The Saxtons buy their grapes and make, age and bottle their wine in Lodi and transport it to Oregon.
“We are an Oregon winery that imports wine from California,” Steve says. “We are playing a different game than the others.”
Why create the wine in California? Several reasons, Saxton says.
“The growing season down there is two months longer than what we have in Oregon,” he told me in late March. “We had bud break in California three weeks ago. Our vines here are still dormant. Imagine a race where you have a head start of at least half the race. It is not a fair fight. We will never make wine as big and bold up here.”
The Saxtons, however, have about five acres on their Amity property on which they grow grapes for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
“So we also produce Oregon wine,” Steve says. “This year, we made a sparkling Rose Pinot Noir. We just bottled it last week.”
Even so, almost 98 percent of Bravuro Cellars’ stock comes from Lodi.
► ◄
Saxton spent most of his career working in the health club business, advancing to CEO in his last gig. In 2016, “I reinvented myself,” he says. “Before that, I had never worked a day in the wine industry.”
“They make outstanding wines at very reasonable prices. The variety among their selections is greater than any winery we have knowledge of.”
Why did he think he could run a successful winery?
“I had invested 10 years in focused research, developed a vision, written a comprehensive business plan and I possessed boundless energy, passion and grit,” he says.
Many wineries are established by winemakers who are trained technicians.
“I have never met a winemaker who could effectively lead or manage a business,” Saxton says. “In contrast, I have never known a successful business opened by a technician. As a successful business leader without winemaking experience, I hired winemakers.
“I have devoted my entire adult life to helping others pursue happiness. My goal has always been for people to enter our business feeling good and leave feeling better. The short story of my life: While others play, I work.”
Saxton says he works seven days a week.
“I am a workaholic and wouldn’t have it any other way,” he says. “I love what I do. And I am extremely organized.”
Is he OCD in that regard?
“I don’t think so,” he says. “Ask my wife.”
So I did.
“Yeah, he is,” she says with a giggle. “It is to the point to where when I am working in the yard, and he is working with me. I will turn around and my shovels are gone. They are already back to where they are supposed to be. I have to always tell him, ‘Don’t touch anything yet.’ ”
“Luci affectionately calls me “Hummingbird, and two of my employees call me that, too,” he says. “I am always on the move.”
Saxton’s advice to others: “If you are not living your dream, I hope you are chasing it.”
“When people ask how I am doing, I often respond confidently, ‘Today is the best day of my life, and tomorrow will be even better,’ ” he says. “Some folks are surprised and ask why. I explain that my life experiences and wisdom have never been more significant than they are now. I am committed to applying that experience and knowledge daily.”
Bravuro Cellars produces about 2,500 cases of wine annually, which qualifies it as a “boutique” winery. That means it is on the smaller side. Saxton prefers it that way.
“If I had started this 20 years ago, I would have tried to conquer the world, to become some big winery,” says Saxton, 70. “My goals aren’t what they were when I was 40, or even 50. We wanted to build a business big enough to have a nice living, but not so big that we had to have 50 employees and go raise capital.”
Four part-time employees help out at Bravuro Cellars. Saxton is the only full-time employee.
► ◄
Bravuro Cellars has won numerous medals and honors over the past 10 years (courtesy Steve Saxton)
Small-time vineyard, major-league wine.
Bravuro Cellars has won a host of awards in the 2020s. Among them:
+ The website Choice Wineries ranked it sixth on its list of “Top 10 Wineries in Oregon” in 2022.
+ In 2023, its 2020 Tempranillo won Double Gold Medal at the McMinnville Food & Wine Festival and Best of Show and Double Gold Medal at the Portland Seafood & Wine Festival.
+ In 2021, its 2018 Petite Sirah won Double Gold Medal at the McMinnville Food & Wine Classic.
+ In 2025, its 2022 Petite Sirah won Best of Show and Double Gold medal at the First Taste Oregon Wine Festival.
+ In 2025, its Estate Pinot Noir won Best of Show and Double Gold medal at the Portland Seafood & Wine Festival.
► ◄
Bravuro Cellars not only has award-winning wine, it has the area’s best wine-tasting deal. A visit to each of its two testing rooms costs $10, the lowest cost in the region.
“We did a survey of 350 Willamette Valley wineries,” Saxton says. “We may have missed one, but $15 was the lowest we could find among the others.”
It is the same cost Bravuro Cellars charged when it started in 2016.
“I see no reason to change,” Saxton says. “It has been that way for 10 years. We have considered lowering our tasting fees instead of raising them. (High costs are) just a barrier to entry. If I want people in the door, why would I raise the price?
“An oversupply of wine has led to a decline in sales for all wineries. To offset lower revenues, many Oregon wineries have raised their tasting fees to $25, $35 or $40. They also require reservations, close at 5 p.m. and require purchasing multiple bottles to waive the tasting fee.”
Bravuro Cellars doesn’t require reservations. If you buy one bottle, the Saxtons waive the tasting fee.
“We want it to be a win-win,” Steve says. “We want to make it as easy as possible for potential customers to visit.”
I have never dropped by Bravuro Cellars’ Newberg location, but I have been to the Amity tasting room many times. It is a scenic location on a hill with an outstanding view adjacent to the Saxton homestead.
“We are very hands-on,” Saxton says. “I love when people tell us, ‘You are such a folksy place. So low-key. I feel like I am in your backyard.’ I say, ‘Well, you are in my backyard.’
“I like being small-time. When you go to a Single-A or double-A baseball game, it feels small-time. With the Major Leagues, it is all commercial and you are going to pay top dollar for everything. We want the feel of a Single-A/Double-A game with a Major League wine experience.”
► ◄
Saxton charges the same fee — $45 — for all of his wines.
“Not only is the quality high, but the value is even higher,” he says. “I will put our $45 wine up against any $80 bottle of wine. And our wine club price is $36. People tell us this is the best value anywhere.”
The best seller? A bottle of Tempranillo.
► ◄
Customers can buy Bravuro Cellars wine only through the winery, either in person or via the website (bravurocellars.com). The wines are not sold in grocery stores or restaurants.
“Never will be,” Saxton says. “We can’t sell directly to them. We have to sell through a distributor, so the state gets tax money out of it. Most wineries do one or the other — either directly to consumers or through distribution. Some do both. If we did distribution, we would have to start with 25,000 cases. I am not going to do 10 times my production.”
► ◄
In 2020, the Saxtons established Bravuro Cellars’ wine club.
“We have been members of anywhere from four to 10 wine clubs at a time,” Steve says. “We wanted to create one like one we would want to join.”
There is no membership fee. There is no longterm commitment; members can cancel at any time. “We break up nicely,” Steve says. The wine club has a four-tier membership, ranging from an entry level of two bottles per quarter to a dozen bottles per quarter.
“One of the things we didn’t like about most of the clubs we were in was they wouldn’t let you change out wines,” Saxton says. “They have an allocation every quarter and that is what you get. Some wineries use their wine club to get rid of inventory that isn’t moving. We take the opposite approach. Members of the wine club are our premier customers. We are not going to use them. We reverse that model and let them choose the wines. That way they get what they want every quarter.”
It has been a successful venture.
Says Saxton: “Reps from a couple of Oregon wineries have reached out and asked, ‘Would you mind if we borrowed your pricing strategy? We like it. We are going to do it, too.’ And they have.”
► ◄
In 2021, the Saxtons established a Bravuro Cellars travel club.
“One of our wine club members is a travel agent in Fort Lauderdale,” Steve says. “Five years ago, he asked if we had ever done a river cruise for wine club members. I said no.”
The member hooked Saxton up on a phone call with a rep from AmaWaterways.
“I thought we were discussing a cruise, but they were auditioning me (to lead a cruise),” Steve says. “On the trips, you have to speak a few times. They had me on Zoom call and watched my presentation skills. I thought we were just talking. Afterward, he said, ‘Good to go.’ ”
The first trip was to the Bordeaux region of France, which is famous for its Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Every year since then, the Saxtons have hosted a group of wine club members on a two-week trip somewhere in the world that is famous for “the big, bold red wines we love.”
Other trips have been to the Rioja region of Spain, the Douro River region of Portugal, Uruguay, the Santiago region of Chile and the Mendoza region of Argentina. Next year’s trip is scheduled for Croatia.
“I love going to different wineries around the world,” Steve says. “AmaWaterways is exceptional. Its service is over the top. The meals are great. So are the excursions and, of course, the wine. It is an all-inclusive trip. We use our wines to compare and contrast to the regions we visit.”
► ◄
I asked a couple of Bravuro Cellars wine club members who have taken trips with the travel club for their thoughts on their experience, and on the winery and its owners. Their comments:
Brent Hapft:
“The entire breadth of wines that Bravuro produces is consistently exceptional. One of the things my wife (Zendra) and I enjoy so much about the Bravuro wines is that Steve respects the fact that Mother Nature changes from year to year. He allows the grapes to develop their own personalities and characteristics so that every vintage is unique based on that particular growing season. It’s fun. Rather than knowing what he is releasing in a brand new Tempranillo, it can be completely different from the previous year. He allows the grapes to speak for themselves. We enjoy and appreciate that so much, because every year it is something just a little bit different.
“We just got back from the trip to Chile and Argentina, which was quite an experience for us. We went on the last river cruise to Spain and Portugal in 2025, which was lovely. That particular region focused heavily on their Port and fortified-style wines, but I really wanted a little more variety of all the wines that they produce, A smaller group of us were able to go a different winery or sometimes multiple wineries every day to experience, for example, the Carignan, which was predominant in Chile. In Argentina, the Malbec was exceptional. It was a lot of fun to be able to experience predominant wines from different areas and countries. Steve was interested in looking for options to add different varietals to his selections that he offers the wine club.
“Steve is so proud of what he has created. He grew up in Oregon, went to California to learn about wines and got homesick. We are grateful he chose to bring his Bravuro wines back here. He is genuine, he is honest, he is sincere as the day is long and he has a great personality. It is always a pleasure for us to enjoy his excitement at new releases, to try the new wines as each one comes out. He makes about 2,500 cases a year knowing he is going to sell out every single year, but it helps perpetuate and keep the new vintages rolling forward. He is not about stockpiling or having a huge library of wines. He is about good wines, and his premise is upon a release, it’s good to drink now.
“Luci is adorable. The two of them together make a dynamic couple and are always the most gracious hosts, whether at their home in Amity, at the tasting room in Newberg or as hosts on any of the trips that we’ve had the pleasure to travel on. They so appreciate the wine club members who support and enjoy the wines. Their generosity and genuine nature speak for themselves. There is no pretense.
“There are a lot of wineries in Oregon. For us, it is about the wines, but it is also about the experience. We have been to a lot of wineries that we will never go back to because it was not a good experience. I don’t care how good the wines are if you have a crappy experience, because it’s about wines and the experiences. Steve and Luci never disappoint. They are the most endearing people to spend time with. We have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them and have quite a significant collection of Bravuro wines in our cellar that we enjoy on a daily basis.”
Steve Huffman
“We went on the trip to Chile and Argentina this year, and previous did the Bordeaux trip and the one to Portugal and Spain. I love his wine club, and we have had a fantastic time on his trips. They are super well-organized. We had a snafu at the end of our Argentina with a national transportation strike. The day we were supposed to fly home, there were no transportation possibilities available. We wound up staying a few extra days, which turned out to be fine. They worked really hard to figure that out for everybody and rebook and accommodate everybody. I think we were all pretty happy in the end.
“I have been making wine since 1975 as an amateur. My folks bought a property that had been a winery but was no longer commercially viable. Most of the grapes were Zinfandel on the property. I learned to make wine while still in high school and have been tinkering with that ever since.
“My absolute favorite wine is Zinfandel. When we first visited, one of the wines Steve offered was a brand of Zinfandel from Lodi. The minute I tasted that, I was like, ‘We have to join the wine club.’ Every one of their wines is good. We like some better than others, but they are all good. We haven’t found a wine they have produced that we didn’t like, and I am picky. We have been to a lot of other well-known names locally and I don’t necessarily care for their wines. I am super happy with Steve and the product their winery has produced. And we love the fact that they started out as home winemakers as well.
“Steve and Luci are very gracious, very welcoming. We love the Amity property and recommend them to all our friends who like red wine. We have some friends who don’t necessarily like red wine, but we tell them to go there anyway and give them a try. They do a Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, which don’t fit into the big, bold red genre, but both are very good. We have bought cases of those to serve at parties. Everyone we know who has been there has had the same experience as us.”
Steve “is such a hospitable guy, and he works his ass off,” says Bill McShane, a close friend and customer of Saxton’s (courtesy Steve Saxton)
BILL McSHANE:
“I would like to think we are founding members of Bravuro’s wine club. At one time, we had 15 or 16 wine club memberships. I don’t have a cultivated palette — I just like what I like. I think Bravuro is unique, mainly because of Steve. Steve and Luci are lovely people and quite good friends of ours. A lot of entrepreneurs and small business owners understand the importance of keeping the customer happy. But Bravuro is in a separate category. The difference is how much they — and particularly Steve — put into the daily fundamentals. It reminds me a lot of basketball in that way. He works his ass off. I am trying to talk him into hiring some help, so he can stay in the game for longevity sake.
“They make outstanding wines at very reasonable prices. The variety among their selections is greater than any winery we have knowledge of. Their wines are unique to their own varieties. They do an excellent job of making all of them enjoyable, yet different from each other.
“The way they treat everybody is incredible. Steve is such a hospitable guy. It is enjoyable to watch how he manages customers, whether it is one couple or 60 couples in a large group of people at their event, how they make everybody feel welcome. It is really impressive.”
► ◄
Readers: what are your thoughts? I would love to hear them in the comments below. On the comments entry screen, only your name is required, your email address and website are optional, and may be left blank.
Follow me on BlueSky.
Follow me on X (formerly Twitter).
Like me on Facebook.
Find me on Instagram.
