Bee Maloof spent nearly a decade designing aircraft components before turning her analytical mind to fermentation. Her partner Ross spent the same years running a celebrated plant-based restaurant in Philadelphia. Together they founded Maloof Wines in 2015, and the combination of hard science and hospitality instinct has produced one of Oregon's most thoughtful natural wine projects.
Backstory
Ross interned at Day Wines in Dundee during the 2015 harvest and began making wine almost immediately. The couple maintained a bicoastal life, traveling to Oregon for each vintage, until they purchased their own property. In late 2019 they acquired the No Clos Radio estate in the Tualatin Hills on the northwest edge of the Willamette Valley, originally planted by Harvey Shafer of Shafer Vineyard Cellars over 50 years ago and one of the oldest commercial vineyards in the region. The farming program converted to certified organic in 2020 and received official CCOF and ODA certification with the 2022 vintage. Maloof Wines is a queer-led business and has been recognised as one of the five best Oregon wine brands by an OregonLive readers poll in 2025.
The Region
No Clos Radio sits on the eastern edge of the Pacific Coast Range at the most northwest corner of the Willamette Valley, outside Forest Grove. The estate occupies an early-planted section of Pinot Gris and Riesling that pre-dates most of the valley's modern plantings. Maloof also sources from vineyards elsewhere in Oregon including the Johan Vineyard, a Demeter-certified biodynamic site, and the Nemarniki and Oak Ridge vineyards in the Willamette and Applegate Valleys respectively.
Vineyards and Farming
The estate covers roughly 300 acres across nine vineyard sites. All sites are organically farmed; select parcels are dry-farmed. The No Clos Radio estate holds some of the oldest self-rooted Pinot Gris vines in Oregon, planted in 1971. Primary varieties include Pinot Gris, Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Ribolla Gialla, Pinot Noir, and Gamay, with Rhône varieties Grenache, Syrah, and Marsanne sourced from southern Oregon.
Winemaking
Maloof takes a variety-first, low-intervention approach. Riesling is pressed and fermented in 500-litre puncheons. Gewürztraminer is vinified two ways: clean fermentation in stainless steel and skin-contact maceration for 20 days in neutral French oak. The sparkling wine L'eau Epice is made from Riesling and Gewürztraminer using a method that adds frozen must post-fermentation rather than catching a live ferment, resulting in a gentle, rustic sparkle akin to col fondo Prosecco. No sulfur or additives are used.
The Wines
The Classic range covers single-vineyard, single-variety expressions: Thistle Pinot Gris, No Clos Radio Riesling, Oak Ridge Gewürztraminer, and Johan Vineyard Ribolla Gialla and Rouge de Gris. The Comic range of blended cuvées includes L'eau Epice (sparkling), Where Ya PJs At?, and the red and white versions of Wax On, Wax Soif. The winery also operates the No Clos Radio Café, a seasonal farm restaurant open from May through September on the estate.
