Cameron Bower is the winegrower at Ghost Hill Cellars in Carlton, Oregon. After Cam and Bernadette Bayliss of the 1906 Bayliss family farm met in Guam in 1996, they embarked on a 26-year adventure in Asia Pacific with stops in China, New Zealand, and Singapore before returning to the farm in 2022 to take over the Ghost Hill Cellars business they founded with Mike and Drenda Bayliss, and their son Michael in 1999. In December 2023, Cam and the Bayliss family opened their new tasting room on top of historic Ghost Hill, beginning the next chapter of their family’s Century farm. Media Inquiries: cambower@ghosthillcellars.com | https://www.ghosthillcellars.com/
What’s the ONE THING most unique, authentic, & memorable about your brand?
Our story is about our family, its rich history, and the relationship with the Land. The Bayliss family has toiled on this land for a 120-years and tried everything to make the farm sustainable for future generations. The pivot to Pinot Noir in 1999 and the building of our beautiful new tasting room on Ghost Hill in 2023 represent our latest efforts to achieve this goal.
This has been an extremely long journey. The Bayliss family first arrived the Willamette Valley in 1906. As cheeseheads from Wisconsin, they of course, established a dairy. The future generations eventually turned to livestock and grain farming. After Cam and Bernadette met in Guam and were married in Hong Kong, Cam and Mike Bayliss had a conversation about the future of the farm. The conversation went something like this. Cam: How’s the cattle business Mike?” Mike: “It stinks literally and figuratively!” In a bar in Hong Kong, they hatched the plan to plant Pinot Noir on their farm.
The first to plant Pinot Noir on Savannah Ridge in 1999, many soon followed. Winemakers Ken Wright and Tony Soter are chief among them.
The plan was to remain grape farmers until Cam and Bernadette came home to help manage the business. Circumstances took over and in 2006, Ghost Hill Cellars was established, and the first Bayliss-Bower wines were produced. A small wine tasting room was built in the front yard of the 1906 farmhouse and served in that capacity until Cam and Bernadette came home to continue the effort and open their brand-new tasting room at the top of Ghost Hill in December 2023.
Lots of history on Ghost Hill involving a murdered prospector and his horse who had been seen on the hill since their untimely fate in the late 1800s. This legend, the spirit of the horse and rider, and the name Ghost Hill form the core elements of our wine brand and label.
Describe how and what you’d do with your winemaking career or winery business if you were not constrained.
I was an engineer, eventually working in mergers and acquisitions and motorsports marketing for a global petrochemicals company. I tell people that I have retired into a harder job and I have jumped into it at a very difficult time. I love the complexity of this business, but I also love the collaboration and passion we have here in the Willamette Valley. I wish I had more time to help other wineries navigate these complexities and to offer my business knowledge in exchange for their wine knowledge. I have formed some good friendships and alliances and I believe the strength of our Valley will be the key to its future success.
What is the One Wine most emblematic of your brand and/or winemaking style? Tell us its story.
The wine that really forms the backbone of Ghost Hill is our estate-grown Bayliss-Bower Pinot Noirs. They typically are blends of 4 to 5 clones of Pinot Noir grown on our 1999 Bayliss-Bower vineyard. I always joke that if I had envisioned getting into the wine business when we planted the vineyard back in 1999, I would have thought of a catchier name, but looking back now, the name represents family and consistently great Pinot Noir from Savannah Ridge. Stay tuned, this wine review is coming soon!
Bonus Question: What are your wholehearted convictions related to the wine business? Not about your wines!
During this journey, I met some amazing winemakers and businesspeople here in the Willamette Valley. The three consistent pieces of advice that I received over the years can be summarized as follows: We have to make great wines and especially great Pinot Noir, because that is why people come here! Stay small (under 5000 cases) if you want to enjoy the best the Willamette Valley has to offer! And finally, If you need help, ask for it. The folks here are eager to give it and make sure you give it back when YOU are asked.
I live by these principles. I want to make great wines, provide amazing experiences to our visitors, and collaborate with and give back to the amazing wine community here in the Willamette Valley.