Dana & Scott Frank
Ages: 36 (Dana); 43 (Scott) What they do: Make approachable Oregon wines inspired by the Loire Valley. Backstory: Scott moved to Portland after 9/11 and took a job as a local market’s wine steward, where he hired Dana, who was cooking in restaurants but trying to learn about wine. He then went to work with John Paul at the tiny Cameron winery. Dana went back to restaurants but the two soon became a couple, bonding, among other things, over the refreshing wines of France’s Loire. In 2010, Scott left Cameron and they launched Bow & Arrow on the premise that instead of Burgundy as inspiration, Oregon’s gestalt might be closer in spirit to the Loire. Hence they use grapes like Melon, Gamay Noir and Cabernet Franc. It’s quixotic, for sure: Only last year did Scott take on Bow & Arrow full-time; he still distributes imported wines, while Dana remains wine director at the restaurant Ava Gene’s. But the two also built a winemaking facility in the southeast part of the city, becoming part of a burgeoning Portland winemaking cell that’s more experimental, and shoestring, than the nearby Willamette Valley. Scott, a music fan, likens it to the way technology helped to level the indie scene. “Kids in the garage were shut out until they learned how to make their own thing. And then their own thing gets everyone upset.” Harvest fuel: Tinned sardines and rye crackers. Modelo Especial and Clynelish 14-year-old whiskey. Dream project: “Distilling fruit brandies. For pure focus and beauty, nothing beats schnapps.” From the notebook: The celery seed-scented Rhinestones ($23), a mix of Pinot and Gamay Noir, has become a calling card. But I’m partial to their Air Guitar ($25), a mix of Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc, and their Johan Vineyard Melon ($23) has that essential seashell-like snappiness found in good Muscadet.
“We felt we should sell the kind of wine that we and our friends like drinking, that’s affordable to people and that has the values in agriculture we believe in. And it’s hard to do that with Pinot.”
— Dana Frank