There’s a lot going on at Ayres Vineyard. There are the grapes, of course: 18.5 acres of them, mostly Pinot noir, spilling down a grassy slope overlooking the peaks of the Coast Range. And then there’s the cellar, a purpose-built winemaking facility directly adjacent to the vineyard.

But this high, south-facing saddle in the Ribbon Ridge AVA just outside Newberg, Ore., is home to more than just a business. It’s also where winemaker Brad McLeroy and his extended family live — kids, dogs, even in-laws, all making a home among the vines.

Their business marks the culmination of a long career in wine, which took McLeroy from his family’s wine shop in Kansas City all the way to the Willamette Valley.

“I came … in the early ’90s, and I loved it. I thought to myself, ‘Oh my gosh, people live this way?’ So in 1993 I moved to Portland, went to culinary school, and started working at wineries. And my fate was sealed.”

Ribbon Ridge AVA is the smallest of the Willamette Valley AVAs, and one McLeroy says is characterized by drier, warmer conditions and a persistent breeze that keeps mildew pressure down and minimizes frost in the early season. “Daytime temps are a little warmer, so we ripen a little earlier. Some years the faucet comes on in the fall, and it’s nice to get ripened before then.”

Those conditions, coupled with sandy, clay- and fossil-studded soil, produce a darker expression of Pinot noir characterized by dark fruit, earth, and baking spice components.

All of Ayres’ grapes are used in their estate wines. With the exception of a small “fun whites” block, the acreage is planted entirely with five different clones of Pinot noir: Dijon clones 3, 115, 667, 777, and Pommard. With the vineyard abutting the home where McLeroy and his family live, chemical use is kept to a bare minimum. “We don’t use pesticides or herbicides; this is where my kids and dogs play,” says McLeroy.

Ayres is certified by LIVE, an independent certification board that promotes winegrowing and winemaking practices that tread lightly on the environment, protect wildlife, and treat workers fairly. Originating in the Willamette Valley in 1996, LIVE relies on science-based standards for viticulture as well as enology, making it one of the only third-party certification program that encompasses the vineyard as well as the cellar.

To maintain his certification, McLeroy must keep a log of everything he applies to the vineyard, host an annual inspection, document any soil amendments, and adhere to a set of industry best practices for human resources. “It might cost a little more to farm this way, but I think it’s worth it,” McLeroy says.

McLeroy has seen his fair share of change in the Willamette Valley wine community over the past 15 years. “There are some rumblings right now of bigger entities moving in, but you can’t fight change. I’m not going to say the party’s full.”

But McLeroy isn’t too concerned about the competition, at least not in an immediate sense. “Family is first and foremost for us. We’re just going to keep our heads down and sell the next vintage.”