Kate and Thomas: Division Winemaking Co
Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Bands of Chinook, Tualatin Kalapuya, Molalla, (Portland, OR)
www.divisionwineco.com, @divisionwineco
Division Winemaking Company is a Portland, Oregon-based winery founded in 2010 by Kate Norris and Thomas Monroe. Division represents a fresh generation of curious winemaking - looking beyond the status quo to create unique wines from diverse grape varieties with both intention and a story.
Determined to make minimal intervention, approachable, and balanced wines with great price to quality value, the winemakers work with terroir-expressive vineyards, focused on organic, regenerative, and/or Biodynamic® farming. Division Winemaking Company includes the flagship Division label, the quotidienne Division-Villages label, as well as the Nightshade and Gamine labels – a combination of joint and personal expressions
from each winemaker.
Kate Norris, Owner &Winemaker
Kate Norris is the co-owner & co-winemaker of Division Winemaking Company. After working and learning how to make wine in France’s Beaujolais, Burgundy, and Loire regions, Kate moved west to Oregon. Determined to make approachable and balanced wines through minimal manipulation, Kate’s passion is working with well-farmed terroir-expressive vineyards, celebrating the varietals she loves to drink and the vintage they are grown in.
After a lifetime of travel, Oregon, Portland, and their culture and climates have become a true home for Kate. Born in Bahrain to an English father and Malagasy (that’s Madagascar) mother, Kate’s exposure to food and wine is extensive. She has lived in England, Switzerland, France, and the U.S. and has traveled the world. She graduated magna cum laude with three majors from Colgate University and has since worked at management levels with event planning firms and wineries across the U.S.
Thomas Monroe, Owner & Winemaker
Tom Monroe is the co-owner & co-winemaker of Division Winemaking Company. His extensive career in food, music, corporate finance, and small business has given him the solid foundation needed to run a thriving winery.
Tom grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and enjoyed his time in the Midwest watching Cardinals baseball games, helping his grandfather on their family farm, and working for various restaurateurs and rock bands in the region and in Colorado, where he went to college.
After completing a program in enology and viticulture and working in wineries in France’s famed Loire Valley, Beaujolais, and Burgundy regions, Tom moved to Oregon to make wine with Kate in 2010. Tom strives to make nuanced wines that are driven by vineyard and vintage character, or terroir while keeping things simple and minimal in the cellar. Outside the winery, Tom adores spending time with his wife and young son and enjoys skiing, live music, hiking in the Pacific Northwest, traveling, eating, and drinking wines throughout the world.
The Portland Metro area rests on traditional village sites of the Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Bands of Chinook, Tualatin Kalapuya, Molalla, and many other tribes who made their homes along the Columbia River creating communities and summer encampments to harvest and use the plentiful natural resources of the area" (Portland Indian Leaders Roundtable, 2018).