above: In 2024 BelliVadum’s popular pinot noir was joined by a chardonnay and rosé. This year will see the launch of a sparkling wine.
Photography: courtesy of Bellivadum
When most couples take on a passion project outside of work and normal day-to-day responsibilities, they turn to a hobby like pickleball or golf or, for the more financially adventurous, maybe flipping houses. It’s a fair bet, then, that Luke and Lindsay Warford, residents of Shippan since 2009, are the only Stamfordites whose side hustle is harvesting grapes from their vineyard in Oregon and turning them into tasty pinot noir, rosé and chardonnay offerings that are gaining in popularity throughout Fairfield County.
Lindsay originally hails from Oregon and her parents still live there. That’s how the couple came to discover and buy an abandoned hazelnut orchard on 32 acres in the Willamette Valley and begin a decade-and-a-half-long process to transform it into a vineyard. It makes even more sense when you learn that Luke, who works in investment management, spent lots of weekends and summers on his family’s cattle ranch outside of Bismarck, where he grew up. They named the property in the Chehalem Mountains BelliVadum Vineyards, a nod to Luke’s grandfather, who earned the Latin moniker for “Warford” as a nickname while studying at NYU.
A vineyard, like a family, is a slow-growth enterprise. It took eight years to clear dead trees and crumbling buildings, and plot out the property and prepare the soil. Along the way, the couple studied viticulture and oenology, and received certificates from Washington State University. All of this while growing their careers—and their family. They became parents to three children along the way, to twin sons Luke and Aidan and daughter Josephine (JoJo).
In 2016, the couple planted their first vines, blocks of pinot noir 777 and Pommard clones. Four years later in 2020, what would have been the first harvest was affected by smoke from regional wildfires. Reluctantly, the Warfords dropped the smoke-tainted grapes. “A vineyard is not for the faint of heart,” says Luke.
After a successful 2021 harvest, the couple worked with a vintner (wine producer) to create BelliVadum’s estate pinot noir. “It’s a bold pinot with flavors of dark cherry,” says Lindsay. It was an instant hit with friends and neighbors—a coveted hostess gift for those lucky enough to land a bottle. For the 2022 harvest, Luke and Lindsay purchased grapes from a neighboring vineyard, and produced a blend of the two, along with BelliVadum’s estate pinot.
In 2023, they added a rosé of pinot noir and a chardonnay. “We’ve gotten a lot of compliments on our chardonnay,” says Lindsay, “It’s a lot crisper and fresher than a California chardonnay. We use a more neutral oak, twice-used barrels, that don’t impart a lot of that oaky, buttery flavor.” The wines can be ordered from their website bellivadum.com and are shipped from a temperature-controlled warehouse direct to consumers.
Like its name, BelliVadum’s whole brand centers on the Warford family. The logo—a shield with a sun, a flame and a dove—reflects the symbols associated with each child’s names. Each section of land is named for them as well: a northern portion is the Luke block, a southern plot is named for Aidan and the soon-to-be-planted section beside them bears Josephine’s name.
Luke and Lindsay met while attending the University of Notre Dame. The elite Catholic school in Indiana has many family vintners among its alumni, including members of the Gallo family and Louis Luca of Lucas and Lewellen, but “we only learned about the wine program at the school after we bought the property and started making wine,” says Lindsay. Which makes Luke feel “humbled and honored” that BelliVadum’s 2022 Estate Pinot has been included in Notre Dame Family Wine’s 2024 limited-edition “Etched Collection,” commemorating the 100th anniversary of a legendary football game the Fighting Irish won over Army. Only 24 wooden boxes with three etched bottles of choice wines are offered.
While the family is rooted in Stamford and Greenwich most of the year for living, working and studying, they spend Thanksgivings, spring vacations and swaths of summers in Oregon. For the kids, it’s a different world than their activity-filled, structured life here. From riding the tractor with Dad, to playing hide-and-seek among the grape vines or picking blackberries, “even walking a quarter mile down the driveway to get the mail is an adventure,” says Lindsay.
They are making plans for a tasting room on the property, “with the intimate, family feel of Oregon vineyards,” says Lindsay. Back home, the Warfords have been hosting popular wine tastings and plan to do add more pop-up events in the coming months (follow them @bellivadum for the latest).
This year they’ll introduce a sparkling wine and continue to grow the vineyard. Thirteen acres remain to be planted, but over the next five years, the Warfords plan to cultivate slowly to produce between 4,500 to 5,000 cases a year, Luke says. “That’s a sweet spot for a family vineyard.”
The real sweet spot, however, may be the thing the Warfords hope for most: A family legacy planted today but harvested over multiple generations to come.