Today we’d like to introduce you to Ron Berrett.
Hi Ron, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
A Los Angeles native, I grew up in the 1970s in the Pasadena area but also spent a lot of time at the beach and the Irvine/Newport Beach area where my father lived.
Everybody in LA aspires to be an actor or a musician, and I dabbled in both. After college in my 20s I did some small roles in tv and a few movies, but then found a bit of success as a musician, even getting a couple of songs I wrote and sang on the radio for a bit. And then Nashville called, so I took the leap and changed may address to Tennessee but was rarely there due to all the touring I did for about 3 years. The itinerant musician lifestyle didn’t fit my chi, and so I settled back in LA and took up the family business of catering.
As my forties arrived, I met the love of my life on a blind date, Wenxin Yuan, or “Maggie.” Problem was, she lived in Beijing and was only visiting her sister over the Christmas holiday in 2003. But the distance was overcome by reciprocal trips and 7 months after meeting, we married.
Catering segued into an internet business selling tablecloths online, and we had a son whom we named, Hansen – after my fraternal grandmother’s maiden name. My wife wanted to name him, “handsome” but that would’ve resulted in daily schoolyard beatings for him, so grandma’s name was a good alternative.
Our business, Linentablecloth.com (very inventive name, I know), kept outgrowing warehouses, and when it was clear we needed to upsize again, we considered leaving California. LA had grown too crowded for me and I had fond memories of touring through the Pacific Northwest. So, we took a quick vacation to Portland, Oregon. Maggie was instantly seduced by Portland’s charm and the contrast with LA that it possessed: quieter, greener, calmer – better we thought, to raise a family.
And so even though we didn’t know how to pronounce “Willamette” properly, we made a new home not far from that river and valley. We were fortunate enough to acquire an amazing 20 acre property in West Linn that would eventually become, “Festive Hill.”
As a caterer for over 20 years I had always been around wines, and my interest in them grew along with my years. With 20 acres zoned EFU: exclusive farm use, we needed to farm something, and the image of grape vine rows running through the property was too charming to think of doing anything else. Plus, Oregon had become world renowned for it’s Pinot Noir wines, so why not join the wine party?
It took years and quite a lot of investment in time and money, but eventually we had over 16 acres of producing wine grapes of 6 different varieties: Pinot Noir, Riesling, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Tempranillo & Pinot Gris.
We soldered on through the challenge of building a wine tasting, event center during Covid, where lumber prices sky-rocketed and electric parts were impossible to find, but finally in June of 2025 we received our occupancy, and Festive Hill Winery opened to the public.
2026 has been an exciting and rewarding year for Maggie and I, and we’re sincerely grateful for all of the support we’ve received from our neighbors and the local community. Every week we’re seeing new faces and making new friends.
Festive Hill Winery’s location is just 25 minutes from downtown and the airport, so it will become a preferred destination for tourists and locals alike.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Nope…
Construction delays…
Covid…
Financing…
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Longtime online retailer of fine event linens and related products.
Since 2007 we been a leader in the fine event linen space for parties, wedding and other fine events.
Our brand, Linentablecloth is strong on Amazon and Temu, as well as having thousands of daily visits to Linentablecloth.com
Festive Hill Winery is a complimentary business to Linentablecloth.com, and will be our retirement business once we decide to let Linentablecloth.com go.
Even though the wine tasting center just opened 8 months ago, we’ve been making wines since 2017.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I’m a Shakespeare fan. Also becoming obsessed with Claude AI. It is changing the way I work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://festivehillwinery.com
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FestiveHillWinery
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@festivehillwinery
