A Well-Kept Secret
With his extensive knowledge of wine and unbridled enthusiasm for it, Robert Douglas is working hard to ensure The Secret Wine Society is an unhidden treasure.
Story by Dick Baltus Photos by Thomas Boyd
There’s no shortage of wine enthusiasts in the Umpqua Valley, and maybe you consider yourself one of them.
But sit down with Robert Douglas for, oh, about 40 seconds and he may have you reassessing your definition of the term. Also, you may find those 40 seconds have become a couple of hours at the end of which you’re leaving Douglas’ presence a little poorer in the personal finance department but a lot richer in wine and knowledge thereof.
Douglas, who with his wife, Dawn, owns The Secret Wine Society in Oakland, is the possessor of both an encyclopedic knowledge of wine and a literal boundless enthusiasm for sharing it. One minute he’s seated at a table in his new business opining on the notes of a Bosnian wine or the story behind a particular sake, the next he’s making a beeline for his impressive wall of wine, as if guided by GPS, to retrieve a “killer” bottle from the hundreds on display that “needs to be tasted.” (Needs such as these, by the way, help explain how 40 seconds turn into two hours.)
It certainly doesn’t take the full two hours to discern why a guy who came to the Valley 13 years ago for the opportunity to operate his own pharmacy took this particular detour midway through his career lifespan. It’s tough to imagine Douglas ever being as passionate about, say, Lipitor as he is the “amazing orange/ amber color” of a particular wine. It’s a color, he describes, that “God has never revealed to you before.”
In his other life, the Ohio native’s love of chemistry led him to a graduate degree in pharmacy from The Ohio State University, then jobs in Chicago (where the winters were too cold), Hawaii (where they were not) and Chehalis, Wash. Douglas and Dawn moved to Roseburg after buying Hometown Pharmacy, which he ran until he had enjoyed as much of the pharmacy industry as he could stand.
“Wines should taste like where they are from. Some of the wines my customers love most are the ones that taste like nothing they’ve ever tasted before. ”
“A lot of things go on in the industry that aren’t fair to small businesses,” he says. “It’s a tough row to hoe.”
Last year, after finding a buyer for the pharmacy he ran for 12 years, Douglas was suddenly free to get serious about turning his longtime passion for wine into a new business pursuit.
He chose Oakland as his location for its authenticity, charm and the historic building on 1st Street the Douglases were able to purchase and renovate into a unique wine bar and tasting lounge. There, fellow wine enthusiasts (or at least fans, depending on how you wind up defining that term) can gather comfortably and sample or purchase varietals from around the region and far beyond.
Using his expertise and industry connections, Douglas has amassed a “hyper-curated” collection of wines and sake and is able to tailor his recommendations to wine club members and repeat visitors based on his memory or notes of their buying patterns or likes and dislikes.
“I learn about all these wines from research and the industry people I know,” he says. “It takes a lot of time to get these bottles in here because, first, I have to find them, then I have to taste them. It’s almost like they have to complete an obstacle course to get onto the shelves.”
The Secret Wine Society’s collection is extensive, yet Douglas says he can describe every bottle he offers.
“I need to be able to accurately describe what each wine is and how it is going to taste,” he says. “I want to be able to say, ‘I love this, here is why and this is what you are going to get out of it.’ Wine shouldn’t be a lot of work. People should be able to just enjoy it. The work is our job.”
The “our” whose job he’s referring to also includes Dawn and Chris Miller, who manages the shop. Dawn’s business and organizational acumen has helped The Secret Wine Society weather the impact of the pandemic, while Miller, who shares Douglas’ knowledge and enthusiasm for wine, is another great resource for the shop’s customers and club members.
Douglas says he wants the wines he sells to transport people to the regions where they were made, whether that is the Umpqua Valley or Rhone Valley.
“Wines should taste like where they are from. Some of the wines my customers love most are the ones that taste like nothing they’ve ever tasted before.”
Up he pops now to fetch a wine he says reminds him of green olives. (Unusual? Yes. In a bad way? Nope.) Moments later he’s back with a red he claims is delicious, well-priced and tastes like blueberries. (It’s all of those things.) Uh oh, now’s he’s diving into the shipment of sakes that is occupying most of the real estate atop The Secret Wine Society’s ornate bar.
“Oregon is the top market in the country for sake, if you can believe it,” Douglas says. “You can really go down a rabbit hole with these, learning the stories behind each one, the history of the glass-making, the cultural aspects.”
And off he goes again, this time in the direction of that rabbit hole, driven deep down by an enthusiasm for wine with which you are likely unfamiliar but may want to get to know.
The Secret Wine Society is located at 110 S.E. 1st St. in Oakland. For hours and more information, visit thesecretwinesociety.com.
