When driving from Bend to Sisters, just east of town along the north side of Highway 20, you’ll pass a distinctive large red barn; this is the Lazy Z Ranch, and it recently joined the ranks of Central Oregon’s beverage producers with the launch of Lazy Z Ranch Wines.

“Ranch Wines” doesn’t refer to wine made from grapes or fruit, but rather honey wine, also known as mead — a fermented beverage made from honey. With the release of its first meads this summer, the ranch becomes the region’s first mead maker to open in the past decade. (In 2013, Nectar of the Gods Meadery opened and lasted about a year.)

Owners John and Renee Herman bought the Lazy Z in 2020 with the goal of practicing and promoting sustainable agriculture, particularly through beekeeping and development of native pollinator habitat.

Their approach embodies regenerative agriculture, a holistic methodology that encourages biodiversity, water conservation, avoiding the use of pesticides and more.

Roughly half of the Sisters ranch’s 83 acres are devoted to bee pasture, and among the services listed on the website, bees play a significant role. These include services for pollination, swarm removal and, of course, honey.

John Herman is the mead maker and brewer. He has been making wine, mead and beer at home for nearly 20 years, so the idea of turning the honey into mead came naturally to him.

Mead is believed by many scholars to be the world’s oldest fermented beverage, possibly predating the development of agriculture.

This is because honey is a readily available source of sugar that doesn’t require crushing, cooking or other techniques to extract; simply diluted with water, honey will begin to ferment on its own.

Honeybees produce honey as food for the hive from the concentrated nectar of flowers.

The types of flowers that the bees collect the nectar from inform the type of honey that will result; orange blossom honey, for example, tends to be relatively light and sweet with fruity notes, while buckwheat honey is dark in color with a less sweet, more robust flavor, similar to molasses.

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The two meads (or Ranch Wines) available from Lazy Z are its Estate Traditional Style Mead and its Lavender Blossom Traditional Style Mead. Currently, they are produced by Oran Mor Artisan Mead, based out of Roseburg, with Herman overseeing each step in the process. Ultimately, he intends to bring production to the ranch, with plans for a tasting room and barrel cellar as well.

Both meads are available from the ranch directly, as well as from various locations; I purchased a bottle of each from Wild Petals Provisions in downtown Bend.

I started with the Estate Mead, fermented from the wildflower honey produced by the ranch’s apiary. This honey represents the hyperlocal character of the floral landscape around Sisters.

“We’re very lucky with the fact that our honey is so accessible,” Herman said.

This mead is 12.1% alcohol by volume and is pale yellow with an unfiltered appearance.

It has a floral aroma, with notes of light honey and beeswax overlaying a slightly tart character along with light earth, a touch of orange blossom and vanilla. The flavor is semi-sweet with a mellow white wine character that has a bit of acid and fruity grape-like notes, reminding me of Pinot Gris or unoaked Chardonnay.

It’s light and crisp, and while there is a honey sweetness it finishes dry with a long aftertaste. With a hint of sulfites and floral alcohol, it drinks more wine-like than I expected, living up to the Ranch Wine moniker.

The Lavender Blossom Mead was crafted from lavender blossom honey from local beekeeper and honey producer Broadus Bees. A single-source honey, Broadus’ website says, “the lavender honey doesn’t taste like lavender at all but is super smooth, light, and sweet.” Herman’s goal is to use all Oregon-sourced honey. “I like telling the story of what the flowers were,” he said.

Lavender Blossom is a bit lighter than the Estate, with 11.4% ABV, and is a paler shade of yellow. It smells lightly floral with an impression of grassy meadow, with hints of vanilla. Delicate honey aromas emerge as it warms in the glass. I found it to be sweeter than the Estate with crisp honey flavors and sweetened fruit notes.

Like the honey itself, there’s no lavender character to speak of, but there is a light juiciness and a clean, crisp finish.

Both are interesting, flavorful examples of the beverage, and offer something a bit different from beer, wine, and cider. They are a good introduction to mead for those unfamiliar with it.

Currently, you can purchase bottles from Lazy Z’s online store, with ranch visits open by appointment only, as well as various farmers markets, Newport Avenue Market, Wild Petals Provisions, and several other outlets around Central Oregon.

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