LED Video Wall Creates Immersive Guest Experience at Stoller Family Estate Experience Center
Spanning 400 acres, Stoller Family Estate is the largest contiguous vineyard in Oregon’s Dundee Hills. The Stoller family established the property as a farm in 1943 and 50 years later Bill Stoller—who worked on the family farm in his youth—purchased it with a vision to create a world-class vineyard. Today, Stoller Family Estate has earned a reputation both as a producer of award-winning wines and a leader in the wine industry for sustainable practices. The Stoller winery was the first in the Northwest to produce solar energy and the first in the world to receive LEED Gold certification.
In 2012, Stoller opened a state-of-the-art, net-zero tasting room with panoramic views of the vineyard. That was followed in the summer of 2020 with the launch of the Stoller Experience Center, an 8,000-square-foot-building featuring emerging technologies to provide guests with an immersive experience and a novel opportunity to learn about winemaking and the Stoller vineyard.
“The Experience Center was designed to be a cohesive space that complements our existing tasting rooms but with a digital edge,” said Gary Mortensen President, Stoller Family Estate.
“During planning, the theme was to create a space unlike any other winery tasting room. We started riffing on the idea of a ‘new wine experience’ and building something innovative leveraging interactive technology.”
Stoller’s direction was influenced in part by changing consumer trends as well as findings from a Silicon Valley Bank assessment suggesting that people visit fewer tasting rooms in a day and instead opt for a more in-depth experience to complement their wine tasting. “We are continuously striving for innovation and saw this new tasting room facility as an opportunity to do something bold and engage customers at their pace,” Mortensen said.
Stoller engaged digital design and branding agency Downstream to generate ideas for the Experience Center and digitally activate the space. “It was clear early on that they were intent on being very cutting edge and tech-focused,” said Downstream Manager of Strategic Accounts Will Hendrickson. “They wanted to introduce a whole new way to engage visitors at a winery.”
Downstream was involved with the interior design as well as the technologies that went into the new space. Complementing an augmented reality mural and a virtual reality experience (built by other technology providers), Downstream developed content and software for four interactive tasting tables and, as an immersive backdrop for the Experience Center’s east bar, designed an expansive LED video wall from Planar.
Installed by technology integrator Diversified, the installation is a 21-foot-wide, 6.5-foot-tall Planar® CarbonLight™ CLI Series LED video wall in a 13x4 configuration with a 1.9mm pixel pitch (CLI1.9).
A window into the vineyard
Stoller’s existing tasting room is positioned on top of a knoll and offers guests a dramatic vista of the estate. Since the Experience Center is in a lower part of the property, Stoller wanted to find a way to recreate that same iconic perspective. “The LED installation was born out of that idea—to provide a window into the vineyard,” according to Hendrickson.
The Planar CarbonLight CLI Series LED video wall gives Stoller a dynamic digital canvas for streaming 4K drone footage of their vineyard. “They did a great job of capturing the vineyard with slow moving, panoramic views,” Hendrickson said. “When shown on the LED video wall, it brings a sense of place to the new building,” Hendrickson said.
Downstream AV Design Engineer Erin Shannon said Planar CarbonLight CLI was a best fit for maximizing the digital activation of the space. “It adds depth to the room,” he said. “Through high-resolution graphics and motion, the video wall makes the space feel more expansive.”
With the onset of harvest season, Stoller began adding relevant and close-up footage showing the workings of their estate. “By displaying harvest footage on the LED video wall, guests can feel like they are part of the harvest process,” said Mortensen. “During planning, the theme was to create a space said. “It’s also a natural conversation starter for more dialogue between our tasting room associates and guests. We want visitors to feel like they’re immersed not only in our beautiful property but also in a digital experience that can make our vineyard and winemaking process accessible to them.”
Mortensen added, “The LED video wall delivers a new take on telling the story of the vineyard and the people who created it. What we love about the technology is that content can be continuously refreshed to keep visitors engaged. It has really set the tone for the future of the tasting room experience.”
With programming support from Downstream, Stoller can easily switch to TV and live sports, or use the Planar CarbonLight CLI video wall as a visual platform for weddings and corporate events. “If we have a special occasion, we can stream personalized content in a variety of presentations,” Mortensen said. “The flexibility allows us to be more agile.”
A graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, Doug has been in the Technology industry since 1976 and actively oversees Fearing’s daily operations. Along with his wife, Lois, and three others, Doug started Fearing’s in a 600 square-foot facility in Portage, Wisconsin. In the 25 years since, the company has grown to over 30 employees with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Doug likes to say he’s a “TV Technician with a dream� going back to his history with the family’s original business-Fearing’s TV and Appliance.
Doug values time with family, watersports, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. In addition to being a devoted member of his church, Doug serves as Board President for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County, Board member of Schools for Haiti and Scripture Chair of the Gideons-Portage camp.
A graduate of MATC, Lois oversees Fearing’s daily book keeping along with various HR responsibilities.
Along with Doug, Lois is deeply connected to community outreach, serving as a Board member and Fundraising Committee Chairperson for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County. She also serves on the Schools for Haiti Fundraising committee. In addition, Lois’ ongoing passion and commitment to provide care for the elderly comes from her 10-year history of working in a Reedsburg, Wisconsin Nursing home.
Lois enjoys singing, hiking, sunny days on the pontoon, and spending time with her 4 grandchildren.
Ehren drives Fearing’s technology by continually seeking out trends to enhance capabilities while supporting Sales, Engineering and Installation teams. Throughout his years with Fearing’s, Ehren’s talent and vision have joined forces to create a wide variety of projects and strategic solutions that exceed expectation.
Ehren loves music, family time, movies, nature, sustainability efforts and electric vehicles.
With 10 years with Fearing’s and over twice that long in the industry, Ben continues to lead, coordinate, and develop the Commercial AV team.
By consistently delivering an outstanding experience and outcome, Ben contributes to the Fearing’s legacy of long-lasting partnerships that truly make a difference. Whatever the Commercial AV need may be, Ben and team deliver at the highest level.
Ben is an avid fisherman and photographer. He enjoys coaching his sons and other youth.
Chris has been with Fearing’s for 20 years and in the industry for over 2 decades. As a Certified leader in Sales Acceleration and trained in EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating Systems), Chris successfully utilizes his skills to lead the Fearing’s Salesforce. Chris and team are motivated and driven to develop new client partnerships while continuing to reinforce loyal long-term relationships with ongoing Service excellence.
Married for 19 years with 3 children, Chris enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, camping and golf. He’s also been actively involved as a Youth Football and Softball coach for his family and others.
