Oregon Wine Country...
an amazing place

The pioneers of Oregon Pinot Noir arrived in the Willamette Valley in the late 1960’s and 1970’s.  They recognized that the shallow sparse topsoils, useless for traditional farming, and the climate was perfect for cool climate viticulture.   As the vineyard landscape was slowly burgeoning, early events and successes within the budding industry began to illuminate Oregon as an emerging world class wine growing region.

Highlights:

The international Olympiades of wine in Paris in 1979, when an Oregon Pinot Noir, The Eyrie 1975 South Block Reserve, scored in the top ten.  A year later the winners were challenged to a rematch, and The Eyrie wine placed second.  Wine writers and consumers became aware of Oregon.

Later, in 1985 the International Wine Center in New York held a “Burgundy Challenge” to compare fifteen of the top Oregon Pinot Noirs with a similar number of high quality Burgundies. The expert tasting panel could not distinguish Oregon Pinot Noir from Burgundy, as the top five were all Oregon.  The tasting had an immediate impact on prestige and actual sales of Oregon Pinot Noir.

The Oregon wine industry enjoys a well deserved reputation for its close-knit nature and spirit of sharing.  This has resulted in high quality wines being produced across the entire region.  Willamette valley wineries have been recognized around the world and the area is home to ventures like Domaine Drouhin, the American outpost of Maison Joseph Drouhin of Burgundy, Beaux Freres co-owned by wine critic Robert Parker, etc.

In addition to the wine, Oregon is home to Pacific Northwest cuisine with its emphasis on simply prepared fresh seafood and locally grown meats and ingredients.   This cusine perfectly compliments the wines from this region and is a vital part of the wine country.

Today, with just over 400 wineries in production, Oregon’s wine – especially Pinot Noir – is well-known and highly sought after, and has developed a distinctive style not only for its Pinot Noir, but also for cool climate whites including Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Riesling.  We are proud to be a part of the Oregon wine story, and we couldn’t have found a better time to do it!