oregon wine industry history
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INDUSTRY HISTORY
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
Oregon seemed inhabited by folks who often were of a stubbornly independent and even
renegade character, never quite convinced of the perceived wisdoms and blessings of the wider
world... all remaining in or coming to Oregon to seek or pursue some insistent, uncontrollable
and potentially soul-wrecking passion.
- CHANG-RAE LEEFood & Wine
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
HENDERSON LUELLING
Image: Oregon Historical Society
1847Oregon Trail pioneer Henderson Luelling
brings his wife, eight children and several
dozen varieties of fruit plantings from Iowa
to the Oregon Territory, including Oregons
first recorded grape plantings.
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
PETER BRITT
Image: Southern Oregon Historical Society
1854Peter Britt, a Swiss immigrant who has
come to be known as the father of the
Southern Oregon fruit industry, establishes
the Northwests first winery, Valley View,
in Jacksonville.
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
1859More than 50 years after Lewis and Clark
arrived at the Oregon Coast, Oregon
becomes the Unions 33rd state.
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
Image: David Hill Winery, The Oregonian
ERNEST REUTER
OREGON TEMPERANCE WORKERS
Early 1900sForest Grove winemaker Ernest Reuter wins silver for
his Riesling at the 1904 St. Louis Worlds Fair, the first
award given to an Oregon winemaker.
In 1916, zealous Oregon voters pass Prohibition four
years before it takes effect nationally. Reuters vines
are torn out to plant fruit trees and potatoes.
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
OWNER MARY REINKE AT THE STATE FAIR, ca. 1960
HONEYWOOD WINERY NOW PRODUCES PREMIUM VINIFERA WINES IN ADDITION TO AN EXTENSIVE
SELECTION OF FRUIT WINES
Image: Honeywood Winery
1933Shortly after the U.S. Congress repeals
the Eighteenth Amendment, John Wood
and Ron Honeyman receive bonded
winery status for Honeywood Winery
in Salem, Oregons oldest continuously
operating winery.
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
1960sThe modern era of Oregon wine is born.
Lett and Coury had been told the rain would wash them out, they would
grow fungus between their toes, it would rot their clothes off, and there
was no way in hell they would be able to grow great grapes up here.
-MYRON REDFORDAmity Vineyards
Oregon Wine: Grapes of Place
Pictured: David Lett of The Eyrie Vineyards
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
1961After a long dry spell following Prohibition,
Richard Sommer launches the modern era
of Oregon winegrowing with plantings at
HillCrest Vineyard in the Umpqua Valley.
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
1965Defying conventional wisdom, but
convinced that Burgundian varieties were
better suited to Oregon than California,
UC Davis classmates David Lett and
Charles Coury separately make their way
to Oregon and root the first Pinot noir
vines in the Willamette Valley.
DAVID LETT CHRISTENS HIS FIRST PINOT NOIR PLANTINGS
Image: Oregon Wine History Archive / The Eyrie Vineyards
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
1967Back in the Umpqua Valley,
Sommer bottles his first crop of any
consequence, resulting in Oregons
first vintage of Pinot noir.
RICHARD SOMMER SAMPLES HIS 1967 PINOT NOIR
Image: Oregon Wine History Archive
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
1970sIntrepid pioneers plant roots and begin to get noticed.
My mom always likes to say, 'There was Paris in the '20s
and there was McMinnville in the '70s.' There was definitely
a feeling here there was something cool afoot.
-JASON LETTSecond-generation winemaker at The Eyrie Vineyards
Oregon Wine: Grapes of Place
INDUSTRY HISTORY
Pictured: Frank Wisnovsky of Valley View Winery
Oregon Wine Board
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
Images: Oregon Wine History Archive
DAVID AND GINNY ADELSHEIM,
ADELSHEIM VINEYARDS
DICK ERATH, ERATH WINERY
PAT AND JOE CAMPBELL,
ELK COVE VINEYARDS
NANCY AND DICK PONZI,
PONZI VINEYARDS
BILL BLOSSER AND SUSAN SOKOL BLOSSER,
SOKOL BLOSSER WINERY
DAVID AND DIANA LETT,
THE EYRIE VINEYARDS
Early 1970sThe Willamette Valley's now-famous founders were once
intrepid explorers - the Erath, Sokol Blosser, Adelsheim,
Campbell and Ponzi families establish their first vineyards.
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
1972The Wisnovsky family revives Peter Britts
historic property, establishing the first
commercial vineyard and winery in
Jackson County. The family honored
Britts legacy by retaining the original
name of Valley View.
Image: Oregon Wine History Archive / Valley View Winery
FRANK WISNOVSKY AND HIS SON MIKE WITH NEW PLANTINGS
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
1973Oregon Senate Bill 100, the Land
Conservation and Development Act,
passes, protecting agricultural land from
suburban sprawl.
Thanks to forward-thinkers from the
blossoming Oregon wine industry, hillsides
perfect for wine grapes were included in
the protection.
Image: oregon.gov
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
Image: Unknown
1975Trendy Portland restaurant LOmelette
is the first to introduce an Oregon
section on its wine list, curated by then-
sommelier David Adelsheim.
LOMELETTE OFFERED FINE FRENCH DINING IN PORTLAND
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
1977Oregons winemakers join together to
propose adoption of the strictest wine-
labeling regulations in the country. These
innovative regulations protect the purity
of variety and source of wines produced
in Oregon.
Image: Oregon Wine History Archive
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
1979Stunning results come in from the Gault-
Millau Wine Olympiad in Paris: The Eyrie
Vineyards 1975 South Block Reserve Pinot
noir places in the top 10 in a blind tasting
among the finest Burgundies.
Image: Oregon Wine History Archive
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
1980sA community grows and thrives.
In the '80s there was a big surge of new people coming into the
industry and they needed help and we wanted them to have help.
We wanted things to be planted properly and them to plant the
proper grapes. We wanted them to improve the quality because one
flaw on a wine in the market would reflect on the whole industry.
-DICK PONZIPonzi Vineyards
Oregon Wine: Grapes of Place
Pictured: clockwise from bottom left: Joe Campbell, Bill Blosser, Don Byard, Myron Redford, Dick Erath, Fred Arterberry, Fred Benoit, David Lett, David Adelsheim
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
1980Burgundian vigneron Robert Drouhin
sponsors a blind tasting rematch of
the 1979 Olympiad, reconfirming the
evaluation of The Eyrie Vineyards 1975
Pinot noir.
Image: Oregon Wine History Archive
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
1980The inaugural Steamboat Conference takes
place with winemakers convening to learn
from each other, share best practices, offer
constructive critiques and improve the
breed of Pinot noir. This event, held in the
Umpqua Valley, has become an annual
tradition and celebration of Oregons spirit
of collaboration.
Image: Steamboat Pinot Noir Conference
WINEMAKERS SHARE IDEAS AT A RECENT STEAMBOAT CONFERENCE
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
1980Fourth-generation farmer Casey McClellan
helps his dad plant Seven Hills Vineyard,
one of the first commercial vineyards in the
Walla Walla Valley.
Image: Seven Hills Winery
CASEY MCCLELLAN IN THE VINEYARD, 1987
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
1982When Umpqua Valley vintner H. Scott
Henry notices a rapid decline in fruit
quality in his vineyard, he takes matters
into his own hands and designs an
innovative vine-trellising system to give
grapes greater sun exposure. The Scott
Henry Trellis System is soon adopted by
vineyards around the world.
Image: Oregon Wine History Archive
SCOTT HENRY AND HIS TRELLIS SYSTEM, 2013
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
1982Lonnie Wright purchases and revives
The Pines, a century-old Zinfandel
vineyard on the Oregon side of the
Columbia Gorge, sparking a rebirth in
winegrowing in that region.
Image: The Pines 1852 Vineyard and Winery
LONNIE WRIGHT AND HIS SON, LEE
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
1983Nine Willamette Valley vintners get
together to form the Yamhill County
Wineries Association and open their
winery doors for the first Thanksgiving
Weekend in Wine Country, now a
beloved tradition.
Image: Oregon Wine History Archive
FOUNDING MEMBERS OF YAMHILL COUNTY WINERIES ASSOCIATION
INDUSTRY HISTORYOregon Wine Board
1983The Willamette Valley is officially on the
map, approved as Oregons first American
Viticultur