Text Box: Since 2001

Text Box:   Liv Torgersen National Sales Manager Willamette Valley Vineyards     Founder Oregon Wine Festival '06 Text Box:         Bill Hanson Assistant Winemaker Panther Creek Text Box: Liv Torgersen - National Sales Manager Willamette Valley Vineyards   Liv Torgersen received a degree from The Sommelier Society of America in 2003. Since then she has worked as a retail buyer and spent three years as a sales rep in downtown Boston.  She re-located to Portland from Boston in August 2007 to work for Willamette Valley Vineyards as their National Sales Rep. Text Box: Bill Hanson - Assistant Winemaker - Panther Creek   A wine industry veteran of 25 years, Bill has been working beside winemaker Michael Stevenson since 2007. Bill is involved in every aspect of production with key responsibilities over wine classification, blending and packaging while managing Sales, Marketing and Public Relations efforts in the U.S. and Canada. Bill served on the Board of the Oregon Wine Growers Association as Secretary, Treasurer and President of the North Willamette Chapter from 1996-1998. Bill and his wife Linda live in Carlton where they farm their own vineyard using Low Input Viticulture and Enology standards (L.I.V.E.) for their LIBRA brand. Bill is proud to have guided the winery through the pilot program with The Oregon Wine Board and L.I.V.E. to have Panther Creek become “Oregon Certified Sustainable.” Text Box: Bryan Wilson Winemaker Foris Vineyards   Founder Oregon Wine Festival '06 Text Box: Bryan Wilson - Winemaker - Foris Vineyards Foris Winemaker, Bryan Wilson, first became fascinated with wine while living with his parents in Europe as a young teen in 1970-1971. Bryan attended the University of Oregon where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. It was during one of his college breaks that Bryan fondly remembers purchasing his first case of wine. Upon graduation in 1980, Bryan began his winemaking career at Chateau Souverain, first in the tasting room and then in the cellar. In 1984 while working in the cellar at Chateau Souverain, Bryan met Mike Benziger and shortly thereafter began working with the Benziger Family Winery on Sonoma Mountain. Bryan moved back to the Rogue Valley in late 2004 as Winemaker at Del Rio Vineyards for 1½ years. Venturing out on his own, Bryan continued consulting with several new as he founded his own brand Cuckoo’s Nest Cellars. Needing a winemaking facility for Cuckoo’s Nest, Bryan found a home at Foris Vineyards. It was a win/win situation. Ted invited Bryan to make his own wines, while helping Foris at crush during the 2006 and 2007 harvests. Text Box: Mike Eyres - Winemaker - Chehalem John House - National Sales Manager - Chehalem   Chehalem (Chuh-hay-lum) is an American Indian word meaning “gentle land” or “valley of flowers.” The winery traces its history back to vineyard operations started by Harry Peterson-Nedry in 1980 at Ridgecrest Vineyards, the pioneering wine operation in the newly recognized Ribbon Ridge AVA, northwest of Newberg in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.   Mike Eyers is a graduate of Lincoln University, New Zealand, with a bachelor's in viticulture and oenology, he has worked in vineyards and wineries throughout New Zealand. He joined Chehalem as an intern for Harvest 2001, impressed Harry with his technical rigor and industriousness, and was invited back full-time in mid-2002. Mike is our winemaker, along with Harry Peterson-Nedry. As such, Mike is the field general, coordinating logistics, people, winery purchases, and winemaking tasks.

Text Box: Buzz Kawders Managing Director Domaine Meriwether   Founder Oregon Wine Festival '06 Text Box: Buzz Kawders - Managing Director - Domaine Meriwether   Domaine Meriwether is an Oregon winery best known for their delicious sparkling wines. The wines are named after aspects of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, that famous early exploration of the Pacific Northwest sponsored by then President Thomas Jefferson in 1803. Domaine Meriwether's French winemaker, Jean-Louis Denois, has created five sparkling wines that are quite delicious and very reasonably priced, and the historical themes add interest and make great gifts, particularly to history buffs. The Domaine Meriwether Discovery Cuvee was served recently at the White House. Domaine Meriwether was founded in 1998 with its first vintage and the carefully aged sparkling wines are just being released in late 2003. Production is still onlya about 500 cases a year, but will grow as the winery releases more vintage sparkling wine, as well as still wines. Pinot noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot gris are planned. Text Box:   Brian O'Donnell Proprietor Belle Pente Vineyard & Winery   Text Box: Aron Hess Wine Maker Daedalus Cellars   Text Box: Joe Wright Winemaker Belle Vallee Cellars     Text Box:   Wayne Bailey Proprietor Youngberg Hill Vineyards       Text Box:             Rebecca Oliver Sales Manager The Four Graces         Text Box:         Ken Lewis Representative Sokol Blosser         Text Box: Brian O'Donnell - Proprietor Belle Pente Vineyard & Winery   Brian O’Donnell began his winemaking career in New York City in the 6th grade when he pilfered some Concord grapes from a neighbor's arbor. After the ensuing hangover, he went into retirement for about 20 years until he started making wine for family & friends in his garage in San Jose, CA. His career path then followed the time-honored tradition from hobby to hobby-out-of-control to business-out-of-control. During that time Brian attended extension classes at UC Davis, and spent the 1995 harvest in Alsace & Burgundy. Brian founded Belle Pente with his wife Jill, and their first commercial production was in 1996. Brian’s winemaking philosophy is aggressively non-interventionist, with the goal of producing pure, natural wines that display strong varietal, vineyard, and vintage character, neither masked by excessive oak nor stripped by too much manipulation. The Belle Pente estate vineyard has been farmed organically since 2000, and biodynamic practices were adopted in 2005. Text Box: Aron Hess - Wine Maker - Daedalus Cellars Aron Hess is co-owner and winemaker of Daedalus (day-de-lus) Cellars, a small, familyowned and operated winery located in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. In 1996, Aron followed his nose to Europe to tour the wine regions. One Sunday when the wineries were closed, he followed a tip from a guide book and found himself in a tiny ferme auberge in the Dordorgne where he met his wife and business partner, Pam Walden. Several months later they arrived in Oregon with a dream to make the best Pinot Noir this side of the Atlantic. Aron worked first at Flynn Vineyards and occasionally at Evesham Wood Winery before joining Rex Hill Vineyards in 1998, first as the Enologist, later as the Assistant Winemaker working with Lynn Penner-Ash, and then as the Winemaker for three vintages (2002 to 2004). Aron’s tenure at Rex Hill included some of the most innovative and cutting-edge experiments in the region, while focusing on very traditional methods of vinification. In the summer of 2005 he moved to head-up production at 12th & Maple Wine Company, a 1700-ton capacity, state-of-the-art custom crush facility in Dundee, Oregon. There he makes wine for several clients, along with Daedalus Cellars and Jezebel. Text Box: Joe Wright - Winemaker - Belle Vallee Cellars Fifteen years ago, our winemaker and co-founder, Joe Wright, came to Oregon. An avid fisherman and outdoorsman, Joe was lured by the towering volcanic mountains and rugged rivers of the Pacific Northwest. His winemaking career began at Willamette Valley Vineyards, where he tutored under Joe Dobbs for seven years. With a straight forward and earthy style, Joe is totally immersed in all aspects of creating his dream Pinot from the facility he personally designed for just this purpose. Our 18,000 sq ft. winery is located in downtown Corvallis, which is considered to be the heart of the Willamette Valley. Joe designed the facility to produce twenty thousand (20,000) cases of quality Pinot Noir wine per year. Our harvests in 2002 and 2003 were limited to 5,500 cases,8000 cases in 2004, 14,000 cases in 2005, and 18,000 cases in 2006. With the exception of the Whole Cluster Pinot Noir, Joe ages his Pinot Noir in French oak barrels, using from sixty to one hundred percent new oak each year for the different blends. Text Box: Wayne Bailey - Proprietor - Youngberg Hill Vineyards Youngberg Hill Vineyards is 12 acres of Pinot Noir planted in 1989 and 5 acres of Pinot Gris. The pinot noir is own-root, 60% Pommard clone and 40% Wadenswil, and the pinot gris is on 3309 root stock of 146 & 152 clones. Natasha Block is the larger of the two at an altitude of approximately 650 feet on Willakenzie soil. The Jordan Block is on a steeper slope at an altitude of approximately 750 feet on predominately Steiwer soil. The Aspen Block is at 600 feet on Steiwer soil. We do not irrigate. We started practicing organic farming in 2003 and are moving toward sustainable farming. We are LIVE certified. We are most interested in sustaining and even improving the quality and balance of the soil and the viens. We believe that it will produce the highest quality of fruit and maintain the integrity of those qualities the soils give to the fruit. Text Box: Rebecca Oliver - Sales Manager - The Four Graces Steve and Paula Black turned to the art of growing and hand-making fine wines with the intention of stating a family business, on they could leave as a legacy to their children. They created The Four Graces, named in honor of their four daughters. The Four Graces is committed to excellence, striving always for the highest quality. Steve and Paula believe that wine teaches us much about life. The best of both requires wisdom, time and patience. Both are enhanced by a delicious meal. Both should be savored. Both should be shared. The vineyards are family owned and are cultivated using sustainable farming techniques, with a dedication to both organic and biodynamic practices. As Steve says, “It is important to us to own and control the land on which our vineyards are planted. We take the utmost care in the entire winemaking process from where and how the vines are planted to the way the wine is packaged and every step in between.” Text Box: Ken Lewis - Representative - Sokol Blosser Winemaker Russ Rosner joined Sokol Blosser in 1998 with more than ten years experience at Robert Mondavi. Russ conceptualized our Pinot Noir Single Block program when he noted the distinctiveness of the barrels from different blocks of estate Pinot Noir. When we built our facility in 1977 in the beautiful Dundee Hills within the Willamette Valley in Oregon, our winery was considered by many to be state-of-the-art. However, as grape processing techniques advanced over time, we came to realize that our facility was a little behind the times. So, in 2002, we embarked on a large remodeling and construction project to bring our facility up to par with the high quality of the vineyards we farm in the Dundee Hills. Text Box: John Zelko Proprietor Z'IVO     Founder Oregon Wine Festival '06 Text Box: John Zelko - Proprietor - Z'IVO  Inspired by the first two generations of winemakers in the Willamette Valley, we began planting our vineyard in 1996 at the northern tip of the Eola-Amity Hills. Our 5 clones of Pinot Noir and 1 clone of Pinot Blanc occupy 25 acres overlooking the valley. Beneath views of Mts. Hood and Jefferson (on a clear day) and soaring red-tailed hawks (useless for pest control), the shallow rocky soil produces wine of multilayered structure that we emphasize with wild yeast fermentation. In addition to our Pinot Noir, we make white blends and white varietals with grapes purchased from our neighbors in Oregon and eastern Washington. Text Box: Tom & Deb Mortimer Proprietor Le Cadeau Vineyard   Text Box: Tom & Deb Mortimer - Proprietor - Le Cadeau Vineyard Tom attended Colgate University in Hamilton, NY. Upon graduation in 1977, he moved to Philadelphia where he met his wife, Deb, and also began a 30-year career in the packaging, paper, and recycling industries. In the early ‘90s, Tom got “hooked” on wine, and in 1997, he and Deb acquired 28-acres of never-before-cultivated hillside property on Parrett Mountain near Newberg, Oregon. Two years later, Tom left the structured corporate world to build his own packaging recycling business, TBCC, Inc., and to pursue his interest in micro-economic development—providing small business loans to the poor throughout the developing world. The newly created entrepreneurial lifestyle provided Tom and Deb with the opportunity to begin developing their Parrett Mountain property. In 1999, after two years of clearing the broken volcanic basalt land, the first 6-acres of Le Cadeau Vineyard were planted. From the beginning it was apparent that the vineyard site had special characteristics that offered great potential for growing fine Pinot Noir. The first Le Cadeau wine was produced from the 2002 vintage and was subsequently introduced to the market in June of 2005. From a modest 450-cases in 2002, Le Cadeau’s production has since grown to 1,200 cases, and with recent expansions will increase to roughly 2,000 cases of premium estate grown Pinot Noir. Text Box: Margie Olson General Manager Torii Mor Winery Text Box: Calvin Scott Henry IV Proprietor Henry Estate Winery   Text Box: Adam Godlee Campbell Winemaker Elk Cove Vineyards   Text Box: Margie Olson - General Manager - Torii Mor Winery   Margie came to Torii Mor in early 1998, after spending much of her career as West Coast Sales Manager for a Photographic Company in Seattle. Her love and passion for wine, particularly the Oregon Industry, has blossomed at Torii Mor. Margie manages the Torii Mor brand in 40 states and 2 foreign countries, Japan and British Columbia, Canada, along with all retail sales in the Dundee Hills Tasting Room. Although Torii Mor wines are in high demand, Margie is committed to visiting the various distributors annually. Effective January 2008, Dr. Olson appointed Margie as General Manager of the Winery. Text Box: Calvin Scott Henry IV - Proprietor Henry Estate Winery   Calvin Scott Henry IV ( Scotty) returned to the winery in 1987 after earning a B.S. in Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University and a brief career as flight instructor and charter pilot. After working several years doing mostly marketing, became Winemaker in the mid 1990”s. While juggling raising a young family in addition to all winemaking duties Scotty is also the Production Manager and inventory manager as well as some sales and special events. 

Elk Cove Vineyards proudly remains a family owned and operated winery. Winemaker Adam Godlee Campbell joined forces with his parents in 1995 to produce outstanding Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris. Growing up among the vines on the Elk Cove Estate has instilled a tremendous respect for the soil in which the grapes were grown, therefore his role as winemaker is one of stewardship over intervention. In the winery Adam employs gravity flow and gentle handling to protect the inherent qualities of the Estate grown fruit. We at Elk Cove hope you enjoy these wines as much as we all enjoyed the creative process in making them. Text Box: Adam Godlee Campbell - Winemaker Elk Cove Vineyards   Elk Cove Vineyards proudly remains a family owned and operated winery. Winemaker Adam Godlee Campbell joined forces with his parents in 1995 to produce outstanding Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris. Growing up among the vines on the Elk Cove Estate has instilled a tremendous respect for the soil in which the grapes were grown, therefore his role as winemaker is one of stewardship over intervention. In the winery Adam employs gravity flow and gentle handling to protect the inherent qualities of the Estate grown fruit. We at Elk Cove hope you enjoy these wines as much as we all enjoyed the creative process in making them.