Oak Knoll Winery is a privately held

winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, ...

located in the

Tualatin Valley The Tualatin Valley is a farming and suburban region southwest of Portland, Oregon in the United States. The valley is formed by the meandering Tualatin River, a tributary of the Willamette River at the northwest corner of the Willamette Valley, ...

near

Hillsboro, Oregon Hillsboro ( ) is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County. Situated in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city hosts many high-technology companies, ...

, United States. Established in 1970, it is the oldest winery in Washington County, and produces

Pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...

Pinot gris Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio (, ) or Grauburgunder is a white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the Pinot Noir variety, it normally has a grayish-blue fruit, accounting for its name, but the gra ...

, and

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

. The winery also known for producing Frambosia, a red raspberry wine. Oak Knoll does not have its own

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...

s, instead purchasing grapes from area

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, ...

grape producers.

History

The

was established in 1970 by Marjorie and Ron Vuylsteke south of Hillsboro on what was formerly a dairy farm.McNichol, Bethanye. "A Berry Good Start to Wine. ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

'', December 14, 2000. The couple first started making wine in their garage, after they had a bumper crop of blackberries. At the time, Ron was an electrical engineer. As they became more successful in making wine, they started their business with financial backing from a silent partner. It was the first winery in Washington County.Our story.
Oak Knoll Winery, accessed October 20, 2007. In its early years, the winery used repurposed

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

drums for storing the wine during the

fermentation Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food ...

process. The first batch consisted of 4,000 gallons of blackberry

fruit wine Fruit wines are fermented alcoholic beverages made from a variety of base ingredients (other than grapes); they may also have additional flavors taken from fruits, flowers, and herbs. This definition is sometimes broadened to include any alcohol ...

. The winery's first

was produced in 1973. Chardonnay and

Riesling Riesling (, ; ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling wh ...

were introduced in 1975 and Pinot gris was first produced in 1990. Oak Knoll was the first winery in Washington County to open a

tasting room Dégustation is the careful, appreciative tasting of various food, focusing on the gustatory system, the senses, high culinary art and good company. Dégustation is more likely to involve sampling small portions of all of a chef's signature dishe ...

. By 1986, the winery was the second-largest by volume sold in Oregon, but slipped to third by 1988. The ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' named the winery's Pinot noir some of the best Pinot noir from the United States in 1986. Oak Knoll produced other fruit wines, such as

loganberry The loganberry (''Rubus'' × ''loganobaccus'') is a hybrid of the North American blackberry (''Rubus ursinus'') and the European raspberry (''Rubus idaeus''). The plant and the fruit resemble the blackberry more than the raspberry, but the frui ...

, and in 1998, its Oak Knoll raspberry "Frambrosia" was named one of the world's best dessert wines in ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

''. In 2005, the Vuylstekes sold part of the winery to their sons Tom and John. In 2006, the winery was the largest in Washington County with 30,000 cases produced each year.

Business

Oak Knoll uses grapes from within the

Willamette Valley AVA The Willamette Valley AVA ( ) is an American Viticultural Area which lies in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. The AVA is the wine growing region which encompasses the drainage basin of the Willamette River. It stretches from the Columbia Rive ...

to produce its wines. The winery is a family-run enterprise with Greg Lint serving as president.Oak Knoll Winery.
''

Portland Business Journal Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

'', accessed October 20, 2007. As of 2007, it had annual revenues of $7.5 million, selling varieties including Chardonnay, Pinot noir, Niagara, and Pinot gris under its own label as well as under the Twilight Blush, Eruption, and Frambrosia labels. The winery is the official wine sponsor of the

Portland Rose Festival The Portland Rose Festival is an annual civic festival held during the month of June in Portland, Oregon. It is organized by the volunteer non-profit Portland Rose Festival Association with the purpose of promoting the Portland region. It inclu ...

Accolades

*Oak Knoll's wine has been served at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

*1989

Oregon State Fair The Oregon State Fair is the official state fair of the U.S. state of Oregon. It takes place every August–September at the Oregon State Fairgrounds located in north Salem, Oregon, Salem, the state capital, as it has almost every year since 1862. ...

: Two gold medals and four bronze medals *1990 Pacific Northwest Wine & Food Festival: Silver medal for its 1988 Chardonnay *1991 San Diego National Wine Competition: Gold medal for its 1988 Pinot noir *1998 Oregon State Fair: One silver and two bronze medals *2001 Oak Knoll Winery ranked 10th among the Top 25 Oregon wineries by volume *2003 Pacific Coast Oyster Wine Competition: Ninth place for its 2001 Pinot Gris *2006 ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

'' Wine Competition: Two bronze medals *2007 Pacific Rim Wine Competition: White wine category, winner for its sweet Niagara grape wineLipson, Larry. Bottles that’ll put you in the red. '' The Daily News of Los Angeles'', May 15, 2007.

References

External links

Oregon Wine Explorer: Oak Knoll Winery
{{coord, 45.462087, -122.983575, region:US_type:landmark, display=title Wineries in Oregon Companies based in Hillsboro, Oregon American companies established in 1970 Privately held companies based in Oregon 1970 establishments in Oregon