A Dundee Hills name to know this Oregon Wine Month
by Katherine Cole, Oregonian 5-20-2015
Today the Oregonian published Katherine Cole‘s article about Dundee Hills winegrowing pioneers. It focuses on our family. Excerpts and a link to the complete article below.
“I’ve been thinking about one vineyard in particular because earlier this year, the Oregon Wine Board honored two of those lesser-known pioneers when it gave its Founders Award to Jim and Loie Maresh. Also this year, the Willamette Valley is celebrating 50 years since David Lett, of The Eyrie Vineyards, planted the first pinot vines in the region. And May is Oregon Wine Month.”
“Maresh Red Hills, the fifth-oldest vineyard in Oregon, is smack in the center of the Dundee Hills, the historic hotspot for wine grapes that stretches roughly from Dayton to Lafayette. Atop Worden Hill on the west side of Dundee, Maresh (pronounced “marsh”) Red Hills Vineyard is the place where, 50 years ago, the road ended. And one of many plot lines in the complex story of Willamette Valley pinot noir began.”
“If you happen to catch him between tractor laps, ask Jim about the early days, when Dundee Hills vinetenders performed droll skits at the end of every harvest season. Or when his eviscerated 1957 Volkswagen bus-turned-vineyard truck was featured in national Volkswagen sales material. Maresh recalls being asked for a quote. “I said, ‘When the old ’57 runs out of gas, I have a spare bottle of pinot I just pour into the tank.'”
Read the article
below, Jim Maresh Senior
photo: Jean Yates
below, view from Maresh Vineyard, May 2015
photo: Alex Wallace
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