What is the history of wine grapes in the EAH AVA?
Vines first came to the Willamette Valley in the mid 1800’s, but grapes of the Vitis vinifera species were not as popular as table grapes or the native Vitis labrusca vines. Fruit and berry wines flourished in the earlier years, and it bears mentioning that Honeywood Winery, located in Salem, just south of the EAH AVA boundary, is the oldest continuously operating winery in the state, bonded in 1933. Long known for their fruit and berry wines, Paul and Marlene Gallick, owners, now also have an 18-acre vineyard in the EAH AVA and produce vinifera wines as well. After the repeal of Prohibition, a host of “farmer wineries” obtained $25 licenses and became bonded wineries, which could sell table wines directly from the home vineyards. In the 1960’s, the vinifera revolution began in Oregon. The first to come was Richard Sommer, who planted Hillcrest Vineyards in the Umpqua Valley. He was followed in 1965 by David and Diana Lett, Eyrie Vineyards, in the Dundee Hills, and Charles and Shirley
