• OUR STORY

A Love Letter To The Vineyard

We consider ourselves a vineyard winery, aiming to reflect what the vineyard has produced, purely, with minimal processing and without compromising great fruit.

Chehalem traces its history back to the Ridgecrest Vineyard operations in 1980, which was the first vineyard planted on what would one day become the Ribbon Ridge AVA, northwest of Newberg, Oregon. In 1988, Bill Stoller invested in Ridgecrest, setting a course for his entry into the Oregon wine industry. But our story really begins in 1990 with the inaugural Pinot Noir harvest at Ridgecrest Vineyard. As those wines were releasing in 1993, Bill Stoller joined our operation as co-owner. He subsequently purchased his family farmlands at the southern tip of the Dundee with the vision of planting it as our second estate vineyard.

In 1995, we purchased Corral Creek, the vineyard surrounding the winery. It became our third estate vineyard.

In early 2018, Bill became the sole owner of Chehalem, and by July, we had become the sixth Oregon winery to achieve B Corp status. This rigorous certification assesses companies to ensure they meet the highest standard of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability.

Old School Winemaking,
Oregon Style

Known for our single-vineyard Pinot Noirs and a progressive approach to white wines, we firmly believe that outstanding wine should accompany every course of a meal.

Our wine quality is determined by the cool macro-climate of the Willamette Valley, vintage, soil profiles, vineyard micro-climates, and winemaking style. Our job is to let the terroir speak and to make the winemaker imprint as transparent as possible.

Our climate and winemaking style reveal wines that emphasize balance, elegance and texture. This openness allows the vintage and three terroirs on which we farm to express themselves as wines of startling distinction.

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