Yes Pinot Can Grow  At 1700 ft, Oregon's  Highest Elevation Vineyards

Yes Pinot Can Grow At 1700 ft, Oregon's Highest Elevation Vineyards

Susan Allen
Susan Allen
It’s Vine to Wine Wednesday on the Fruit Grower Report, I’m Susan Allen. There are a lot of things that make Wy’ East Winery special. The fact it’s the highest elevation winery in the state, that it’s in the shadow of Wy’ East, what the Native American's called Mt. Hood and……. pinot .

 

Here’s General Manager Keely Kopetz:

KOPETZ: a lot of people in the Willamette Valley are surprised we can grow pinot noir in the Hood River Valley because a lot of people have the perception we would be too hot and too far east but what we do is we mitigate that by being higher elevation. So our lower vineyard is about 600 feet elevation. But our Wy East Vineyard which is just a couple miles south of our tasting room is at 1700 ft on a South facing sloop so really good air drainage and water drainage, but it’s just a really good spot for pinot noir, chardonnay and Pinot Gris grapes. So those are the three varietals that we grow. Our vineyard overlooks Mt. Hood so it’s just a beautiful site.

Tell us a little bit about the name of your winery.

KOPETZ: Our vineyard and winery name is the native American word for Mt. Hood, so that is where our name comes from.

WY’East website touts extraordinary vineyards and splendid wines with a tasting room open every day and “open” invitation to contact them if you want to participate in the crush.

 

 

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