Erath www.erath.com

Dick Erath is one of the original wine pioneers of Oregon. As a home winemaker in San Francisco, Dick first fell in love with Pinot Noir when he tasted some old French Burgundies.

In the 1960s Dick traveled up and down the west coast in search of an ideal place to grow Pinot Noir. He was determined to make elegant, food friendly Pinot Noir and he finally found what he was looking for in 1967. Dick had chosen to grow grapes and make wine in the then unproven northern Willamette Valley of Oregon. Dick had made extensive studies of the soil and climate, and was convinced that this was the place where he could make his dream of world-class, affordable pinot noir a reality.

Two years later he planted his first vines in the Chehalem Mountain. His 1972 vintage consisted of a modest 216 cases of Pinot Noir, Riesling and Gewürztraminer which were sold under the Erath label. By 1972 word was going around about the exciting Pinot Noirs coming from Oregon. Dick’s 1972 Pinot Noir and Riesling both won Gold Medals at the Seattle Enologoical Society wine judging. That same year, Dick planted a vineyard in the iron-rich red soils of the landmark Dundee Hills for his new business partner, Cal Knudsen. The winery became known as Knudsen Erath in 1975. After a dozen years together, Dick bought out Cal’s interest in the winery and by 1993 reverted the wine brand back to Erath Vineyards.

Today, Erath farms 118 acres, purchases grapes from another 130 acres in Oregon and produces around 65,000 cases of wine per year. Almost two thirds of our wine is Pinot Noir, but we also produce Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and smaller amounts of Dry Riesling, Dry Gewürztraminer and Dolcetto.