Oak Knoll Winery

Oak Knoll Winery is a privately held winery located in the Tualatin Valley near Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Established in 1970, it is the largest winery in Washington County and produces Pinot noir, Pinot gris, and Chardonnay.

Oak Knoll Winery
LocationHillsboro, Oregon, United States
AppellationWillamette Valley AVA
Other labelsEruption
Frambrosia
Twilight Blush
Founded1970 (1970)
Key peopleGreg Lint, president
VarietalsPinot noir, Pinot gris, Chardonnay, Niagara (grape), Riesling
Distributionnational
TastingOpen to public
Websitehttp://www.oakknollwinery.com/

Its prolific variety of wines owes to its rather unusual lack of its own vineyard. It obtains grapes from area producers instead.[1]

History

In 1970, the winery was established by Marjorie and Ron Vuylsteke south of Hillsboro on what was then a dairy farm.[2] Oak Knoll became the first winery in Washington County.[1] Used Coca-Cola drums were utilized for storing the wine during the fermentation process in the early years.[2] The first batch consisted of 4,000 gallons of fruit wine (blackberry), with the first Pinot noir coming in 1973.[1] Other wines introduced later include Chardonnay and Riesling in 1975 and Pinot gris in 1990.[1]

Oak Knoll also became the first winery in Washington County to open a tasting room.[2] By 1986 the winery was the second largest by volume sold in Oregon,[3] but slipped to third by 1988.[4] Also in 1986, the Washington Post named the winery’s Pinot noir some of the best Pinot noir from the United States.[5] Over time, the winery has produced other unique wines such as one using loganberries.[6] In 1998, their Oak Knoll Frambrosia made with raspberries was referred to as one of the world’s best dessert wines.[7] Founders Ron and Marjorie sold part of the winery in 2005 to their sons Tom and John Vuylsteke.[8] In 2006, the winery was the largest in Washington County with 30,000 cases produced each year.[9]

Accolades
  • Oak Knoll’s wine has been served at the White House[10]
  • 1989 Oregon State Fair: Two gold medals and four bronze medals[11]
  • 1990 Pacific Northwest Wine & Food Festival: Silver medal for their 1988 Chardonnay[12]
  • 1991 San Diego National Wine Competition: Gold medal for their 1988 pinot noir[13]
  • 1998 Oregon State Fair: One silver and two bronze medals[14]
  • 2003 Pacific Coast Oyster Wine Competition: Ninth place for their 2001 Pinot Gris[15]
  • 2006 The Dallas Morning News Wine Competition: Two bronze medals[16]
  • 2007 Pacific Rim Wine Competition: White wine category, winner for its sweet Niagara grape wine[17]

Business
Winery and tasting room

Oak Knoll uses grapes from within the Willamette Valley AVA to produce its wines. The winery is a family run enterprise with Greg Lint serving as president.[18] It has annual revenues of $7.5 million selling varieties including Chardonnay, Pinot noir, Niagara, and Pinot gris among others, under its own label and the Twilight Blush, Eruption, and Frambrosia labels.[18] They are the official wine sponsor of the Portland Rose Festival.[19]

References
  1. Our story. Oak Knoll Winery, accessed October 20, 2007.
  2. McNichol, Bethanye. A berry good start to wine. The Oregonian, December 14, 2000.
  3. Christ, Janet. Oregon growers expect bumper crop of wine grapes. The Oregonian, September 17, 1987.
  4. Biggest wineries. The Oregonian, October 2, 1988.
  5. Conaway, James. The Global Reach of Pinot noir. The Washington Post, September 7, 1986.
  6. Sloan, Eugene and Donna L. Williams. Taste tickles: Olallieberry, garlic, mead. USA TODAY, August 31, 1990.
  7. Witherell, Layne V. Oregon winery uses cool climate to its advantage. Richmond Times Dispatch, July 15, 1998.
  8. Leeper, Kate. Business briefs: Hillsboro. The Oregonian, April 21, 2006.
  9. Mandel, Michelle. Sweet sip of cuccess. The Oregonian, May 4, 2006.
  10. Sherrill, Bob. Time’s right for sampling Washington County. The Oregonian, July 18, 2002.
  11. Foodday: Veritas, Wasson Bros. Take top honors: nine gold medals awarded during state fair wine judging. The Oregonian, August 15, 1989.
  12. Stockley, Tom. Small wineries win top awards. The Seattle Times. August 13, 1990.
  13. Stockley, Tom. Northwest wines fare well during California judging. The Seattle Times, May 15, 1991.
  14. Duff, Dan. Wine Notes: Amity, King Estate wines take top prizes. The Oregonian, September 1, 1998.
  15. Schultz, John W. Ultimate Oyster Wine Version 2003. Archived 2007-09-17 at the Wayback Machine WineSquire.com, accessed October 20, 2007.
  16. 2006 Awards. Archived 2007-02-05 at the Wayback Machine The Dallas Morning News Wine Competition, accessed October 20, 2007.
  17. Lipson, Larry. Bottles that’ll put you in the red. The Daily News of Los Angeles, May 15, 2007.
  18. Oak Knoll Winery. Portland Business Journal, accessed October 20, 2007.
  19. "Oak Knoll sponsors 2009 Rose Festival". The Hillsboro Argus. May 5, 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-28.

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