Ken Wright: The Winemaker Who Mapped the Willamette Valley
June 25, 2026
The Carlton winemaker who pioneered single-vineyard Pinot Noir and wrote the petition that became the Yamhill-Carlton AVA.
Wine History Tours Blog
On Top
Recent Stories
David Adelsheim: The Editor Who Brought Burgundy’s Clones to Oregon
June 25, 2026
A New York book editor who traded publishing for Pinot — and imported the Dijon clones that quietly remade Oregon wine.
Ribbon Ridge AVA: Oregon’s Smallest, Most Singular Appellation
June 25, 2026
Oregon’s smallest AVA: a single island of a ridge, one soil top to bottom, and Pinot Noir far bigger than its 500 acres.
Oregon Wine by the Numbers: What the 2024 Census Reveals About the Valley
June 24, 2026
A maturing industry, a softening market, and a valley that still runs on Pinot — the 2024 census, read like a story.
Where to Stay in Wine Country: A Field Guide to the Valley’s Great Inns
June 24, 2026
From a 35-acre luxury inn to a vineyard B&B, the Willamette Valley’s best home bases — matched to the trip you want.
Planning Your First Willamette Valley Wine Trip: A Local’s Playbook
June 24, 2026
How many wineries a day, where to base yourself, when to come, and why a guide beats a designated driver.
Reading the Dirt: Jory, Marine Sediment, and the Floods That Built the Valley
June 24, 2026
A volcano, an ancient ocean floor, and an Ice-Age flood — the three soils behind Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.
Papa Pinot: David Lett, The Eyrie Vineyards, and the Bet That Started It All
June 24, 2026
The stubborn graduate student who planted Pinot Noir where experts said it could not ripen — and whose wine humbled Burgundy in 1979.
The Monk in the Vineyard: How a Medieval Idea Called Terroir Ended Up in Your Willamette Pinot
June 24, 2026
The medieval monks who invented terroir — and how their 900-year-old idea ended up in every glass of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.
Pinot Meunier: The Champion of Champagne
June 24, 2026
Everyone knows Champagne is made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Far fewer can name the third grape — the humble, hardworking Pinot Meunier that quietly rounds out most of the world’s Champagne. KWReviewed & edited by Ken Wytsma · Fact-checked June 2026Researched and fact-checked against
Categories
Hot Topics
Most Popular
Rudolf Steiner: The Father of Biodynamic Farming
October 16, 2023
The Oldest Bottle of Wine in the World
January 11, 2023
Casks and Kings: Wine in the Medieval Era
November 29, 2023
Get The Latest Updates
Subscribe To Our Weekly Newsletter
No spam, notifications only about new products, updates.
On Trend
Most Popular Stories
Wine, Gout, and King Henry VIII
The truth about Henry VIII’s gout, his table, and the wines of Tudor England — beyond the myths.
The Oldest Bottle of Wine in the World
A 1,700-year-old sealed Roman bottle in a German museum — and the 2024 discovery in Spain that just rewrote the record.
The Earliest Vineyards in the Willamette Valley
The true, sourced story of the Valley’s first vineyards: Lett’s 1965 Corvallis nursery, Coury beside him, the 1966 moves to Dundee and Forest Grove, Erath’s 1969 Chehalem Mountain Vineyard, and Hyland in 1971.
Dionysus to Bacchus: How the Greek God of Wine Changed His Name
Bacchus began as Bakchos, a Greek title for Dionysus — not a Roman invention. From Bronze Age clay tablets to Anacreon’s drinking songs, Euripides’ Bacchae, a Roman Senate crackdown, and Keats, the three-thousand-year story of the wine god’s names.