Maresh: An Oregon Original

November 22, 2023

How a cherry-and-prune farmer planted one of Oregon's oldest Pinot Noir vineyards — and why his family is still farming it three generations later.

A cherry-and-prune farmer turned one Dundee Hills hilltop into one of Oregon’s oldest Pinot Noir vineyards — and three generations later, the family is still farming it.

KW
Reviewed & edited by Ken Wytsma
Fact-checked June 2026
✓ Sources verified

Researched and drafted with AI, then verified three ways for accuracy — cross-checked against independent sources, audited by a separate AI accuracy pass, and reviewed by editor Ken Wytsma.

If you want to stand on the literal ground where Oregon Pinot Noir began, the Maresh Vineyard in the Dundee Hills is one of the few places you can do it. The story of the Maresh family is the story of the early Willamette Valley in miniature — a fruit farmer, a persuasive neighbor, and a hilltop that turned out to be perfect for a grape almost no one in Oregon was growing.

A Farm on Worden Hill Road

Loie and Jim Maresh bought a 27-acre hilltop farm in the Red Hills of Dundee in 1959, later expanding it to roughly 140 acres.^[1] Like most of their neighbors, the Mareshes grew cherries, prunes, and walnuts — wine grapes were not yet part of the picture. That changed because of a knock on the door.

Persuaded to Plant Pinot

In 1969, the winemaking pioneer Dick Erath came up the Maresh driveway and told Jim he was “sitting on” one of the best vineyard sites on the West Coast — at a time when the only other vineyard in all of Yamhill County belonged to David Lett of The Eyrie Vineyards.^[2] Jim was convinced. In 1970 the family planted Pinot Noir, making Maresh the first vineyard on Worden Hill Road and roughly the fifth-oldest vineyard in Oregon.^[1]

Crucially, Jim Maresh was a grower, not a winemaker. For years the vineyard’s prized fruit was sold to the valley’s early wineries — a quiet but essential role, since those founding labels needed great grapes to make their reputations.^[1]

“I’ve looked all over the West Coast for a great viticulture site, and I think you’re sitting on it.”

From Grower to a Family Label

Wine under the family’s name came later, and through the next generations. Jim’s daughter Martha married Fred Arterberry Jr., a UC Davis-trained winemaker who made acclaimed wines from Maresh fruit in the 1980s. Their son, Jim “Jimmy” Arterberry Maresh, founded the Arterberry Maresh label in 2005, and the family pours estate wines at the well-loved Maresh Red Barn tasting room.^[1]

The Deeper Cut
For 45 years the Maresh and Erath vineyards sat on neighboring slopes of Worden Hill Road, and Jim Maresh, Dick Erath, and the other founders met monthly as a self-named grapegrowers’ club — the “Geezers.” It’s a reminder that Oregon Pinot wasn’t built by lone geniuses but by a tight-knit cluster of neighbors on a few Dundee hills.^[2]

Jim Maresh died on March 7, 2021, but the vineyard he planted is still farmed by his family — and its old vines remain a living link to the founding of Oregon wine.^[2] Vineyards like Maresh are exactly why we built our Willamette Valley wine tours around history, not just tasting.

Frequently asked questions

What is Maresh Vineyard?
Maresh Vineyard is a historic vineyard in Oregon’s Dundee Hills, planted by the Maresh family in the early 1970s on ground that proved ideal for Pinot Noir. It is one of the oldest vineyards in the Willamette Valley and one of the birthplaces of Oregon Pinot Noir.

Why is Maresh Vineyard significant?
As one of the earliest Dundee Hills plantings, it helped prove the area’s promise for Pinot Noir, and its old, low-yielding vines have long supplied fruit to respected Willamette Valley producers.

Key Dates