About Illahe Vineyards
Illahe takes its name from a Chinookan word meaning earth, place or soil, and the Ford family has been on this ground near Dallas since the 1880s, first as dairy farmers and cherry growers. In 1983 Lowell and Pauline Ford planted an experimental acre of Muller-Thurgau, and the farm became a grape grower supplying the young Oregon industry, including what is thought to have been one of the first plantings of Gruner Veltliner in the United States.
Their son Brad, the fourth generation on the property, came to winemaking by a roundabout route - carpenter, grant writer, English instructor - before studying chemistry at Portland State and winemaking at Chemeketa, working harvests with Joe Dobbes and Domaine Serene. He worked his first Illahe harvest alongside his father in 2004 and the estate bottled its own first vintage in 2006. He runs it now with his wife Bethany.
Having seen horses working vineyards in France, Brad bought a team of Percheron draft horses, Doc and Bea, to mow the rows and haul fruit to the winery at harvest, and a Pinot Noir called Percheron is named for them. That interest widened into a broader question about how much modern technology a wine actually needs.
The answer is the 1899 project, begun in 2011: a Pinot Noir made using only what was available in 1899. Fruit is picked and de-stemmed by hand, brought in by horse, fermented in wooden vessels on native yeast, pressed in a wooden basket press, moved with a bicycle-powered pump, corked by hand and labelled by letterpress. It touches no electricity, dry ice, nitrogen, enzymes, stainless steel, forklifts, packaged yeast or filters - and it reaches its distributor by mule-drawn stagecoach, then roughly ninety river miles by canoe over three days, then eleven miles by bicycle. The estate also runs on solar power, collects rainwater for cellar washing and ages wine in a hillside cave.
A Pinot Noir made without electricity, then delivered by stagecoach and canoe.
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Horses in the rows,a Percheron team, Doc and Bea, mows the vineyard and hauls fruit at harvest, and lends its name to a Pinot Noir.
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The 1899 project,a Pinot Noir made using only techniques available in 1899, with no electricity, machinery or modern additions at any stage.
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Delivered by canoe,the finished 1899 travels to its distributor by mule stagecoach, ninety river miles of canoe over three days, then bicycle.
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Four generations on the land,the Fords have farmed here since the 1880s; Lowell planted the first vines in 1983 and son Brad made the first estate vintage in 2006.
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Beyond Pinot,the roughly sixty planted acres also carry Tempranillo, Viognier, Pinot Gris and Gruner Veltliner.
"A Pinot Noir made without electricity, then delivered by stagecoach and canoe."
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Current Releases
Wines change with each vintage
For an accurate list of current-release wines and library bottlings from Illahe Vineyards, please check the winery's official website or contact the tasting room directly. Mount Pisgah, Polk County producers typically rotate vintages and offerings seasonally.
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Illahe Vineyards has not published a current tasting menu or pricing that we have been able to verify. Check the winery website for what is being poured and what it costs before you visit.
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