Dundee Hills AVA
Dundee Hills is an American Viticultural Area located in Yamhill County, Oregon within the Willamette Valley AVA, and is located approximately southwest of Portland, Oregon, and inland from the Pacific Ocean near the town of Newberg. It was established as the nation's 172nd, the state's ninth and the county's second appellation on November 30, 2004, by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, Treasury after reviewing a petition submitted by Alex Sokol Blosser, secretary of the North Willamette Valley AVA Group, proposing a viticultural area in Yamhill County named "Red Hills."
The petitioner subsequently amended the area's name to "Dundee Hills." At the outset, the area cultivated under vine. Dundee Hills are a north–south oriented range of hills on the western side of the Willamette River valley. The soil is Jory series reddish silt, clay and loam, moderately fertile and well-drained suitable for grape cultivation. The region gets of rainfall per year. The Chehalem Mountains to the north protect the region from the cool breezes that enter Willamette Valley from the Columbia Gorge. Over 25 wineries and independent vineyards in this region produce over 44,000 cases of wine.
Dundee Hills has been a grape growing region since 1966, when David Lett established Eyrie Vineyards, planting Pinot noir and Pinot Gris. In 1975, Dick Erath and C. Calvert Knudsen formed Knudsen Erath Winery, the first commercial winery to open in the Dundee Hills. After 56 years of operation, Erath Winery closed its doors to its tasting room at end of day on March 14, 2023. Knudsen Vineyards resumed control of the property and opened their tasting room the following summer. The plant hardiness zone ranges from 8b to 9a.