The story of Adelsheim Vineyard began in 1971.
That was the year that David and Ginny Adelsheim decided to risk their life savings and purchase a beautiful south-facing property in Oregon’s North Willamette Valley. This property would later be planted to create Quarter Mile Lane Vineyard, Adelsheim's first estate vineyard. Looking back now, the Adelsheims were one of just ten families who made wine before 1980 from grapes planted on their properties in that region.
For us, 2021 is a year of celebration, and we have decided to use the entire year to commemorate it! Going back to where it all began, we begin with a story, five incredible decades in the making, direct from David Adelsheim and a few special guests. Month by month, we will reveal the personal stories behind the original 10 founders of the Willamette Valley, and how we joined forces to build our uniquely collaborative and, as we see today, incredibly successful wine industry.
join us as we pay homage to half a century of lofty dreams, pioneering spirits, and world-class wine!
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of what became our first vineyard, we wanted to tell our story. But we quickly realized that the only way to truly tell our story was to tell the stories of that entire first generation. And so, Founders’ Stories was born. Beginning this March, David Adelsheim will sit down, one-on-one, with each of the original founders to talk candidly about the collaboration and formation of the Willamette Valley wine industry over the last 50 years. In each interview, we wanted to go beyond their widely known histories to discover who these people really were, and what led them to build our uniquely collaborative and incredibly successful wine industry. This is our shared story.
“The only way to truly tell our story was to tell the stories of that entire first generation.”
chapter 10: Adelsheim vineyard
Ginny & David Adelsheim
Our long-awaited final interview in this series is with Ginny Adelsheim. Ginny and I founded Adelsheim Vineyard in 1971 when we purchased our first property. Or maybe it was in 1972 when we planted the first grapes there. Or in 1976 when we first made a tiny amount of wine from those grapes. Or in 1978 when we made our first commercial wine. Well, you can see the problem a small estate winery has in coming up with an actual “founding date.”
However, we can certainly agree that Adelsheim Vineyard was established during a different era in America, when an idealization of going back to the land, a vision of a lifestyle focused on wine, and faith in one’s own abilities could stand-in for a business plan.
Upon release, the full-length hour-long video conversations will be available to view through the Oregon Wine History Archive for generations to enjoy.
watch previous episodes
founders’ stories: the podcast
Listen to Founders’ Stories: the podcast for full interviews with David Adelsheim and the founders of the first ten wineries in the North Willamette Valley. Subscribe to hear new episodes as soon as they’re released!
Listen to previous chapters
subscribe for chapter updates!
New chapters of Founders’ Stories are released early every month to our email list.
Subscribe to be one of the first to hear from Willamette Valley pioneers, and join in the 50th celebration!
featured commemorative wine:
the deed
our origin story bottled
To pay homage to our 50 years in the Chehalem Mountains, we decided to bottle our origin story. Produced exclusively from the historic Block 1 of Quarter Mile Lane Vineyard, these illustrious, 47 year-old vines create a wine that is utterly unique; "a classic" as Winemaker, Gina Hennen puts it. Simply put, this wine from the 2019 vintage is like nothing we've ever made before, and deserves a place front and center in our cellars.
The Deed was first poured on June 4th at a dinner commemorating our 50th anniversary of Quarter Mile Lane; but the true occasion was a celebration of friendship and the industry the families built together.
Read more about this truly historic and memorable evening here.
limited-edition merchandise
About the steamboat conference
Ginny Adelsheim
In 1991, Ginny Adelsheim designed a t-shirt to commemorate the Steamboat conference. Her illustration honors the magnificent Umpqua River, the great forests that surround it, and the excellent fly fishing in the letter “S” of Steamboat. The wine barrel tossing in the wave is her tribute to the Pinot noir conference. The style of her drawing was inspired by the work of the Russian artist, Ivan Bilibin, (1876-1942), who illustrated many Russian folktales.
“Going to the Steamboat Conference was the highlight of our summers. Besides gathering with our peers to taste and discuss our latest Pinot noirs, we had great fun swimming in the river, sunbathing on the basalt flats, and camping under the stars. For us, it was a family vacation as well as a serious conference on the challenges of making the best Pinot. This all was made possible by the incomparable hospitality of Jim and Sharon Van Loan and Pat Lee. They and their team provided us with fabulous meals to compliment the wines we brought.”
-Ginny Adelsheim
