Willamette Valley – The Next Napa?

True story – we’ve imagined the Willamette Valley would be the next Napa, for years. It’s been amazing to watch, and Wayne has plenty of history working in the wine industry down in Napa as well. An article written by Christopher Reynolds of the Los Angeles Times from October 11, 2008 was called – Oregon’s Willamette Valley could be the next Napa. Some of what he wrote was, “Blame the volcanoes of the Northwest that sent so much lava roaring through this valley about 16 million years ago and set the stage. Or blame the glaciers of Montana for forcing floods, about 14,000 years ago, that carried in so many tons of rich dirt. Or you could just blame David Lett. He was the 25-year-old who rolled in from California 43 years ago with a trailer full of vine cuttings and a crazy dream about something called Pinot. And now the Willamette Valley is never going to be the same.” The above is an understatement and we loved coming across this article because Time Magazine just added the Willamette Valley to its World’s Greatest Places 2023 list and the piece was called – Willamette Valley, Oregon – The next Napa. It appears to be destiny in the making and since that article in 2008, so many beautiful things have transpired here. Cheers to you, Willamette Valley and to everyone who’s made it grow into the amazing place it is today!