This year, Rob and Jolee Wallace, along with their staff, celebrate the 25th anniversary of Del Rio Vineyard Estate. Many of their current employees have been there for 10 years to two decades. Some, like Lindsey Zagar, remember when it was Del Rio Pear Orchards. After all the orchards were removed and “the hillside was just dirt,” she, as a child, wondered what would happen with it. She watched as the first vineyard was planted.



“The original plan,” says Zagar, now marketing manager at Del Rio Vineyards in Southern Oregon, “was to focus solely on farming… but then there were so many grapes. Rob traveled to the Willamette Valley. Convinced of the quality of its grapes, his intuitions and work paid off, not only promoting Del Rio Estate but moreover the entire Rogue Valley AVA. This place has transformed tremendously under his watch. He’s selling a lot more than little bins of grapes now.”



Today, Del Rio grows about 25 percent of all Rogue Valley grapes.

Read the full report in Oregon Wine Press >