Perched over Illahe Vineyards’ estate vineyard, the new tasting room with a curved roof and a modern interior opens to the public on April 29
Dallas, Ore. (April 20, 2023) — Illahe Vineyards, a family-owned winery in the Willamette Valley, will open a new tasting room perched over their estate vineyard at 3275 Ballard Road. The new building has a curved roof and a bright, modern interior, as well as a wraparound deck for warmer weather tasting. Illahe Vineyards’ new tasting room will open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm.
Designed by Larry Ferar at Soderstrom Architects, the new tasting room mirrors the design of Illahe Vineyards’ adjacent, gravity-flow, and solar-powered winery, completed in 2008. Both buildings feature curved ceilings supported by wooden beams—a nod to the estate vineyard’s slope, which ranges in grade from 4% to 20%.
Illahe Vineyards’ estate includes plantings of Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Tempranillo, Grüner Veltliner, Teroldego, and Schioppettino. The Ford family started growing grapes in 1983 and has owned the winery since 2000. Illahe Vineyards produces sparkling wine under the Cap Fizz label, single varietal white wines, a Tempranillo rosé, and a lineup of Pinot Noir bottlings, including the 1899 Pinot Noir, made without electricity or modern mechanization.
For many years, Illahe Vineyards hosted tastings by appointment in their winemaking space, working around the winery’s schedule. The new tasting room provides an opportunity to host visitors in a comfortable setting, with reservations and walk-in appointments available for indoor and outdoor seating. The new tasting room accommodates 24 guests at ten tables inside, and four tables on the wraparound deck. An additional seven tables on the seasonal patio seats another 28 guests.
“This tasting room has been a dream of ours for a long time,” said Illahe Vineyards owner Bethany Ford. “We now have a comfortable space to share our wines, with an incredible view, too.”
Two sets of accordion glass doors fill the modern space with light, opening onto a wraparound deck. The high wooden ceiling brings warmth to the space, as does a wood-burning stove in one corner of the tasting room. Custom tables from an oak tree felled on the property were made by local woodworker Mike Morgan, who also hand-carved a 14-foot walnut bar front that features Mount Pisgah’s topographical map. Interior walls are painted white, complementing the white quartz bar shelving and bar top.
Illahe Vineyards’ new tasting room will open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm. Reservations are recommended and can be made here.
A Grand Opening party for the general public on Saturday, April 29 from 11 am to 5 pm will feature just-released wines and wood-fired pizzas from Dough on the Go. The tasting flight for the Grand Opening includes 2022 white wines, as well as a lineup of Pinot Noirs and a special library pour. More information can be found on Illahe Vineyards’ website.
Location: Illahe Vineyards, 3275 Ballard Rd, Dallas, OR 97338.
About Illahe Vineyards
Illahe, pronounced Ill-Uh-Hee, is a local Chinook word meaning “earth” or “place” or “soil.” A multi-generational winery owned and operated by the Ford family since 2000, Illahe is LIVE-Certified, Salmon Safe and a member of the Deep Roots Coalition. The 80-acre estate vineyard in the Mount Pisgah, Polk County, Oregon AVA is planted to Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Tempranillo, Grüner Veltliner, Teroldego, and Schioppettino, on a south-facing slope that ranges from four to 20 percent. Illahe’s winemaking philosophy is centered on historical and sustainable winemaking methods, working by hand on small lots with age-old techniques and materials. The gravity-flow winery is solar-powered and wines are aged in a cave buried in the hillside. Illahe wines are distributed nationally. For more information, please visit illahevineyards.com
