Eola Hills Winery Takes Numerous Honors

It seems natural that along with the success of this local business, there would be a long list of Eola Hills wines that are award winners. Here is the rundown, good information before your next wine purchase.

Inside the Eola Hills showroom Salem-News.com Business Report

(RICKREALL, Ore.) - Eola Hills Winery in Rickreall, Oregon has been racking up awards throughout a number of Oregon based wine events and festivals. Their location west of Salem founded by General Manager Tom Huggins, is becoming increasingly popular and their facilities are wide ranging and accommodate a number of different types of festivities and events year round.

Huggins says that when he set out to establish Eola Hills, he knew that great wines could only come from great vineyards, and through his former occupation as a agricultural insurance expert, he knew where that precious vineyard land was located.

This knowledge enabled him to purchase some of the prime sites for his own vineyards in the rolling terrain of the Northwest Willamette Valley in Oregon wine country, and to fulfill a dream of creating his own wine.

Situated in a natural weather shadow of the Coast Range, which shunts storms from the Pacific Ocean north to Portland and south below Salem, the Eola Hills vineyards are protected from weather extremes. Yet in summer, a gorge carved by ancient glaciers draws in maritime air to provide ideal cooling for sensitive varietals in those warmer months.

In 1986 the first crop was harvested and transformed into wine by a nearby winery. The wine's quality provided ample proof of the vineyards' great potential. Therefore, in 1987, Eola Hills Wine Cellars was constructed at Rickreall, 10 miles west of Salem. This location is central to the vineyard holdings as well as other prime vineyards searched out and placed under contract to Eola Hills.

It seems natural that along with the success of this local business, there would be a long list of Eola Hills wines that are award winners. Here is the rundown, good information before your next wine purchase.

(New) Astoria Warrenton Crab & Seafood Festival Awards Prelude to April 2008 event:

• 2005 LaCreole Chardonnay Reserve - Gold Medal
• 2006 LaCreole Pinot Noir Reserve - Silver Medal
• 2006 Old Vine Zinfandel Reserve, Best of Varietal - Gold Medal
• 2006 Vin d' Epice, Best of Varietal - Gold Medal

McMinnville Seafood and Wine Festival March 2008:

• 2001 "LBV" Cabernet Sauvignon Port - Silver Medal
• 2006 White Riesling - Silver Medal

• 2005 Mystery Block Chardonnay - Silver Medal
• 2004 Applegate Cabernet Sauvignon - Silver Medal
• 2001 "LBV" Cabernet Sauvignon Port - Bronze Medal

Wine Spectator December 2007:

• 2005 LaCreole Chardonnay Reserve - 88 points
• 2005 LaCreole Pinot Noir - 89 points

Wine Enthusiast November 2007:

• 2005 LaCreole Chardonnay - 88 points and Best Buy
• 2006 Chardonnay - 86 points
• 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon - 86 points and Best Buy
• 2006 Pinot Noir - 87 points and Best Buy
• 2005 LaCreole Pinot Noir - 88 points and Editor's Choice

Oregon State Fair August 2007:

• Pacific Blanc - Bronze Medal
• 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon - Bronze Medal
• 2005 Wolf Hill Chardonnay - Bronze Medal
• 2005 LaCreole Chardonnay - Bronze Medal
• 2005 Merlot - Bronze Medal
• 2005 LaCreole Chardonnay - Bronze Medal
• 2006 Pinot Noir - Bronze Medal
• 2006 Chardonnay - Bronze Medal
• 2006 Pinot Gris - Bronze Medal