Stoltz Vineyards

What a nice surprise I had an organic champagne of all things! It was produced, according to the owner, via Methode Champingois where the carbonation occurs organically rather than being infused. It was on the dry side, wonderful and packed a nice little kick. I've had the pinot noir that was pretty wonderful as well. A sweet little winery in a historical venue!

We had just arrived to Hood River in the afternoon, after visiting Maryhill Winery. Upon arriving to the house we were enamored with the style of the house and found out that this is the oldest house in Hood River.

The building was constructed in 1886 for Ezra and Georgiana Smith. They came across the Oregon Trail to Hood River by covered wagon from Illinois. Ezra found early success as one of our areas first successful orchardist. He also collaborated for the first bank in Hood River, was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives and oversaw the construction of a few historic buildings downtown Hood River.

The building was subsequently acquired by CC Anderson in 1922 and with her enormous basement was used as the town morgue. Anderson Funeral Home installed a steam powered body lift, cadaver laboratory, and other parts for the operations. The cellar's natural low temperature served well in hosting Hood River's deceased.

The Stoltz family bought the building in 1986 and now they use this historic structure for the production and serving of their wines.

John Stoltz the owner, gave us the scoop about their products and explained to us that everything they do is handmade. $5 tasting that can be comped when purchasing a bottle. All wines are hand made using old world techniques.  No stainless steel, plastics or pumps are involved in our creations.  The results provide wines akin to the old European styles.

A must visit with lots of history!

This is my new favorite winery!

I experienced wine tasting for the first time about 4 years ago with a group of friends I used to drink with. I was already a big wine drinker and wanted to experience what our local wines were like considering the fact that I've already experienced some of the Willamette Valley wines that I have been able to purchase in stores and have really enjoyed them.

We had just arrived to Hood River this afternoon and had already done one tasting at Pheasant Valley earlier. We noticed a big sign for wine tasting at this big house up on the top of the hill. We decided to make the walk up and see what this was all about. Upon arriving to the house we were enamored with the style of the house and found out that this is the oldest house in Hood River and was once a  Mortuary in the early to mid 1900's. Me, always being interested in the supernatural had to ask the host if there have been any sightings inside the house and he has said there have been several over the years in the upstair portion of the house and even told us there was a woman that was buried in the garage with a headstone and everything.

Our host gave us the scoop about their products and explained to us that everything they do is handmade even down to the way the bottles are corked and even showed us the tool they use to do it. We went ahead with the tasting which is $5 that can be comped when purchasing a bottle. He started off with the whites and meticulously moved his pours over to the reds. By the end of our tasting we ended up purchasing two bottles of some great wine!

The three wines I would definitely recommend by them are the Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and my new favorite Pink which is a  an equal part blend of Sangiovese, Malbec, and Pinot noir grown on the upper half of Underwood Mountain. I was absolutely impressed by the Pink especially for the fact that it was served chilled for us which would be a great for a nice summer day. When coming out to Hood River for wine tasting do make a point to come out to Stoltz Vineyards and sample their selection of great wine with a very impressive price!