Lange Estate Winery & Vineyards

Don Lange is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, an accomplished musician and songwriter. Wendy came from literature and ballet. They were living in Santa Barbara when a few bottles from Eyrie and Erath changed their plans. Don found Dick Erath’s phone number printed on the back label, called him, and Erath convinced them to come look.

They drove up in spring 1987, tasting their way north from the southern end of the valley, and stopped when they reached the Dundee Hills. A real estate sign advertised farmland on the eastern knoll. The elevation and aspect reminded Don of the Côte d’Or. By June they’d moved. They made their first vintage that same year from purchased grapes, in the basement of the house, because they wanted a foothold immediately. The property was mostly Douglas fir and hazelnut orchards, with six plantable acres below the house on southeast-facing slope. They planted the following year.

That first vintage included the three varieties they still make: Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, and Chardonnay. Don was among the first in the Willamette Valley to succeed with Pinot Gris and the first anywhere to release a neutral-barrel French oak fermented Reserve Pinot Gris — a wine Matt Kramer of Wine Spectator called a benchmark bottling. Hugh Johnson called Don’s work brilliant. Wine Enthusiast named Lange one of the great Pinot Noir producers in the United States, and Wine & Spirits named them Winery of the Year.

The estate now runs three sustainably farmed vineyards totaling over 60 acres of Jory soil, LIVE certified and Salmon Safe. The original Pinot Noir is own-rooted Pommard and Wädenswil, now in its fourth decade. Production sits around 18,000 to 20,000 cases.

Jesse Lange grew up in it, trained at Lincoln University in New Zealand on an exchange from Oregon State, spent two years at Santa Barbara Winery, and joined the winemaking team in 2004. He’s now Managing Director and Executive Winemaker, and has served as president of both Oregon Pinot Camp and the Dundee Hills Winegrowers Association. He and Don still do blending trials together.

The tasting room opened in 2018 with cozy fireplaces, an expansive patio, and panoramic views across the Willamette and Chehalem Valleys with Mount Hood beyond. Wendy oversees it. A quartet of Shetland Sheepdogs is part of the operation.