Bergström Wines

Josh Bergström is a Portland native who has built one of Oregon’s most decorated wineries from the ground up. His university studies covered French, business, business law, and the humanities before he went to the CFPPA in Beaune for a postgraduate degree in viticulture and enology. There he met Caroline, a Burgundy native, and the two now run the business together — Josh as owner, CEO, and Director of Winemaking, Caroline as his partner in it.

Over his career he’s made wine from more than 125 different vineyards across the region, which is an unusual amount of ground for one winemaker to have worked. His stated aim from the start has been to craft America’s finest Pinot Noirs, Chardonnays, and Syrahs while moving progressively toward a fully estate-farmed operation.

The family roots run back to Josh’s father John, who left a remote Swedish logging village as a young teenager wanting an education beyond his corner of the world. He landed in Portland and became a renowned obstetrician and gynecologist, making pioneering contributions in reproductive medicine. Karen, a California native from an Irish-American family, became a registered nurse; she grew up in a busy family kitchen and took from it a belief in food and drink as the things that create belonging. That belief is visible in how the winery hosts.

Josh and his farming team steward 70 acres of biodynamic estate monopole Pinot Noir and Chardonnay across five vineyards in the Dundee Hills, Ribbon Ridge, and Chehalem Mountains — volcanic Jory in one, ancient marine sediment in another, which is why the single-vineyard wines taste so different from each other. He champions biodynamic and regenerative farming as the way to preserve what makes these sites distinct: homemade compost, herbal and mineral teas, no synthetic inputs. Native yeast ferments, gravity flow, French oak, roughly 10,000 cases a year.

The flagship white is Sigrid Chardonnay, named for John’s mother — Josh’s grandmother — a barrel selection aged eighteen months sur lie. Vinous called it elegant with teeth-chattering tension. The 2023 Bergström Vineyard Pinot Noir drew 98 points from Jeb Dunnuck. A small amount of Syrah is made under the Gargantua label.

Josh has served on the board of the Willamette Valley Wineries Association and spearheaded the creation of Willamette: The Pinot Noir Auction. In 2023 he was invited to join the Académie Internationale du Vin.

Tastings happen at Ekollon — Swedish for acorn — perched at the crest of the Bergström Vineyard with the valley spread below. Visits are private, one party at a time, and usually open with a walk through the gardens and a glass in hand before you sit down. The nibbles come largely from that garden.