ILLAHE

Willamette Valley, Oregon

ILLAHE, Pronounced Ill-Uh-Hee, is a local word used from Chinook jargon meaning "earth" or "place" or "soil".

At Illahe, our goal is to make wine as naturally as possible from the soil to the bottle. This requires working by hand on small lots with age-old techniques and materials.

Our focus is to make and grow quality Pinot Noir and white wines that express the vintage and their varietal characteristics. We don't use enzymes or additives, and we don't fine or filter our Pinot Noir. Some of our lots are made entirely by hand with no electricity or mechanization. We use a gentle wooden basket press, and age our Pinot Noir in French and Oregon oak.

Of course, quality wine starts with quality fruit in the vineyard. Our 80-acre south-facing vineyard lives in shallow clay soils. Like our friends in the Deep Roots Coalition, we do not irrigate mature plants. As one of Oregon's few horse-powered vineyards, we utilize a team of Percheron drafts to mow and deliver grapes to the winery at harvest.

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