Laurel Ridge Winery

Laurel Ridge is situated on a 240-acre estate vineyard, in the Yamhill-Carlton sub-appellation of the Willamette Valley AVA. The estate was fondly named Finn Hill when it was purchased by Laurel Ridge founder David Teppola in 1974, a nod to his Finnish heritage. As a young man, having grown in the city of Portland, David often fantasized about a simpler more idyllic life that he observed vacationing in the agricultural Oregon countryside. He longed to study agricultural science in college, at the stern disproval of his parents, so he settled for a minor in chemistry and major in Philosophy. It wasn’t until David studied abroad in Europe during his junior year of college that his dreams of farming began to form more practically. He became fascinated with French wine and viticulture, and the distinct profiles of the wines from the various growing regions, but most importantly, the lifestyle and culture that accompanied wine. He admired the gracious and genteel way that people dined and entertained and the elegance that wine brought to each meal. He grew particularly fond of Pinot Noir, the wine of Kings, and spent much of his free time exploring the Grand Cru vineyards of Burgundy. David spent much of the next decade learning as much as possible viticulture, winemaking and drinking lots and lots of french wine. Simultaneously, in the late 1960s and early 1970s Oregon saw the first wine pioneers making their way to the Willamette Valley from California recognizing that the valley climate and hillside slopes had the potential to grow outstanding cool-climate varietals like Pinot Noir. Among these investors was Charles Coury, who famously (and illegally) imported grape vine cuttings from France to plant his vineyard in Oregon. These “suitcase clones” or the “Coury Clones,” making their way to Oregon marks an important moment in the history of the rebirth of the Oregon wine industry. As luck would have it, David, pursuing his passion for wine, met Charles and his wine journey truly began.