Our Story
Family Owned and Operated Since 1984
Our roots trace back to the 1970s when our founder Dieter, originally from East Germany, was drawn Oregon to by its untamed beauty and agricultural promise. Inspired by the vineyards along the Elbe River and the romantic wine villages he came to know while studying in Dresden, Dieter planted his first vines at High Pass in 1984. The land — just 20 acres then — spoke to him in a way few others understood. Where others saw risk, he saw lasting promise.
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Just a few years later, Dieter began producing some of the same premium wine grapes that would help earn Oregon international acclaim. While local wineries were eager to buy his fruit, he always reserved a portion to experiment and learn the craft of winemaking himself. He developed a winemaking philosophy grounded in land stewardship, varietal purity, and minimal intervention — now expressed through our estate in the Lower Long Tom AVA, one of Oregon’s most dynamic new wine regions. In 1994, High Pass Winery celebrated its first commercial crush—and we’ve been producing award-winning wines ever since.
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Looking Forward
After years of cultivating Pinot Noir, Dieter is a firm believer in the centuries-old concept of terroir—the idea that a wine is deeply influenced by the soil, microclimate, and exposure of the region where its grapes are grown. No grape variety reflects these nuances quite like Pinot Noir, which uniquely captures the character of its environment. While this area lies within the greater Willamette Valley, Dieter has long felt it deserves its own distinction. He first petitioned for a sub-AVA under the name Prairie Mountain, a title proposed by the Prairie Mountain Wineries marketing group. However, the TTB rejected the name. Undeterred, Dieter resubmitted the proposal a few months later as the Lower Long Tom sub-AVA. The TTB accepted the petition on January 5, 2018, and in November 2021, the region was officially recognized as a sub-AVA of the Willamette Valley.
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