Orchard House Vineyard
44°58’32.26 North, 123°09’04.15 West
After purchasing the estate in 2018, the Dobbes family referred to the property as ‘The Orchard House’ and the name stuck. Located just off of Orchard Heights Road, the house not only became home to the family, but home to a new adventure and a new chapter of life. When you visit for a tasting experience, you are quite literally experiencing Iterum Wines in the Orchard House.
The vineyard is planted on what used to be fruit orchards, now considered to be the heart of Eola-Amity’s wine country. Joe calls this western mid-slope of the Eola-Amity Hills the Eola-Bench, or the 90210 neighborhood of the Eola-Amity Hills. The estate is 485 – 625 feet in elevation and just over 21 acres total with 11.98 acres planted to vines. Varietals include Pinot Noir clones 114 and 115 planted in 2000 and Chardonnay clones 548 and 76 planted in 2016. New to the property is Sauvignon Blanc planted in 2021.
The vineyard is predominantly south and southwest facing. This vineyard aspect lends full advantage to the growing season sunlight, while simultaneously influenced by the cooling Van Duzer corridor winds which funnel Pacific Ocean breezes to the west slope of the Eola-Amity Hills. This unique combination of microclimates translates to a longer drawn out ripening season. A range of soils can be found across the farm with the planted vineyard consisting of Jory volcanic basalt and Nekia soils. The old vines produce smaller yields with exceptional concentration of flavors. The diversity in clonal makeup and influence of microclimates within the property produces fruit with great intensity and power in some blocks and elegance with finesse in others.
