04/17/06 New Oregon Wine Assoc.

New Oregon wine association. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. More than 25 wineries and independent vineyard owners formally organized the Dundee Hills Winegrowers Association in mid-March this year. The Dundee Hills are the epicenter of Oregon Pinot noir and is located 28 miles southwest of Portland and 40 miles from the Pacific Ocean. The Dundee Hills American Viticultural Area encompasses 6,490 acres. Their slogan is "the heart and soil of Oregon wine." Ashley Bell is the secretary with the newly formed association. BELL: They are planning their first annual passport tour for this coming weekend which also happens to be Earth Day weekend. Planning for the event has taken about a year and the tour invites local consumers to taste wines in the area. Invitations were sent to the joint mailing list for all participating wineries to customers in Oregon, California, Washington and Idaho. Details of the tour are available at the association's new website: www.dundeehills.org. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.