The HillCrest Story

HillCrest, Bonded Winery44, was founded by wine pioneer Richard Sommers in 1961 with the help of Adolph Doerner, who's family first planted wine grapes in the Umpqua Valley in 1888. After selecting the estate site, Richard went about planting over 35 varieties, many of which had never been planted or produced before in Oregon.  Soon thereafter many other wine pioneers appeared at the doors of HillCrest prior to getting their start in the state.  These would include David Lett, Chuck Coury and Myron Redford.

In 2003 my wife Susan and I and our 3 children Hanna, Parker and Tucker continued Richards pioneering legacy by continuing to produce wines that reflect a sense of place or what the French call "terroir." We continue Richards pioneering legacy, but with and eye to the best of the past, like creating state of the art patented concrete fermentors and founding "Oregon Artisan Family Wineries" for truly unique family crafted wines in the European sense.