Jackson creates new team for Oregon

Jackson Family Wines has appointed a winemaker and viticulturist for its new operation in Oregon: the Gran Moraine Winery in Willamette Valley.

Jackson Family Wines has become California’s largest landowner in OregonEugenia Keegan has been named general manager and winemaker, and Ken Kupperman joins as director of vineyards for the winery in Yamhill.

The 220-acre hillside vineyard and site of the former Soléna Estate Winery in the Yamhill-Carlton district was purchased by Jackson Family Wines in May 2013.

Gran Moraine’s first wine was also unveiled last month – a Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley’s Yamhill-Carlton appellation.

Gran Moraine takes its name from the cataclysmic floods that occurred in the northern Willamette Valley of Oregon during the last ice age. As the flood waters receded, they sculpted the region into a distinct pattern of small indentations and valleys (moraines).

As previously reported by the drinks business, Jackson Family Wines has become California’s largest landowner in Oregon, with around 250 hectares in the region, which is famous for the quality of its Pinot Noir in particular.

Along with the newly-launched Gran Moraine Pinot Noir, the same grape from this state is being used to produce an Oregon Pinot variant of California’s La Crema brand – a label bought by the Jackson family over a decade ago.