About Us
Just outside of greater Portland, off the Hillsboro Highway 219, nestled in the Chehalem Mountains of the northern Willamette Valley, is our 60-acre vineyard dating back to 1976 and our small winery and tasting room.
History
Dion Vineyard was started in 1973 with a 5 acre purchase by Ron & Joanne Johnson. With help from Ron’s Dad Al (who had grown wine grapes in the Yakima valley) their young toddler, Kevin and the family golden retriever, they planted their first Pinot Noir vines and launched into their own Oregon wine adventure. Along the way they learned of the joys of year round vine care and the fun of cool weather grape growing.
Today, the successful enterprise has expanded to 60 acres, the baton has been passed to son Kevin, who started producing wine under the Dion Vineyard label in 2007, and with his wife Beth, has now expanded to boutique levels of production of Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, and Sparkling Wines.
Our People
Just outside of greater Portland, off the Hillsboro Highway 219, nestled in the Chehalem Mountains of the northern Willamette Valley, is our 60-acre vineyard dating back to 1976 and our small winery and tasting room.
Our family-owned and operated enterprise maintains an intentionally small annual production as part of our commitment to offer the highest quality wines at exceptional values.
Our winemaker, Kevin Johnson, founded the winery in 2007 and carries on third-generation winegrowing traditions. His grandfather began the legacy by growing grapes and producing wines near Sunnyside, Washington.
For over 45 years, Kevin and his family have been growing wine grapes in our little slice of beautiful Oregon, just outside the city.
We are L.I.V.E. (Low Input Viticulture and Enology) Certified. This certification verifies our use of sustainable agricultural techniques in our commitment to maintain good stewardship of the land. We are dry-farmed and a great deal of the vineyard is self-rooted.
Our production includes primarily Pinot Noir, Sparkling Wines, and Pinot Gris. We also offer in limited quantities: Tempranillo, Rose, Viognier, and Chardonnay. Kevin and his wife Beth Klingner handcraft under 1000 cases per year. We still provide premium wine grapes to other Willamette Valley wineries from our 60 acres.
We encourage you to come visit, taste, and judge for yourself! Drink local, trust your palate.
The Dogs of Dion
Titus the ‘Parti Poodle’
Titus came to us (Kevin and Beth) in a roundabout way as he was living with a neighbor friend who would walk up Riedweg Road to admire the views and stop to visit us. Unfortunately she became unable to care for him so we ‘fostered’ him for a year before formally adopting him. Titus is full of ‘poodletude’ and definitely wants to be the cutest dog around to get all the attention.
Maverick the Australian Shephard
Mav is another ‘neighbor dog’ who would slip under the fence to visit Sara and Nick. He inspired Sara to adopt Huckleberry, and then the neighbors relocated to Alaska for work, where Mav wouldn’t exactly thrive, so Sara now has TWO adoring and large fluffy Aussies. She works hard with them on manners and both are very sweet (although not often both in attendance).
Tucker the Stretch Hound
Dawn is also a gifted dog trainer (Pawsitive Companion) and as such, Tucker is our most well-behaved, also the fastest dog we’ve ever seen. He has been DNA tested and is ¼ hound, ¼ husky, ¼ Doberman, and ¼ miniature poodle. His long brown legs and sweet demeanor are very endearing, although his love of snapping at bees will get the better of him at times.
We are definitely dog lovers at Dion and well-behaved pooches on leash are welcome to come sit outside with you for your tasting. If the weather is not cooperating, please ensure it’s cool enough for your furry friends to stay in the car (Tesla has a ‘dog mode’ – hilarious!)
