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CapitalPress.com
Friday, September 10, 2021
King’s Raven Winery: Wine in Old World style
By BRENNA WIEGAND
For the Capital Press
OREGON CITY — Peo-
ple are sometimes surprised
to hear that high-quality
wine is being produced in,
of all places, Oregon City,
but with its climate, good
soil and rolling hills, Darin
Ingram says it’s a natural.
King’s Raven Vineyard,
established in 1999, is owned
by Sheri and David Ingram;
their son, Darin Ingram, and
his wife, Taneha; and their
daughter, Kim, and her hus-
band, David Walton.
Darin is the winemaker
and vineyard manager on
the property his family has
owned since 1941.
While pursuing a degree
in business at Clackamas
Community College, Darin
was paying attention to the
growth of Oregon’s wine
industry. He started doing
all his class projects on
vineyards, penciling out a
30-year business plan for
what he saw as the farm’s
new venture.
At the same time, Ingram
became fascinated with dig-
ital video production and
ended up becoming a free-
lance video producer and
web developer. This took
him around the world and
supported him while the
family built the vineyard.
Just before his fi rst trip to
France, Ingram planted their
fi rst vines, an acre of Pom-
mard, a clone from a small
French village of the same
name. He visited Pommard.
“There’s just one little
fountain in the middle of
town, a 10-room inn with
a bar and a little grocery
store selling their wine and
cheese,” he said.
The bartender steered
Ingram to a local wine-
maker, who told him the
secret to good wine was sim-
Brenna Wiegand/For the Capital Press
Darin Ingram with two of his favorite things — a 1946
Chevy 2-ton dump truck and a bottle of his Leon Millot
wine.
ple: “Two years in the barrel,
one year in the bottle.”
“In retrospect, it really
does come down to a sim-
ple formula like that because
the emphasis must be on
growing grapes,” Ingram
said, “and this is a good time
for farming in the Pacifi c
Northwest.”
“I have the benefi t of
growing grapes for over 22
years now and half that time
it rained nine months of the
year, but since 2012 we’ve
been in a drought,” he said.
Ingram cited a study
where core samples taken
from the bottom of a lake in
Washington state revealed a
climate record of the Pacifi c
Northwest going back 6,000
years.
In short, the study indi-
cates that the famously rain-
soaked Pacifi c Northwest
could be in for longer dry
seasons and is unlikely to
see a period as wet as the
20th century any time soon.
Ingram
said
their
north-facing vineyards are
positioned well for the hot-
ter, drier period ahead, mit-
igating the over-expo-
sure experienced by their
south-facing counterparts.
Perhaps nothing proves
King’s Raven dedication to
Old World techniques more
than foot-crushing all their
red grapes. This has yielded
many award-winning vin-
tages, but if they do have
a bad batch there are Old
World remedies.
“It still has an alco-
hol content and can be dis-
tilled into brandy, which can
also be used to make port,
madeira or sherry,” Ingram
said.
In fact, King’s Raven
started a port program in
2014 using Maréchal Foch
grapes, and has produced
a new vintage every year
since.
“Our commitment from
that fi rst vintage is to age
each one for at least 10
years,” Ingram said. “Our
fi rst release will coincide
with our 25th anniversary.”
The 35-acre property
includes 15 acres of grapes
— 10 varietals on that
include four heirlooms —
including Ingram’s favorite,
Leon Millot, from which he
has created King’s Raven’s
premier wine.
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