Harris Bridge Vineyard & Winery
Harris Bridge Vineyard & Winery
Harris Bridge Vineyards and Winery is the only Oregon winery exclusively devoted to Dessert Wines. Nathan and Amanda make three ice wine styled dessert wines from the Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir grape varietals. This young couple has received very positive response from the Corvallis community, and their fame is spreading across the Northwest. Avalon is so pleased to offer these delicious dessert wines. Ecologically
sound and sustainable farming practices are at HBV’s core,
and they are key to preserving one of the most spectacular natural settings in
Oregon. The Vineyard is planted in Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, two of Oregon’s
premier varietals. With the fruit from those vines, HBV produces ultra-premium
dessert wines. For the 2003 vintage HBV produced about 250 cases of Pinot Noir dessert wine, one of only a few such wines produced in the world. 150 cases have been released as reserve with the next 100 cases to be aged for another year and bottled in 2005. About the Winemaker
Nathan was raised in Harris Valley and developed a love for the region.
He decided to return to the valley following his undergraduate studies
and began establishing Harris Bridge Vineyard. The Region Harris Valley, located in the foothills of the Oregon coastal mountain range, is one of the most pristine settings in western Oregon. The valley was founded in the days when the U.S. government began issuing land claims. It saw a timber industry flourish and falter, and today stands as a quiet historical community with only a passing train and covered bridge to remind us of its long history. Harris Covered Bridge, the vineyard’s namesake, crosses the Mary's River which flows through the valley on its way to meet the Willamette, providing a constant life source for the diversity of wildlife in the region. The earliest recorded land claims in the area were issued to Nahum and Sarepta King around 1845. These were the pioneers after which King's Valley, just north of Harris Valley, was named. The original land claims were broken into sections and sold over the years to various families, but it was in 1865 under the ownership of George Mason, that the first house in Harris Valley was built. That house still stands today, next to the covered bridge in the center of the valley. It is constructed with two front doors, a style popularized in the south, such as Kentucky and Tennessee, where George Masons wife was from.
It was about 1870 when timber harvest in the area began through the work of Charles King. However, most of the major logging activity was instigated by the work of Henry Palmer Harris, who in 1875 purchased the bulk of land in the area now called Harris Valley, and began logging. He and his wife, Mary Ellen, saw opportunity in setting a mill along the planned Corvallis to Yaquina railroad, and by 1880, they had built a new house (now the Harris Bridge Vineyards farmhouse) and mill along the proposed railroad route. Henry hired chinese laborers to dig a millrace, which still exists in front of the farmhouse, to divert water to the water wheel that ran his mill. To house the chinese laborers he built several shacks in the field where the vineyard now stands.
The house that Henry built was 30' by 30', very large for the times, and his intention was that one room in the house would serve as a post office and railroad depot. He and Mary Ellen also planned to rent out the extra rooms to men working on the railroad. On December 31, 1884, just months after the famous "100 years" flood, the golden spike ceremony was held in Harris Valley, uniting the railroad from Yaquina bay to Corvallis. Henry passed away in 1890 and left his mill to his son, George Harris. George and his wife, Ivy, continued to operate the mill until 1908. Ivy Harris, a very determined woman, convinced the county to give the community of Harris a teacher in 1908, and a new schoolhouse in 1910. In 1917, the mill roared back into action with the onset of World War I and from 1917-1928 the town of Harris boomed. A general store, post office, dance hall, and housing were all established for the 100 or so inhabitants that poured into the valley. In 1929 the county constructed the Harris Covered Bridge, the same bridge that is used today for passage over the Mary's river. However, it was also 1929 when the mills ceased operating, and except for a small boom in the early 1940's, all has been pretty quiet in Harris since. The train still passes through the valley twice a day, and the log trucks still roll out of the foothills, but for the most part all is still. |
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