Pheasant Valley Vineyard

Pheasant Valley Vineyard began as a dream of owners Scott & Gail Hagee, whose 40 acre farm on the south side of the Columbia Gorge in Hood River, Oregon is now a vineyard, winery, and bed & breakfast. Winemaker Rich Cushman crafts their wines, with occasional help from Peter Rosback of Sineann. Most of the wines are made from fruit sourced from Oregon and Washington vineyards in the Columbia Gorge Appellation.

The Winemaker - Rich Cushman

Rich Cushman was born and raised in Hood River, Oregon, and is in the process of moving back to Hood River from McMinnville, Oregon, where he has lived with his family and has made wines under his own Viento label. Rich's own family vineyard in Hood River, which he planted in 1981, is planted to Riesling, from which he makes excellent wine. The focus of Viento is to make delicious wines from some of the more exotic grapes from the Northwest, especially Rhone varietals and Sangiovese. Rich's many years of experience with Oregon and Washington vineyards shows in his unique and highly regarded Viento wines.

RIch has been a consulting winemaker since 1987 and has been a winemaker since 1982 - a total of 22 vintages under his direct control plus another three vintages while getting his education in wine making. Rich studied in the Masters program in Enology at UC Davis for two years (from 1978-1980). He was a classmate of Rollin Soles (Argyle) and Rick Mafit (Mystic WInes). Following his studies at Davis, he worked an apprenticeship in Germany at Weingut Dr. Burkin-Wolf.

As a winemaker and consultant, Rich has been deeply involved in the planning and establishment of four successful Oregon wineries- Laurel Ridge, Cooper Mountain, Flynn, and Edgefield. He is currently a consulting winemaker to Edgefield Winery and Cooper Mountain Vineyards.

Rich Cushman is winemaker for Pheasant Valley Vineyard and is also making his Viento wines at the Pheasant Valley facility. His wine making philosophy is to make wines that are balanced and consistently good to drink, and that bring out the best in the grapes that he is using without over-processing. Rich has made a wide range of wines from ultra-premium limited production wines to value priced wines that appeal to a broad range of wine drinkers.

The Labels

The bright and distinctive labels of Pheasant Valley depict the art of Dennis Wentworth Porter, a friend of the owners. Dennis was based in the Northwest for many years, and now splits his time between Oregon and Baja, Mexico. The label art reflects those two regions.