Our Vineyards

There are over 17 acres of Pinot Noir planted among the 38 acres that make up the REX HILL Estate Vineyard. Friends of the winery helped plant the initial rows of the Estate Vineyard in 1982, just one year after REX HILL was founded. Tin plates with their names mark the ends of these special rows. Nestled among the acres of Pinot Noir, there is one lone row of Muscat much enjoyed by the winery staff. One year each person was responsible for a few vines to tend throughout the growing season deepening the connection to the plants that provide our livelihood and improving our understanding of vineyard decisions. The REX HILL Estate Vineyard is farmed using Biodynamic principles.

The Jacob-Hart Vineyard, purchased in 1987, is named after REX HILL’s founders, Jan Jacobsen & Paul Hart. An old turkey farm, the land was well suited to growing grapes and soil studies have determined there are at least 13 soil types on the property. Located on a warm southeast-facing slope of the Chehalem Ridge, fruit at this vineyard is harvested a week or two before other REX HILL Pinot Noir sites.

This beautiful vineyard offers both volcanic and sedimentary soils; to have both soil types in one vineyard is extremely unusual in the Willamette Valley. In places, the earth is so rocky that the vines were planted using a pickaxe instead of a shovel and it cannot be farmed with a tractor. These prized blocks produce the exceptional fruit that comprises our Jacob-Hart Vineyard selections while most of the remaining blocks provide the basic structure for our reserve wines.