FAQs About the Eola-Amity Hills (EAH) Winegrowing Region

What is the relation between elevation and wine grape cultivation?

Elevation is a complex and interesting component of vineyard terroir. On the one hand, elevation is directly correlated to temperature, whether it is the daytime temperature that ripens the grapes, the evening temperature that cools the grapes, or the temperature that produces late spring or early fall frosts. On the other hand, elevation is also a direct predictor of the type of soil that will predominate on a vineyard site. At low altitudes, rich, fertile silt left by the Missoula floods predominates, whereas at higher altitudes, the red, iron-rich soil created by the weathering of basalt predominates. As the Missoula floods reached a depth of approximately 400 feet in the Willamette Valley, many vineyards on the Eola-Amity slopes will have both types of soils.

Therefore, as soils on the valley floor are too fertile and wet for premium wine grapes, of the more than 250 crops that flourish in the Willamette Valley, the only one that produces better fruit in the poorer soils of the rocky hillsides is the grape vine. In addition, frost, is a threat to wine grapes in lower elevations. For these reasons, the EAH AVA has been restricted to land between 200 - 1000 feet in elevation.