Turner, Oregon – Willamette Valley Vineyards, a leading producer of Pinot Noir in the Willamette Valley, sells out of its inaugural, limited release Willamette Whiskey. The hand-crafted, small batch rye whiskey was aged in new American oak for six years, then blended down to a bottle strength of 100 proof. The winery’s top customers were offered an inaugural special price for Willamette Whiskey of $50. A second release is scheduled this winter.
Willamette Valley Vineyards Founder and CEO Jim Bernau said with the growing popularity of whiskey he is not surprised by how quickly this initial limited release of Willamette Whiskey sold out.
“The first release was snatched up in less than a few hours,” Bernau noted. “We encourage Oregon Rye Whiskey lovers to contact the winery as soon as possible to get on the waiting list for future batches of this special craft spirit.”
Willamette Valley Vineyards plans to continue to experiment in craft spirits with plans to use its barrels for special finishing in the future. The winery will be offering additional limited batches to subscribers and will feature Willamette Whiskey at its new Tasting Room & Restaurants, where permissible, coming soon in Lake Oswego, Happy Valley, Bend and Vancouver, WA.
Willamette Whiskey pays tribute to the people of Carlton, Oregon, who for 91 years enjoyed the building first known as W.A. Howe’s General Merchandise store.
Willamette Valley Vineyards now owns the lot where the store’s building — nicknamed “the Old Cabin Tavern” owing to an interior constructed of hand-hewn timber — served as a general store, a hotel, and Carlton’s first bank, with a parlor and speakeasy supper club in the basement. Built in 1904, it was destroyed in a fire on April 18, 1995.
This release heralds the beginning of the winery’s efforts to rebuild the Carlton property with a brick clad Willamette winery and distillery facility, rising in the lost structure’s place.
Willamette Valley Vineyards partnered with Portland-based Rose City Distillery to produce Willamette Whiskey. The winery’s goal was to partner with a local distiller.
For information on how to order future whiskey releases, please contact Willamette Valley Vineyards at (800) 344-9463 or visit: https://www.wvv.com/Willamette-Whiskey.
Willamette Valley Vineyards:
Founded in 1983 by Jim Bernau with the dream of creating world-class Pinot Noir while serving as stewards of the land, Willamette Valley Vineyards has grown from a bold idea into one of the region’s leading wineries, earning the title “One of America’s Great Pinot Noir Producers” from Wine Enthusiast Magazine. All of the vineyards have been certified sustainable through LIVE (Low Impact Viticulture and Enology) and Salmon-Safe programs.
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