We happened upon this wonderful spot while driving on the back roads on our wine tasting adventure. It looked so interesting that we had to stop, and were welcomed by Mike Bayless and his wife, Dendra. The winery is on the land that Mike's grandparents bought in 1906, and was once a sheep ranch. It's called Ghost Hill, since legend has it that a miner was murdered for his gold near Oaks Springs Road. Apparently, more gold was taken out of Oregon in the 19th Century than in California!
The Tasting Room at Ghost Hill reminded me of the Oregon Wineries in the 70's. When I transferred up here from The S.F. Bay Area in the late 70's, most of the wineries were in the vintner's garages or makeshift outbuildings. Those vintners went on to become some of the biggest names in the Oregon wine industry. The Bayless' were tasting a Rose and a Pinot, both lovely. Rose wines are pretty unusual in Oregon, but theirs had a refreshing light grapefruit taste. It will be fun to watch these wines develop.
Some friends were visiting and displaying their Rolls and Bentley cars. I had so much fun photographing them for watercolor painting later.
Everyone was so friendly...it was a fun ending to a memorable day!
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