May 2017 Issue 1 Volume 1

T H E T R E E H O U S E T I M E S

A l o o k b e h i n d t h e v i n e s

A letter from our winemaker Dave Petterson

Looking toward summer in the vineyard

As you may have noticed, we had a RAINY spring. Finally, we are seeing some sunshine
and the vines are budding with happiness. Our bud break happens later than most
vineyards due to our high elevation, but the sunshine we received in the beginning of
May brought on the buds. Normally, our vineyards bud break happens before May, but
they were only willy buds during the first week of the month. With all this
Contents rain, we are now three weeks behind compared with last year.

Letter from Dave pg 1

Since it takes about 100 days for the grapes to fully mature and be ready
for harvest, Vista Hills will be seeing a later harvest this year, probably in
Clint Foundation pg2
October. If rain comes in October this could create stressful conditions for
our grapes. The potential stress on the grapes could also affect the volume
Winery Updates pg3
of grapes produced, which could impact our production plans.
Events pg4 (continued on page 2)

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 Linfield Student benefits from

Clint Foundation

Featuring Linfield student Matt Totaro

The Clint Foundation helps deserving students

pay for college with scholarships given to
students at 15 universities across the nation,
with five of them in Oregon. You may have
noticed somewhat unusual names for the wines
Vista Hills offers. These wines, such as our
This year, Matthew Totaro was one of two
Heritage, Tusculum, Piedmont and Rollins
students selected from Linfield. Totaro was
Pinot noir, are named after some of the
recently able to meet with the Vista Hills
participating universities.
founders, John and Nancy McClintock, to learn
more about why they started this program.
Linfield College has not yet become a bottle
Totaro is a junior at Linfield College, majoring
name but it is located in McMinnville, just a
in mass communication. Part of the foundations
20-minute drive from Vista Hills. The college
requirements is that the students receiving the
has had students receiving scholarships for
scholarship work part time. Their work is then
more than 10 years.
matched by the foundation three-to-one. Totaro
works about 10 hours a week for facilities on
The owners of Vista Hills, John and Nancy
campus and is the new Publicity Director for
McClintock, started the foundation more than
the Associated Students of Linfield College next
20 years ago and have helped more than 150
year. (continued on page 3)
students pay for their college educations this
year. The foundation is able to raise money to
support this program by using 10 percent of the
A letter from winemaker continued...
proceeds from Vista Hill's sales.
Our latest project involved grafting an acre over
from Pinot gris to chardonnay. This was done
because we currently have too many Pinot gris
acres and not enough demand for it. By cutting
the canes off of the vines and sticking the
chardonnay varietal cane in the base of the vine,
this will change the grape over. Weve seen a
demand in Oregon for chardonnay, and Im
interested in making a sparkling wine, which is
a mix of Pinot noir and chardonnay.

My goal is to make more Pinot noir ros and

Pinot noir blanc this year. Last year, our
vineyards yielded 75 tons of grapes and were
hoping for about 90 tons this year!

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Clint Foundation continued...
Another stipulation of the program is that the
students pay it forward. Currently, Matt is
paying it forward by volunteering at the Make-
A-Wish Foundation in Portland as a grant
wisher, meaning that he participates in the
wish granting process. He is also a
communications intern at the organization,
using his education to help with public
relations efforts in his position. Totaro plans to
continue helping out in whatever way he can at
nonprofits to pay it forward.
Summer is Upon Us
2016 Pinot noir ros is ready!
Now that the sun has finally come out, wine
drinkers flock to tastings rooms all over the
Willamette Valley. Vista Hills is no exception,
especially considering the release of our 2015
Heritage Pinot noir. This reserve wine has
darker fruit flavors and pairs well with brisket.
Weve been told that ros pairs well with
sunshine, and we have two different ros
options for you to choose from. Our 2016
Treehouse Pinot noir ros was just bottled two
weeks ago and is ready to be enjoyed on our
outside deck. Our 2016 Pinot gris ros was
bottled a week ago and will be ready to enjoy in
about a week!
Our Pinot noir ros is a tad bit sweeter than
the Pinot gris ros. Both of these can be paired
with some goat cheese and olive appetizers.
Dont forget that we have small cheese, cracker
and meat plates, or feel free to bring your own
food!
The sun also brings more outside activities!
We have had requests for yoga among the
vines, so we're offering a new event,
Vineyard Vinyasa on June 11th at 8:30 a.m.
Enjoy a power vinyasa flow taught by
Mequasah Simpson of Liquid Om Yoga. Event
costs $15 for the public and is free for club
members. Be sure to bring your own mat, and
RSVP at info@vistahillsvineyard.com.
In other exciting news, our wines were
submitted to Wine Enthusiast Magazine
recently, and they scored well! The 2015
Treehouse Pinot gris scored a 91 and will be
featured in the magazines July edition. The
2015 Skyraider, Piedmont and Heritage
Pinot noirs all scored 92 points.
We are selling out of our 2014 reserve pinot
noirs; don't miss out! If you haven't picked
up your latest club shipment then please stop
by the Treehouse Tasting Room or contact us
at (503) 864-3200.
We hope that you can now have a more user
friendly and enjoyable experience on our
website since our team has been hard at work
bringing it up to date and adding more
events to our calendar. Check it out at
www.vistahillswine.com
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 At the Treehouse
Pick up Party
Ready for some new wines to add to your collection?
Come pick up your bottles on May 13 between 11
a.m. to 5 p.m. and enjoy some 2016 Fools Gold Blanc
de noir while you're at the Treehouse Tasting Room.
Tinas Restaurant will provide small dishes for you
to enjoy while you sip on our latest releases. Our
winemaker, Dave Petterson will be there to chat
about your club package and Vista Hills latest
wines. Event is only for club members.
BEST PLACES TO VISIT THIS SUMMER
Uncommon Wine Festival
Have you ever tried seven different rieslings all from
a small batch producer winemaker? Come by the
Treehouse on Jul 9 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Winemakers come from all over the Willamette
Valley to showcase their extraordinary wine. They
don't have distribution, tastings rooms and are all
small batch wines, making for an interesting event of
experiencing new things. One producer is using clay
pot fermentation while others make orange riesling
by macerating the grape skins. A local food cart and
special glass swag are available. This event is like a
southern wine party, so bring your big hats ladies!
Event is open to the public, costing $45 and free for
club members.
Memorial Weekend Open House
Stop by the Treehouse on May 27 and 28 from 11
a.m. to 5 p.m. to enjoy some estate pinots paired with
European cheeses. Our 2015 reserve Heritage Pinot
noir (which hasn't been released to the public yet!)
will be poured alongside our other estate pinots as
well as our 2016 Treehouse Pinot noir ros.
Event is open to the public.
Treehouse Club Summer BBQ
Come eat grapes off of the vine and enjoy a horseback
ride through the vineyards. Sip on on our pinots
paired with ribs and brisket on August 6 from 11
a.m. to 5 p.m. This event is thank you to our club
members who have helped make Vista Hills what it is
today. These last 10 years have been spectacular and
we cant wait for whats in store in the future.
Event is for club members only.
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