OUR STORY

Alt Wine Fest is the brainchild of Mallory and Martin of Sunday School Wine(1). The idea: to celebrate the 80-odd grape varieties in Oregon that aren’t Pinot Noir.

Their reasoning was simple—when it comes to wine, the perception is Oregon equals Pinot Noir. It’s the most planted grape variety(2) and it overshadows anything else happening throughout the state.

And there is a lot else happening in the state. Whether it’s 50-year-old vines or brand new plantings, there is buzz around the question “What else can Oregon do well?”

Mallory and Martin, feeling bogged down by the surplus of Pinot Noir and excited about the “alternative” wines they discovered coming out of the Willamette Valley and other Oregon AVAs, saw an opportunity to celebrate these unsung grapes.

Alt Wine Fest shines light on everything non-Pinot, from the conventional and expected, such as Chardonnay(3), to esoteric varieties you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere else in the country(4).

Just as importantly, Alt Wine Fest showcases the winemakers behind this counter conversation: the skilled, passionate, resolute—possibly crazed—individuals who see the future in asking “What else?”

There are two rules for Alt Wine Fest:

1) No Pinot Noir

2) Oregon-grown(5)

FOOTNOTES:

(1) A wine education, membership and events company.

(2) Pinot Noir accounts for 59% of planted acreage (a number that has been slipping over the last few years).

(3) A question that often comes up is that things like Chardonnay aren’t exactly ‘alternative’. This is true in the wider wine world, but in Oregon it is as it only accounts for [stay tuned for updated stat]%.

(4) Eg, varieties like Huxelrebe, Lagrein and possibly the only planting of Savagnin Rose in the US.

(5) This rule is slightly complicated by the fact that there are a couple of AVAs, such as the Columbia Gorge, that run into Washington.