Zenith Vineyard Welcomes Ehren Jordan and Failla Wines to The Eola-Amity Hills

SALEM, Ore., Jan. 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- As Zenith Vineyard enters its 13^th vintage we are proud to announce an exciting new relationship with Failla Wines and Ehren Jordan, who will transition to Zenith's winemaker in residence for the 2018 vintage. Failla Wines will move its Oregon operations to Zenith in May and crush its 5^th Oregon harvest at our beautiful winery.

"We are excited to work with the legendary Ehren Jordan. He has a powerful record of success with his Failla Wines in California and is a formidable Pinot Noir winemaker. He brings great focus and style to his wines, and is already working with Seven Springs, our neighbor in the Eola-Amity Hills and one of the greatest vineyards in the New World," commented Timothy Ramey, Winegrower at Zenith Vineyard.

About Failla Wines

With only 20 vintages, the history of Failla is relatively short, but not without its impact. The creation of Ehren Jordan, Failla was born from the opportunity to purchase an inspiring piece of land and the drive to make wines reflective of that inspiration. Failla's first vintage in 1998 consisted of two single-vineyard bottlings; for their 20^th harvest there will be over 30 bottlings highlighting both the relationships Ehren has molded with great farmers as well as the estate vineyards he has cultivated. Now producing 20,000 cases, Failla represents a benchmark for cool climate fruit from the extreme coastal areas of California. In 2015 Failla stuck its toe back in the Oregon Pinot Noir market after a 14-year break with fruit sourced from Seven Springs Vineyard. Over the past few years production has grown to about 5,000 cases in Oregon and the search began for a winery home of its own.

"The opportunity to work with Zenith Vineyard, sourcing their outstanding fruit, crafting Zenith Vineyard wines and expanding dramatically the retail and hospitality aspects of our business are enormously exciting for Failla. It will be a joy to make wine in the beautiful Zenith winery and we expect to offer custom-crush winemaking to third-parties as well. We are thrilled to join the vibrant community in the Eola-Amity Hills," said Ehren Jordan, Winemaker and Proprietor of Failla Wines.

Zenith Purchases Winery Facility from St. Innocent

In December 2017 Zenith Vineyard bought the winery and tasting room portions of the building Zenith built with St. Innocent in 2008 and struck a deal to purchase St. Innocent's ownership interests of Zenith.

"We are bringing to a close a highly successful 12-year partnership with St. Innocent LTD. Mark Vlossak has served as our winemaker since our first vintage in 2006. Together we produced beautiful wines together, over twenty 90+ point rated wines with fruit sourced from Zenith Vineyard for the Zenith and St. Innocent labels. Mark has been a terrific partner and mentor and we will be forever grateful for his positive impact at Zenith," commented Ramey.

Mark Vlossak, Partner and Founding Winemaker commented:

"I began working with the Zenith site in my second vintage, 1989 when it was planted and owned by Pat and Patti O'Connor and continued with our partnership with Tim and Kari Ramey. It is a beautiful site expressing the unique terroir of the Eola-Amity Hills."

"After 30 years of making wine in Oregon, it is time to 'return to my roots.' St. Innocent Winery has purchased 47.5 acres in the South Salem Hills where we will plant and nurture our own vines. We are constructing a smaller winery and will continue our focus on the great vineyards of Oregon. Our new facility will have a large tasting room allowing us to diversify and expand our customer experience, with more integration of food and wine at our inspirational new site. We all wish Tim, Kari and Ehren continued success on their path forward together."

About Zenith Vineyard

Founded in 2002, Zenith Vineyard is a 133-acre property with 83 acres planted to wine grapes. It produced over 280 tons of wine grapes in 2017 for a sterling list of 20 winey clients, including two of the five founders of the Oregon wine Industry, Ponzi Vineyards and Adelsheim Vineyard. "Adelsheim and Zenith have been partners for many years," remarked Joth Ricci, President and CEO of Adelsheim Vineyard. "Tim and Kari Ramey are first class operators, business partners and friends."

Sixteen wineries make a Zenith Vineyard-designated wines and in 2016 Zenith was profiled as one of Five Great Oregon Vineyards Worth Knowing by Wine Enthusiast magazine. Zenith has been LIVE Certified for more than 10 years and is committed to sustainable farming.

We produce nine wines for our Zenith label with estate fruit including Estate and Barrel Select Pinot Noir; Auxerrois; Méthode Champenoise; Chardonnay; White Pinot Noir; Blushed Pinot Noir; Chardonnay and Tempranillo.

Zenith is a major events venue, hosting over 80 events annually including Weddings, Corporate Events, Charity Auctions, Proms, Celebrations of Life; and Family events. Zenith expects its new relationship with Failla Wines to have a significant focus on events and Hospitality and will expand this important part of Zenith's operation. "We are confident we can grow our hospitality business quite meaningfully with our collaboration with Failla Wines. Failla's view of hospitality is a perfect complement to Zenith's goals and we will expand our businesses together," said Kari Ramey, Events Manager at Zenith Vineyard.

For more information, visit: www.zenithvineyard.com or www.faillawines.com

SOURCE Zenith Vineyard

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