Tunkalilla Vineyard is a tiny specialist Riesling vineyard perched on the southern facing end escarpment of the Eola Hills in the Willamette Valley overlooking Salem, the capital of Oregon. In 2005, Brian and Ann Croser planted 3 acres of Riesling on the then 50-acre Christmas tree farm that has since been cleared for further plantings of Riesling and Pinot Noir.

Eola Hills – Willamette Valley, Oregon – United States

To maintain the working lifetime association with the west coast of America, in 2002 Ann and Brian also purchased the 50-acre Christmas tree farm in the southern end of the Eola Hills that was eventually to become Tunkalilla Vineyard.

In a reverse of the 1976 Petaluma naming decision, Brian and Ann chose to name their Oregon vineyard Tunkalilla Vineyard after the beach adjacent to the farms on the Southern Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia where they grow prime lamb (Maylands Farm lamb) and Tapanappa Foggy Hill Pinot Noir.

Tunkalilla has the local aboriginal Kaurna dialect meaning of “place of many smells” due to the whale carcasses that used to wash up on the beach’s 7 kilometre sandy shore. Fortunately that is a rare occurrence today.

Tunkalilla Vineyard is on the western boundary of Cristom winery’s distinguished Pinot Noir vineyard sites and a strong relationship between the Croser family and the Gerrie family of Cristom has developed allowing Brian and Ann to make their initial Tunkalilla Vineyard Rieslings at the Cristom winery.

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