Learn about Helioterra Wines

I think what makes my winery unique is that first, the elephant in the room that I hate talking about but it’s true for a lot of reasons, being a woman in the wine industry in of itself is unique. But as a person who is really passionate about food and wine tastings and pairings it’s something that has always been a big passion for me. Also, out of my 12 to 13 years in business, almost all of those have been as a Portland urban winery. There were three years that I moved out to the valley but other than that I’ve always been in the city and with that, I’ve also never owned any vineyard. So what it does for me is allow me to follow a bunch of different passions and make many different wines and wines that excite me and I can focus on wines that make me happy and not wines that are tied to one place or location.

What is the biggest challenge of owning an urban winery?

I mean cost is more, space is less. Square footage in the City obviously cost more than square footage in the valley. I’m pretty certain that most wineries in the Valley don’t have to deal with needles and graffiti and things that we deal with. That splendor of the city shows itself in ways that are not always great and can sometimes be downright unsafe, and also I can’t really do anything outdoors. A lot of the wineries out in the valley have a large outdoor space for things like their crush pad and I can’t really do that. So, that’s something that makes it more challenging as well.

What kinds of wine do you make?  

I think of it as three pillars of wine. I make aromatic whites, Pinot Noirs both rose and reds, and I make Rhône variety reds.

What is your signature wine? 

I normally try to describe that based on the categories. I make so many different things and I have a different customer for each class of wine. I would say on my whites my Pinot Blanc is really my signature white. It’s the white wine I’ve been making the longest but it’s also the one I’ve received local, national and international attention for and one I take a lot of pride and ownership in producing. In Pinots it has to be my vintner’s select, my kind of top tier where I pull the best barrel from each vineyard I source fruit from and make the most complex and interesting Pinot I can. In the Rhône reds, I’m really proud of my Mourvédre. I really love my fruit source out in Red Mountain, I think it’s something that not a lot of people have experience with and so having a wine that people can learn from and also fall in love with is really cool to me.

OPEN FRIDAY-SATURDAY.
FRI 4-7, SAT 2-7, and SUN 2-5.

Indoor and Outdoor Seating Available!

Proof of Covid-19 Vaccine and ID required for all experiences at Helioterra.

NO RESERVATIONS NEEDED.

To hear more about Helioterra Wines be sure to check out our Social Media pages and you can find a link to them on our website.