Oregon Wine Board Collection

44 linear feet.

This collection contains information on the internal affairs of the Oregon Wine Board: financials, office management, board meetings, membership data, and correspondence. Tax and legal information about the development of wine and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) and state government is documented. The collection also contains information on the external affairs of the Oregon wine industry as a whole which includes regional data, varietal information, Oregon wine events, news, marketing and botany research, newsletters, winery information, and tourist information and research.

Arranged in 3 series: 1. Oregon Wine Board General Administrative Documentation, 1979-2004. 2. Oregon Wine Industry Development and Promotion Documentation, 1979-2009. 3. Newspapers and Magazines, 2004-2015. Arranged in 105 boxes, approximately 40 binders, loose CDs and DVDs, and oversized photographs.

Access is by appointment only. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment.

See https://www.linfield.edu/linfield-libraries/copyright-policy.html

• English

https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=lca_findingaids

Donated by Charles Humble (acting on behalf of the Oregon Wine Board) in August, 2012, with additional materials donated thereafter and ongoing.

Jereld R. Nicholson Library, Linfield University

Summary: The Oregon Wine Board collection provides a history of the involvement of the Board in Oregon’s wine industry. In addition, it includes the many processes that allow for an organization like the OWB to function properly and provide functional services to its community, including planning, research, marketing and education.

Historical Note: As the Oregon wine industry grew to have a significant impact on the state’s economy, the early vineyard owners and winemakers were savvy enough to know that there would be need for a collaborative effort to protect the land, establish funding for research and development of grape growing, and to strategize on marketing plans for Oregon wines. It took several years for the Oregon Wine Board to evolve and settle into the role that it plays today, which is a semiindependent Oregon state agency managing marketing, research and education initiatives that support and advance the Oregon wine and wine grape industry. The Board works on behalf of all Oregon wineries and independent growers throughout the state's diverse winegrowing regions.

In the early 1970s the modern-day wine pioneers in Southern Oregon created an association called the Oregon Wine Growers Association (OWGA). The OWGA was a group of growers and winemakers who made worked together on legislation, marketing and education issues regarding the wine industry. Early members were Paul Bjelland, Charles Coury, Bets Coury, Dick Erath, Gary Fuqua, Jerry Preston, Bill Fuller, Marj Vuylsteke, Bill Blosser and Jim Maresh. The group hosted meetings and seminars about grape growing in Oregon. The Oregon’s Wine Advisory Board (OWAB) was created in 1984 to focus on wine marketing and wine-grape research. In 2004, the OWAB evolved into the Oregon Wine Board (OWB) – with the same funding model as OWAB but no longer under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture.

Processed by archives technician Terran Sobel-Smith and Kathie Byers, with the assistance of archivist Rachael Cristine Woody.