About
Wooden Shoe Vineyards
Our History
In 1950, our family began growing hops and pole beans, thus establishing Iverson Family Farms. Rooted in hard work and soil, our family farming history grew to include over 100 different crops, including our famous tulips. Each spring we celebrate the season with our annual Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival.
In 2009, we planted our first vines, leading to the bottling of our first Wooden Shoe Vineyards vintage in 2012. Today we are proud to offer some of the finest wines in the Willamette Valley.
The Oregonian visits Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm & Vineyards
The Tasting Room
Our vineyard and tasting room are located on the beautiful grounds of the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm. While visiting, you’ll be surrounded by expansive farmland with a variety of crops changing the sites seasonally. Enjoy views of distant mountains, stroll through our manicured formal garden, and take photos of our spacious scenery while enjoying a glass of our handcrafted wines. All who stop by are revived and refreshed by the farm fresh air. Our 3 clusters of vineyards are cultivated and looked after by the Iverson Family. We store and bottle our wine just up the road in Silverton with our winemaker, Sean Allen. He owns and operates Pudding River Winery.
Our Approach
We’ve planted roughly 6 acres of both wine grapes and table grapes in Woodburn soil, sedimentary and we practice dry farming. Our estate grown grapes produce roughly 600 cases a year. We showcase our wine yearly at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival – at the end of March through April.
Besides our five varieties of table grapes available for U-picking at the end of August (Tomcord, Diamond Muscat, Fresno, Jupiter and Flame), we have a well-rounded and unique set of wine grapes. We chose our varieties carefully, looking at other successes in our region as well as cultivars that would set us apart. We settled on some incredible varieties.
Our Grape Varieties
Albarino & Sparkling Albarino: We are one of 5 vineyards that are currently growing and bottling Albariño in Oregon. A white grape native to Spain, this varietal thrives in the rainy NW corner of Spain. In this European region, the men go out fishing in the ocean and the women make the wine. Not as sweet as Riesling, and yet refreshing with a hint of citrus, we think this is significantly suited for us. Our Sparkling Albarino is a special treat. Great by itself, this is also good on those special mornings mixed with orange, pineapple or cranberry juice, creating Mimosa, Pimosa and Crimosas.
Pinot Gris: A Willamette Valley staple – while we do not currently grow this grape we purchase the grapes from nearby in Silverton to bring a slightly drier taste to our lineup.
Moscato: Moving from our whites to our pinks we have one of our favorites and most popular wines, Sparkling Blush Moscato. Planted in our seedless grape vineyard, little did we know what a sweet treasure this wine could be. We pick the Muscat grapes and add just a little of our Jupiter grapes (a relative of Muscat) that gives the wine a blush of color. Once finished, the effervescence, aroma and sweetness make this a delectable wine for those special occasions. We carry this in both a sparkling and a recent still style.
Pinot Noir and Pinot Noir Rose: This grape produces the best wine in the world from our region – and it hasn’t disappointed us. We have also been able to create a delicate 100% Pinot Noir Rose. This redefined how we look at our wine. Beautifully blushed our Pinot Noir Rose is a lighter wine great in the spring and summer months.
Tempranillo: This is another Spanish wine to pair with our Spanish Albarino grape. We purchase this grape from the Silverton Hills, 20 minutes south of us. The additional elevation brings out the best in this wine. It makes a great medium bodied red, equal in quality and flavor to our Pinot Noir with a bit of a peppery kick.
Marechal Foch & Port Style Wine: Not to be upstaged is our Marechal Foch. There are several other wineries on the east side of the Willamette Valley that have this incredible wine. We enjoy this French rich variety after a hard day work out in the fields. With its red skin and red inside grape, it is one of the darkest wines with incredible depth. Another bonus is being able to carry these grapes into a Port Style wine. Aged in oak, it’s a perfect after dinner drink for those special guests. You may find sediment in the Marechal Foch but that is just because of how heavy the wine is, making it hard to filter.
Visit Us Soon
We hope to see you at the farm soon, so you can enjoy a glass of our harvest. Whether you are tip-toeing through the tulips in the Spring, watching sunsets and tractors in the summer, or sipping in cozy sweaters in the winter (getting warmed by a glass of our port style Marechal Foch), there is a beauty to appreciate in every season. Stop by and help us continue our tradition of 35+ years of creating memories.