Pioneering Oregon Wineries

 

Tempest Vineyards
(1988-2004)

Keith Orr and Patricia Thomas founded Tempest Vineyards in 1988, starting the winery in an old garage.

In 1993 they built a small winery on their 35 acre Eola Hills vineyard. Keith made the wine and tended the vineyard, while holding a full time job fixing traffic signals for the City of Portland. He claimed his job went from “red lights to red wine”! His wines were known as solid and impressive, with good aging potential.

The winery was located at 6000 Karla’s Rd, Amity, OR 97101.


 

Fun Fact

Tempest closed its doors in March 2004.