Notable Contributors

 

Sarah Powell
Sarah Powell Wines

Sarah Powell was a well-respected Southern Oregon winemaker.  She studied viticulture and winemaking in France and graduated with a degree in fermentation science from the University of California, Davis.  She worked in South Africa and at Hogue Cellars in Washington State.  In 1990 she was appointed head winemaker at Foris Winery in Southern Oregon.  She later became the first winemaker at Southern Oregon’s RoxyAnn Winery.  Ted Gerber, owner of Foris, said she truly had an “international palate”.

While winemaker at Foris a bottle of her Foris 1994 Maple Ranch Pinot Noir was served at a White House dinner in 1997.

She also established her own label “Sarah Powell Wines”.  Sarah Powell passed away in February 2004.  


 

Fun Facts

In 2004 Powell was awarded a “Lifetime Achievement Award” by the Oregon Grapegrowers Association
In her honor, Powell’s family established the Sarah Powell Memorial Viticulture and Enology Scholarship Endowment to fund a wine industry internship in conjunction with Umpqua Community College’s Southern Oregon Wine Institute.