Fall 2019
I was working as a feature writer for the Hood River News in 2004 when word came that the federal government had approved the application by the Columbia Gorge Winegrowers Association to make the Columbia Gorge an official American Viticultural Area (AVA). The federal designation meant that wine made with 85 percent of its grapes coming from the appellation could carry the Columbia Gorge label. It also made for a heavyweight marketing tool, ushering in the potential for wider recognition of Gorge wines regionally and beyond.
I attended a celebration to mark the occasion in August that year at Cathedral Ridge Winery. The owners of 14 wineries — just about as many as were around at the time — were there pouring their wine and toasting the new AVA. The mood was festive and there was an undercurrent of anticipation. Robb Bell, owner of Cathedral Ridge, said to me that as the nascent wine tourism business grew in the Gorge, it would benefit everyone. “A rising tide lifts all boats,” he said.
Fifteen years on, it seems the tide is rising, and lifting. There are now more than 50 wineries in the Gorge wine region. Vineyard acreage has increased from 300 acres in the mid-1990s to 1,300 acres spanning some 90 vineyards, and the Gorge is getting national press as a wine region. Writer Ben Mitchell looks at the history of the Columbia Gorge AVA and the growth of wine tourism in the Gorge, beginning on page 36.
Regular contributor David Hanson teamed up with writer and social justice advocate Yesenia Castro, a Parkdale native, to explore an increasingly widespread dilemma in the Hood River Valley: where long-time orchard workers are to go when they retire and are no longer eligible to live in orchard housing (page 44). There are no easy solutions to the problem, and it’s one that seems sure to continue for the foreseeable future.
Our cover photo this issue is from the Big Art Outdoor Gallery, which has grown since its inception just five years ago to an impressive 28 sculptures and works of public art installed around Hood River (page 60). The beautiful, sometimes whimsical, always thought-provoking pieces have enriched our town, and kudos goes to Art of Community, made up of a dedicated group of volunteer artists and art-lovers who continue to work hard to make this happen.
Other stories in this issue include a trip around the Hood River County Fruit Loop, which makes for a bountiful fall outing (page 52); a look at Hood River Pedicab and its ubiquitous pedaler/owner, Matty Barmann (page 16); and a profile of indie band flor, a foursome from Hood River that has turned their talent, ambition and hard work into success on the national level (page 30). Here’s to a colorful autumn in the Gorge!
—Janet Cook, Editor
