Kathken Vineyards

Lovers of music and wine can celebrate! Kathken Vineyards, located on the southern edge of the Eola-Amity Hills, is the place for you. Originators of an extraordinary summer music series, Ken and Kathy Slusser understand that nearly all people who enjoy music also enjoy wine. They get it. To that end, Kathken Vineyards sponsors a summer music series that features local and regional musicians, good food and lots of Kathken Vineyards wine. For just a small cover charge, WineTrail trekkers can experience major fun and excellent wine most Friday and Saturday nights in the summer. Blues and rock ’n’ roll are served up with barbecue and pinot noir.

As the sun goes down during these events, the glow of the candled lanterns and bonfire light the way for WineTrail trekkers to make a beeline to the beverage stand to purchase glasses of wine. There, they can buy a glass of pinot noir, pinot gris, a rosé of pinot noir, a late-harvest pinot gris, and a blend of reds composed primarily of Bordeaux grapes from southern Oregon with a dash of pinot noir from Kathken Vineyards.

Kathken Vineyards (the name is a melding of “Kathy” and “Ken”) originated in the mid-’90s. At that time, the Slussers’ youngest daughter was a student at the University of Oregon, and on one of their numerous trips to Eugene, the Slussers discovered Oregon wine. The seed was planted for having their own vineyard. That resulted in the purchase of 51 acres of prime vineyard land in the Eola Hills outside Salem. Today, 40 acres are under production – a full 32 are planted with pinot noir, and 8 acres are dedicated to pinot gris.

Don’t forget to pack your camera for a visit to this winery. Although other nearby wineries can offer views of the valley floor, Kathken Vineyards doesn’t. Rather, its view is looking upward from the tasting room/winery to the vineyard above. It’s beautiful, but you find yourself thinking, as I did, about all the work associated with tending 40 acres of grapes. That’s a lot of shoot removal, cane training and grape pruning. Whatever romantic notions you may have of purchasing a rural vineyard as the Slussers did and then cultivating year after year quickly evaporates once you gaze out over the vast acreage of grapes. Thank goodness we have folks like Kathy and Ken Slusser working the land year after year to create music to our ears and wonderful wine.