Oregon has rightfully earned a fantastic reputation for Pinot Noir, and more recently, Chardonnay, but if you dig a little deeper, there are a handful of producers there who are more interested in the other, those who are curious to see what else can be grown and what styles of wines can be made here. Jeff Vejr, the owner/winemaker of Golden Cluster, is one such person. Since his beginning in 2013, he’s been continuously striving to tell this story of the “other Oregon”. Through his work on researching Oregon’s wine history, championing off-the beaten-path grapes, and pushing the boundaries of what was thought possible here, Jeff is one of the most exciting and interesting winemakers in the United States.

The Golden Cluster wines, the first label Jeff started with, were born out of his love for Semillon and his getting the chance to work with the incredible fruit of one of Oregon’s oldest vineyards- the David Hill Vineyard. Planted in the 1966 to grapes such as Semillon, Flora, and Savagnin Rose, the vineyard is own-rooted and dry-farmed. With the Golden Cluster label, Jeff’s mission is to explore these lesser known wine grapes from this historic vineyard and showcase them on their own.

Jeff's another label, Vinous Obscura, was created to highlight the amazing potential of varietal diversity in Oregon. Concentrating on vineyards in the Northern Willamette Valley and the Columbia Gorge, they aim to explore a wider view of what Oregon is and can be. As Jeff puts it “Our long term strength is through a wider vision of Oregon. We are greater than just one wine region and one grape. We are returning to that spirit of experimentation and creativity that shaped Oregon wine in the 1880’s and 1960’s.