The Back Story...
Our winery production is in Manzanita, a small, quaint beach town on the Oregon Coast, just 15 minutes south of Cannon Beach and a little over an hour from Portland, Oregon. With 7 miles of uninterrupted, dog-friendly beach, amazing sunsets, cute shops and tasty restaurants, it is a regular vacation destination for Portlanders and Seattleites alike.
I founded the winery under the Bodhichitta name and wine label in 2008 while attending wine school, making small batches of wine (10-100 cases at a time) by hand in Salem, Oregon. I became interested in wine during my 11 years in the Air Force as a pilot and engineer, visiting Napa and Sonoma and eventually Oregon as Pinot noir grew in popularity here.
After wine school and a few years in Hawaii developing my line of dry to off-dry tropical fruit wines (passion fruit, pineapple, guava, mango) under the Island Mana Wines label on Kauai, I began looking for a new venue, a location inspired by nature, that would allow for increased production while maintaining high quality. Manzanita came to mind, as I had made many trips there with my black lab Pinot, mainly for its long, dog-friendly, leash-free beach and awe-inspiring sunsets. Pinot is our mascot, logo and wine label model!
our wines
We believe in small fermentations and small batches for the highest quality wines. All of our red ferments, for example, are done in 1 ton fermenters and actually see a real oak barrel from the best forests and coopers in France. All of our Pinot noir based wines come from our organic grapes at Black Dog Vineyard. Our sparkling Blanc de noir, sparkling Pinot noir rosé, still Pinot noir rosé, still Pinot noir and Pinot noir Reserve are all made with our organic Black Dog Pinot noir fruit.
While we make delicate Pinot noirs and are known for them in Oregon, we also make Big Reds, sourcing from Southern Oregon’s Applegate Valley, the Columbia Gorge and Washington State from Red Mountain and Horse Heaven Hills AVAs. These heavier reds definitely make us a stand-out from other wineries in the Willamette Valley, as most producers focus on Chardonnay and Pinot noir.
You’ll find a wide range of reds at our tasting room to include Barbera, Mourvèdre, Sangiovese, Grenache, Syrah, Malbec, Cabernet franc, Cabernet sauvignon, Merlot, Tempranillo, Petit verdot and Zinfandel. Our red blend varies by year, either a Bordeaux or Rhone style blend, based on the other varietals we are making that vintage.
join us at the vineYard...
We welcome you to the heart of Pinot noir country in Oregon! I added Black Dog Vineyard in Carlton to the our pack of tasting rooms in Summer 2021. It is 20 acres of organic Pinot noir set in the Coastal Foothills of Yamhill-Carlton AVA on a 50 acre property with magnificent Oregon oak trees and beautiful views.
Our Carlton tasting room is reminiscent of The Winery at Manzanita location, but set at the vineyard. Settle in with us in the courtyard with our Adirondack chairs and fire pits or venture up to the roof deck. Our wine focus is on small batch fermentations—on quality over quantity.
We offer four unique wine experiences by reservation. For our walk-in guests, we have glass pours and bottle service and will accommodate a shorter tasting experience as staffing and time allows. We also carry craft Pacific Northwest beer and cider from Oregon and Washington.
To accompany the wines, we offer artisan cheese, salami, charcuterie and truffle popcorn. The popcorn is famously delicious!
We welcome families, wine aficionados and their dogs.
The wines are available exclusively in our tasting rooms in Bend, downtown and NW Portland, Manzanita and at the vineyard in Carlton. We opened the vineyard tasting room, Manzanita NW in Portland’s Slabtown and Bend Wine Bar all in 2022.
Hope to see you soon in Oregon Wine Country!
Cheers,
Mark Proden
Winemaker/owner
Black Dog Vineyard
