Terry Culton is the Director of Winemaking at Willamette Valley Vineyards in Turner, Oregon. He was inspired by mentor Kenneth Volk and built his foundation along the “Pinot Trail” of California’s Anderson Valley and Oregon’s Willamette Valley. He joined Willamette Valley Vineyards in 1997 as Cellar Master, overseeing cellar operations and bottling.
He went on to a 20-year winemaking career in California, crafting acclaimed wines at Calera alongside Pinot Noir pioneer Josh Jensen, working with some of the Central Coast’s oldest Pinot Noir vines at Hoffman Mountain Ranch, and planting the estate’s first Rhône varietals. He later founded Culton Wines, producing small-lot, Rhône-focused wines known for balance, elegance, and food-friendly expression of terroir.
Terry later joined Le Vigne Winery in Paso Robles, earning 98 points and a double gold from Sunset Magazine for the 2019 Rosé of Sangiovese. He has since returned to Willamette Valley Vineyards, where his leadership continues to deliver 90+ point wines across Pinot Noir, sparkling, and select AVA bottlings.
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What’s the ONE THING most unique, authentic, & memorable about your brand?
As a publicly traded winery, Willamette Valley Vineyards is truly supported by the people who love our wines and the stories behind them. Our shareholders and wine club members don’t just purchase our wines, they believe in our mission and actively support us by visiting our nine locations, sharing our story and growing with us. This creates a level of connection and loyalty that invites wine enthusiasts to join this journey of ours. The combination of community ownership, collaboration and a strong wine and culinary focus makes our winery unique, authentic and deeply memorable.
That sense of teamwork and shared purpose carries through every part of the guest experience. We take pride in working closely across departments — from vineyard and cellar to tasting room and culinary — to deliver experiences that reflect the best of Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Our close partnership with our culinary teams allows us to thoughtfully pair our wines with PNW-inspired cuisine.
Describe how and what you’d do with your winemaking career or winery business if you were not constrained.
If there were no constraints, I would establish a small, world-class, Grand Cru level winery in Bend, Oregon. It would be a true direct-to-consumer winery, intentionally boutique in scale, where demand exceeds supply and customers eagerly wait for each release.
The focus would be on thoughtful, hands-on winemaking. I’d work with traditional tools like basket presses and emphasize restraint and precision in the cellar. The wines would be classically styled, with about 30% new French oak balanced by neutral barrels, always aiming to highlight structure and elegance.
The winery’s footprint would remain small. I’d source exceptional fruit from the Willamette Valley and the Walla Walla Valley like Pinot Noir, Bordeaux, Rhône, and Alsace varietals—so I could craft wines rooted in great terroirs while living and working in this dream destination of mine where I can ski, mountain bike and make amazing wines. In many ways, this mirrors what I’m already fortunate to do at Willamette Valley Vineyards: working with beautiful Pinot Noir and Bordeaux fruit from SeVein Vineyards, Rhône varietals from The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater and Alsatian wines from Tualatin Estate Vineyard. That level of diversity and quality is something many winemakers never experience and I recognize how lucky I am to already be living a version of that dream.
What is the One Wine most emblematic of your brand and/or winemaking style? Tell us its story.
My favorite wine, along with our single vineyard Pinot Noir, has to be our Voltigeur Viognier from our boutique label, Maison Bleue. I believe my love for Viognier began in the early 2000s, when I left Willamette Valley Vineyards to become Associate Winemaker at Calera, working alongside the late winemaker Josh Jensen.
At Calera, Josh crafted extraordinary Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the Mt. Harlan Vineyard (an exceptionally unique site defined by its limestone and granite soils). Calera also had a small block of Viognier, which we aged in neutral barrels. The resulting wine developed remarkable viscosity and depth of character; it was simply unforgettable.
When I returned to Willamette, I was thrilled to discover that we, too, had an entire block of Viognier planted in the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater on the Oregon side of Walla Walla Valley, where our Maison Bleue tasting room is located. The Viognier grown there showed the same beautiful viscosity and minerality with expressive notes of stone fruit like apricot and peach, while aging in neutral oak barrels. It immediately reminded me of the Viognier we produced at Calera. Read my review of the Viognier here.