Eola-Amity Hills AVA

Eola-Amity Hills AVA

Wine region
Eola Hills north of Dallas in Polk County
Type	American Viticultural Area
Year established	2006
Country	United States
Part of	Oregon, Willamette Valley AVA
Climate region	Maritime
Total area	39,045 acres (15,801 ha)
Size of planted vineyards	2,400 acres (971 ha)
No. of vineyards	95
No. of wineries	26

The Eola-Amity Hills AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Polk County and Yamhill County, Oregon. It is entirely contained within the Willamette Valley AVA, and stretches from the city of Amity in the north to Salem in the south. The Eola and Amity hills cover an area west of the Willamette River approximately 15 miles (24 km) long by 6 miles (10 km) wide. The Eola-Amity Hills area benefits from steady winds off the Pacific Ocean that reach the Willamette Valley through the Van Duzer Corridor, a gap in the Oregon Coast Range, moderating the summer temperatures. The Eola Hills were named after the community of Eola, whose name was derived from Aeolus, the Greek god of the winds.

The Eola-Amity Hills has around 2,400 acres (971 ha) of the area's 39,045 acres (15,801 ha) planted to grape vines. Like most of the Willamette Valley, the Eola-Amity Hills experiences a maritime climate that includes mild winters but summers that are cooler and wetter than the continental climate experienced by Washington State's wine regions to the north and the Mediterranean climate experienced by many of California's wine regions to the south. The climate is influenced by the Pacific currents that escape through the Van Duzer corridor gap between the Oregon Coastal Range and the Cascade range to the east which keeps many weather currents from going much further east. Through the Van Duzer, cool Pacific air comes more than 30 miles from the west in the afternoon to cool down the region, allowing the grapes to retain higher levels of acidity.