Calvin Scott Henry III (Scott) was born and raised in the town of Umpqua, which meant working on the family farm. After graduating from Roseburg High School and Oregon State University with an engineering degree, Scott pursued a career in California as an aeronautical engineer.
After a 13-year stint at Aerojet, Scott and his wife, Sylvia, brought their three children back to the family homestead in the heart of the Umpqua Valley and decided to raise wine grapes. Knowing well that the climate of the Umpqua Valley is similar to that of Burgundy, Scott and his friend Gino Zepponi scouted the family homestead for the best locations to grow grapes.
In 1972, the entire family helped plant the original 12 acres, consisting of pinot noir, chardonnay and gewürztraminer. The grapes were highly desired by wineries, thus the Henrys decided to produce their own wines using the high-quality grapes themselves.
The finishing touches to the winery were completed in 1978 – just in time for the first crush. Scott, as a new winery owner and winemaker, released his first wines in 1980.
Always striving for perfection, Scott designed a trellis system that increases the quality of wine grapes for our particular site. The system soon became popular with select winegrowers and the Scott Henry Trellis System has since been adopted by experts from around the world.