The Henrys were one of the first families to explore wine growing in the Umpqua Valley. They soon demonstrated that the area was perfect; the versatile climate combined with a multitude of soil geographies provides the most diversified growing region in Oregon.
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, family patriarch Calvin Scott Henry III extended his knowledge and creativity to the family vineyards. He developed a unique trellis and canopy-management system that optimizes the maturation of grapes and the quality of the resulting world-class Henry Estate wines. The Scott Henry Trellis System is used exclusively in Henry Estate vineyards and has been adopted and used throughout many of the world’s finest wine-growing regions including Australia, New Zealand, South America and North America.