Bergström Wines

John Bergström was born in a remote Swedish logging village and left Sweden as a young teenager. He moved to Portland, Oregon, and became a surgeon in obstetrics and gynecology. His wife Karen, a California native, became a registered nurse. John and Karen Bergström are the founders of Bergström Wines, and the family has worked toward naturally and responsibly farmed estate vineyards since 1996. Their son Josh Bergström, a Portland native, studied French, business, business law and the humanities at university, then earned a postgraduate degree in viticulture and enology at the CFPPA in Beaune, France. There he met Caroline, who was born in Beaune and studied wine and spirits marketing at the Lycée Viticole. In 1999 Josh and Caroline returned to Oregon and made their first vintage. The Bergström Vineyard in the Dundee Hills, planted in 1999, is the family's original estate. Ekollon, the family's tasting house, overlooks it.

• Founders: John Bergström, born in a remote Swedish logging village and later a Portland surgeon in obstetrics and gynecology, and Karen Bergström, a California native and registered nurse.
• Josh Bergström earned a postgraduate degree in viticulture and enology at the CFPPA in Beaune, where he met Caroline, a Beaune native.
• 1999: Josh and Caroline returned to Oregon and made the first vintage; the Bergström Vineyard was planted the same year.

Josh Bergström is owner, CEO and director of winemaking, and Caroline Bergström is owner and director of sales; she co-manages Bergström Wines and leads its efforts to share the wines with the world. Josh has made wine from more than 125 vineyards in the region and has served as a board member of the Willamette Valley Wineries Association. He and his farming team look after the 70 acres of estate vineyards.

• Josh Bergström: owner, CEO and director of winemaking.
• Caroline Bergström: owner and director of sales.
• John and Karen Bergström: founders.

The family farms 70 acres across five estate vineyards in the Dundee Hills, Chehalem Mountains and Ribbon Ridge AVAs of the northern Willamette Valley, planted to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with Syrah also planted at La Spirale. The Bergström Vineyard, planted in 1999, is a 13-acre, bowl-shaped site in the Dundee Hills on volcanic clay over basalt, planted at 2,200 to 5,000 vines per acre. The Winery Block in the Chehalem Mountains, planted between 2002 and 2005, is the smallest estate vineyard; it is planted at 5,000 vines per acre on deep marine sedimentary sands over sandstone and is farmed entirely by hand. Silice, whose name is French for silica, is the sandiest estate vineyard: it lies in the Chehalem Mountains on Calkins Lane, was first planted in 2001, and its soils run to about 70% sand, 15 to 20 feet deep, over compressed sandstone bedrock. Le Pré du Col, planted in 2006, was the first Ribbon Ridge estate in the portfolio: a 16-acre site on marine sediments over shale and siltstone, owned by the Hill family and farmed by Bergström Wines in partnership since its inception. La Spirale, the newest estate vineyard, is a 22-acre Ribbon Ridge slope with more than 14 marine sedimentary soil types over shale and siltstone; it was planted in 2005 by the Redman family and purchased by the Bergströms in 2018. The family describes that purchase as a step toward becoming a 100% estate-grown winery, an ambition since its inaugural vintage.

• Bergström Vineyard: Dundee Hills, planted 1999, 13 acres, volcanic clay on basalt.
• Winery Block: Chehalem Mountains, planted 2002 to 2005, the smallest estate vineyard, 5,000 vines per acre, farmed by hand.
• Silice: Chehalem Mountains, first planted 2001, deep marine sedimentary sands on sandstone bedrock.
• Le Pré du Col: Ribbon Ridge, planted 2006, 16 acres, owned by the Hill family and farmed by Bergström in partnership.
• La Spirale: Ribbon Ridge, planted 2005 by the Redman family, 22 acres, purchased by the Bergströms in 2018.

Since the inception of the vineyards in 1999, the estates have been farmed without herbicides, pesticides, insecticides or systemic chemicals. Instead of synthetic fertilizers, the team uses compost and homeopathic herbal and mineral teas. Each year it builds hundreds of tons of compost from local organic cow manure, local organic straw and grasses, the previous harvest's grape skins, seeds and stems, winter vine prunings, and herbs including chamomile, yarrow, valerian, dandelion and stinging nettle; the compost goes back into the vineyards each spring. The vineyards are farmed with biodynamic and regenerative practices without certification, with zero conventional farming: since inception at the Bergström Vineyard, Winery Block, Silice and Le Pré du Col, and since 2019 at La Spirale. The family's working motto is '1000 Days of Effort': three years to farm, ferment, age and finish each bottle before it reaches the market.

• No herbicides, pesticides, insecticides or systemic chemicals since 1999.
• Hundreds of tons of compost made each year, with herbs including chamomile, yarrow, valerian, dandelion and stinging nettle.
• Biodynamic and regenerative practices, not certified; La Spirale farmed this way since 2019.

Current releases include single-vineyard Pinot Noir from the Bergström Vineyard, Winery Block, Le Pré du Col, La Spirale and Silice, single-vineyard Chardonnay from the Bergström Vineyard, La Spirale and Silice, and Willamette Valley AVA blends. Cumberland Reserve Pinot Noir, named for the road in Portland where the family grew up, is a blend of barrels from the five estate-farmed vineyards; a Cumberland Reserve Chardonnay is also made. For Sigrid Chardonnay, the fruit of each estate vineyard is harvested by hand and fermented separately in small French oak barrels, where it goes through full malolactic fermentation and ages sur lie for 18 months; the finest barrels are then selected for the blend. Silice Chardonnay serves each year as the foundation of Sigrid, and the Winery Block contributes Chardonnay to every vintage. Sigrid is an homage to the family's Swedish grandmother; Old Stones Chardonnay, a selection of fresh-fruited, mineral-laden barrels, is what the family calls Sigrid's 'baby sister.' The Winery Block Pinot Noir is made with 100% whole clusters. Bergström Wines also makes gargantua, a Syrah label made from sourced fruit with whole-cluster fermentation and neutral oak aging; its first wines were due out in March 2016. Writing in Wine Spectator in 2016, Harvey Steiman called Bergström 'already at the top of its game for Willamette Valley Pinot Noir and coming on strong for Chardonnay.'

• Single-vineyard Pinot Noir: Bergström Vineyard, Winery Block, Le Pré du Col, La Spirale and Silice.
• Single-vineyard Chardonnay: Bergström Vineyard, La Spirale and Silice.
• Blends: Cumberland Reserve Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, Old Stones Chardonnay and Sigrid Chardonnay.
• gargantua: a Syrah label, whole-cluster fermented and aged in neutral oak; first wines due out in March 2016.

The family describes its wines' regional expression as having 'juicy, natural acidity, fresh fruit aromas and flavors, a tensile and saline mineral core, as well as rich earth and spice characters from our ancient weathered soils and bedrocks.' Its notes characterise Bergström Vineyard Pinot Noir by 'a robust iron minerality' and 'silky, suave tannins,' and Silice Pinot Noir as its 'most fruit-forward and ripe-feeling Pinot Noir.'

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://bergstromwines.com/, https://bergstromwines.com/family/, https://bergstromwines.com/farm/, https://bergstromwines.com/place/, https://bergstromwines.com/visit/, https://bergstromwines.com/farm/bergstrom-vineyard/, https://bergstromwines.com/farm/la-spirale/, https://bergstromwines.com/farm/le-pre-du-col/, https://bergstromwines.com/farm/silice-vineyard/, https://bergstromwines.com/farm/winery-block/, the estate's Vintage Guide (PDF): https://bergstromwines.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Vintage-Guide-2025.pdf, and the estate's store pages: https://bergstromwines.com/collection/current-releases, https://bergstromwines.com/product/2024-sigrid-chardonnay, https://bergstromwines.com/product/2024-cumberland-reserve-pinot-noir, https://bergstromwines.com/product/2023-old-stones-chardonnay, https://bergstromwines.com/product/2022-gargantua-syrah-oregon, https://bergstromwines.com/product/2024-le-pre-du-col-pinot-noir, https://bergstromwines.com/product/2024-la-spirale-vineyard-pinot-noir, https://bergstromwines.com/product/2024-winery-block-pinot-noir, https://bergstromwines.com/product/2024-bergstrom-vineyard-chardonnay. Secondary source: Wine Spectator (Harvey Steiman, 10 February 2016). Last verified 2026-10-19. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.