Penner-Ash Wine Cellars

In 1998, Lynn and Ron Penner-Ash founded Penner-Ash Wine Cellars in the Northern Willamette Valley's Yamhill-Carlton AVA, starting with small amounts of Pinot Noir and Syrah. The winery says the couple built a reputation for lush, layered Pinot Noir and for community leadership in the valley. Ground was broken in 2003, and the winery was barely finished when the team processed its first vintage on site in 2005, the same year Lynn and Ron began working on the business full time. In 2016 the winery joined the Jackson Family Wines portfolio; by then production had grown from 125 cases in the first vintage to 12,000 cases.

• Founded 1998 in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA; early bottlings were Pinot Noir and Syrah
• Winery broke ground in 2003; first on-site vintage in 2005
• Joined the Jackson Family Wines portfolio in 2016
• Production grew from 125 cases in the first vintage to 12,000 cases at the time of the sale

Kate Ayres is Winemaker and Lynn Penner-Ash is Founder. Lynn studied botany, viticulture, and enology at the University of California, Davis, then worked at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Domaine Chandon, and Chateau St. Jean before she and Ron moved to Oregon in 1988. She joined Rex Hill Vineyards as one of the first female winemakers in the region and rose to president there before leaving in 2002. She has held leadership positions for Oregon Pinot Camp, ¡Salud! The Oregon Pinot Noir Auction, and the International Pinot Noir Celebration. She retired at the end of September after 41 harvests, by which time her protégé Kate Ayres had been handling the day-to-day for a while. Kate Ayres majored in viticulture and enology at UC Davis, worked harvests in New Zealand, Portugal, and Australia between 2009 and 2011 with a stint at Bethel Heights in Oregon, and was Associate Winemaker at Hess Collection Winery from 2011 until 2016. She became Winemaker at Penner-Ash in the spring of 2018.

• Kate Ayres: Winemaker since spring 2018
• Lynn Penner-Ash: Founder; at Rex Hill Vineyards through 2002
• Ashley Campion: Associate Winemaker
• Leti Catoira: Director of Farming; Bryan Posson: Vineyard Manager

Lynn and Ron built their LIVE-Certified sustainable, gravity-flow winery surrounded by a 15-acre Estate Vineyard, choosing a site just over the hill from Shea Vineyard based on years of sourcing fruit across the valley. Wine Spectator calls the estate parcel the Dussin Vineyard. An early geologist's survey found unanticipated soil diversity on the property, and the building's space, light, and equipment were designed around human ergonomics. The east-facing patio sits above the Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir vines, with views of the Chehalem Valley, the Cascade Mountains, and Mt. Hood. The Pavilion at Penner-Ash opened in August 2023. The estate is at 15771 NE Ribbon Ridge Road, Newberg, and is open daily by appointment.

• 15-acre Estate Vineyard surrounds the winery
• LIVE-Certified sustainable, gravity-flow winery
• Gardens planted alongside winery construction; an Oak Grove of native Oregon oaks
• The Pavilion opened in August 2023; the signature seated tasting runs 60 minutes

Penner-Ash's single-vineyard Pinot Noirs come from sites across the Willamette Valley through longstanding relationships with farmers. The vineyard map covers Shea, Fairsing, Aegrina, Hyland, Zena Crown, Palmer Creek, Bramble Hill, Élevée, Bella Vida, Knudsen, Ridgecrest, and Le Cadeau alongside the Estate Vineyard. Zena Crown lies toward the southern end of the Eola-Amity Hills AVA, where ocean breezes through the Van Duzer Corridor keep conditions cool over shallow, well-drained volcanic soils of the Jory and Nekia series; picking there is primarily clones 667, 114, 777, and Pommard. Jackson Family Wines bought Zena Crown in 2013. The winery describes Hyland Vineyard, in the McMinnville sub-AVA, as one of Oregon's largest and oldest vineyards; Lynn Penner-Ash has sourced Riesling there since 2008.

• Yamhill-Carlton: Estate Vineyard, Fairsing
• Eola-Amity Hills: Zena Crown, Palmer Creek
• McMinnville: Aegrina, Hyland
• Ribbon Ridge: Bramble Hill, Ridgecrest
• Dundee Hills: Knudsen, Jory Hills (Chardonnay); Chehalem Mountains: Le Cadeau

The current lineup covers Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Riesling, and Rosé of Pinot Noir. The Willamette Valley Pinot Noir has been made since the inaugural 1998 vintage; the 2022 draws on six sub-AVAs and spent 10 months in 24% new French oak. The winery calls its style "a textural experience from start to finish." The Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir comes only from the 15 acres of vines around the winery. The Oregon Viognier was first bottled in 2000. Pas de Nom, loosely translated as "no name", is a small-production, barrel-selected blend from vineyards across multiple AVAs, made as a Pinot Noir and a Chardonnay. The Kick Ash Crew tastes each individual barrel. Wine Spectator describes the house specialty as plush-textured single-vineyard Pinot Noir.

• Willamette Valley Pinot Noir: made since 1998; 2022 from six sub-AVAs, 10 months in 24% new French oak
• Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir: only from the 15 acres around the winery
• Oregon Viognier: first bottled in 2000
• Old Vine Hyland Riesling: from Hyland Vineyard in McMinnville
• Pas de Nom Pinot Noir and Pas De Nom Chardonnay: barrel-selected, multi-AVA

Wine Spectator ranked the Penner-Ash Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2022 as Wine #19 on its Top 100 of 2025. By the time of the Jackson Family Wines sale, the winery had reached Wine Spectator's annual Top 100 list twice, and the magazine has written that Lynn Penner-Ash's wines had rarely scored below outstanding, or 90 points on its 100-point scale.

• Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2025: Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2022 at Wine #19
• Wine Spectator Top 100: two appearances by the time of the 2016 sale

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.pennerash.com/, https://www.pennerash.com/our-story.html, https://www.pennerash.com/vineyards.html, https://www.pennerash.com/wines/, https://www.pennerash.com/visit.html, https://www.pennerash.com/the-pavilion-at-penner-ash.html, https://www.pennerash.com/penner-ash-wine-cellars-willamette-valley-pinot-noir-2022-750-ml/50022538SX.html, https://www.pennerash.com/penner-ash-wine-cellars-yamhill-carlton-estate-vineyard-pinot-noir-2023-750-ml/50023528SX.html, https://www.pennerash.com/penner-ash-wine-cellars-willamette-valley-shea-vineyard-pinot-noir-2023-750-ml/50023536.html, https://www.pennerash.com/penner-ash-wine-cellars-oregon-viognier-2025-750-ml/11025520SX.html, https://www.pennerash.com/penner-ash-wine-cellars-willamette-valley-old-vine-hyland-riesling-white-riesling-2024-750-ml/10024521.html, https://www.pennerash.com/penner-ash-wine-cellars-willamette-valley-pas-de-nom-pinot-noir-2023-750-ml/50023533.html, https://www.pennerash.com/penner-ash-wine-cellars-zena-crown-vineyard-pinot-noir-2023-750-ml/50023540SX.html, https://www.pennerash.com/our-team.html, https://www.pennerash.com/our-place.html. Secondary sources: https://www.winespectator.com/articles/jackson-family-wines-acquires-oregons-penner-ash-wine-cellars-53029, https://www.winespectator.com/articles/oregon-pinot-noir-star-lynn-penner-ash-moves-on, https://www.winespectator.com/wine/wine-detail/id/1317341/name/penner-ash-pinot-noir-willamette-valley-2022/guest. Last verified 2026-10-12.