Oregon wine pioneer dies
Bill Stoller, founder of Stoller Wine Group and a key figure who shaped Oregon’s wine industry, died last week at the age of 74.
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According to a press release from Stoller Wine Group, its founder and proprietor died “peacefully in his sleep” on the night of Wednesday 23 April.
Stoller Family Estate was founded in Dundee Hills, Oregon in 1943, though it would be 50 years before vines, mainly Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, were planted there under Bill Stoller’s custodianship.
After studying at Pacific University and gaining an MBA from Portland State University, Stoller embarked on a career in human resources, rather than viticultural ones.
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In 1983, he would co-found staffing company Express Employment Professionals and in 2001 he founded Xenium, which outsources human resources. Both businesses would help to support Stoller’s plans in the wine industry.
In 1993, Stoller would establish Stoller Wine Group, which today includes Stoller Family Estate, Chehalem Winery, History, Chemistry, Stoller Swing and Canned Oregon. It also has two wine bars, in Newberg and Bend, and is certified as a B Corp.
One of his particular crusades was his championing of Chardonnay, planting four hectares of the then-unfashionable white variety in 1995 at a time when other producers in Oregon were uprooting it.
He was also a driving force for sustainable winemaking, overseeing the construction of the Stoller Family Estate wine production facility which became the world’s first winery to receive a gold rating from LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) in 2006. Stoller’s goal, as he put it, was “to build a business that can last for 200 years”.
In 2024, Stoller was awarded the Diploma of Honour from the Fédération Internationale des Confréries Bachiques (one of only 26 people to have ever received it), and in February of this year, he was given the Oregon Wine Board’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Receiving the latter prize, Stoller said: “Being a part of the Oregon wine story has been one of the greatest privileges of my life. Every time I pour a bottle of our wine, I share a piece of my home. I am grateful for the opportunity to help build our industry, making this honor all the more meaningful.”
Stoller Wine Group president and Oregon Wine Board director Gary Mortensen said of Stoller’s death: “Bill was more than a remarkable entrepreneur – he was a generous mentor, a steadfast friend, and a passionate advocate for connecting people with opportunity. His bold 200-year vision and unwavering belief in the potential of the Oregon wine industry is the cornerstone of everything we do at the Stoller Wine Group. He would want us to continue pushing forward to realise his dream.”
What a great piece and so good to understand his role in not just the Oregon wine industry but shaping the wine industry for the entire Pacific Northwest. I’m proud to say I have Stoller wines on the shelves of my store and can share the significance of the man who made those bottles possible.