As a bi-cultural family, the story of Luis & Janice begins from their separate family heritage and cultural backgrounds. Luis was born and raised in Mexico. He spent his early years helping his father growing vegetables and tending to the family livestock. He spent several years working near their family home, by the time he was 14 he ventured further seeking better opportunities and eventually found himself living in Oregon. Janice grew up in northern Idaho and had a normal small town upbringing. In the spring of 1979, while visiting family in Oregon, Janice and Luis met. By 1981 Luis and Janice were married and by 1985 had welcomed two baby girls to the family! Life sped by, but Luis still had a need to get back to his roots of farming.

In 1988 they purchased their first piece of property, a small 9 acre parcel which became the family home and later the original site of the family vineyard. Early in 1997, the neighboring property came available, they decided to take the chance and put down more roots into the Southern Willamette Valley. In the winter of 1999 they planted their first Pinot noir and Pinot gris vines. Now these many years later the vineyard is a mature 94 acres, with Pinot noir, Pinot gris and Chardonnay planted on mostly Nekia clay soils and elevations ranging from 400 to 850 feet.

Currently the whole family is involved in what makes Coria Estates an exciting and thriving vineyard and winery. Luis and Janice manage the vineyard and administrative side of the business, and their youngest daughter, Aurora, is the winemaker. Their eldest daughter Elizabeth helps with tasting room sales on the side of her professional job as a Speech Language Pathologist. Elizabeth’s husband Tyler handles all photography, as well as the design of all marketing and promotional materials.

Our vineyard consists of 94 acres, planted in various years.  The most mature section of the vineyard was planted in the spring of 1999, and consists of 55 acres. This planting was done by hand, by The Coria’s very own family and crew.  It is roughly 50% Pinot noir and 50% Pinot Gris. We grow three different clones of Pinot noir: Pommard, 777 and 115 Dijon Clones, each with their own distinct personality.  

The second planting of 25 acres went in the spring of 2008, consisting of Pinot noir, Clone 115. The third planting of 14 acres went in during the spring of 2015, including Pinot Gris and Chardonnay.

First planted: 1999
Varietals: Pinot gris, Pinot noir, Chardonnay
Soil type: Nekia
Acres: 94
Elevation: 400–850 ft.
Lat. Long. 44.83632-123.050947
44° 50' 10.752'' N  123° 3' 3.4092'' W

The vineyard is planted on silty clay loam soil, most of which is Nekia clay, unique to our vineyard. Also, there are small lots presenting Jory, McAlpine and Abiqua silty clay loam. The elevation varies from 300 feet, and the highest peak at 850, offering wonderful drainage.  

Additionally, the vineyard is separated into 17 blocks, each block contributing different flavors and aromas which are unique unto themselves.

We dedicate a full time crew of our own staff to maintain the vineyard throughout the year. This helps us achieve the quality we strive for from each vine, knowing they are tended to by the same caring hands year after year.