Founded by Dick and Deirdre Shea in 1996, Shea Vineyard was first planted to wine grapes in the late 1980s. They grew grapes for more than 10 years supplying some of the best winemakers in the area with fruit, including Ken Wright Cellars, Beaux Freres, Patricia Green Cellars, Westrey Wine Company, Panther Creek Cellars, Raptor Ridge and St. Innocent. In 1996, Shea decided to start his own winery, and today Shea Vineyard, which lies at the heart of Oregon’s Yamhill-Carlton District, is a 200-acre vineyard property with 140 planted acres, 135 of which are planted to Pinot Noir vines with the balance planted to Chardonnay. Roughly 25% of the Pinot Noir fruit produced each year is used by Shea Wine Cellars for its releases. The remaining fruit is sold to some of the finest winemakers in Oregon and California. The Wine Enthusiast in its annual review of Oregon wines in December 2000, wrote, “It is no coincidence that our two top rated wines…were made from fruit from Richard Shea’s perennially superb Willamette Valley vineyard.”