Rodeo Hills Estate Vineyard.
In Oregon’s Dundee Hills, Jared Etzel has found a way to translate memory, place, and restraint into wine. His 7-acre estate may be modest in scale, but it carries a sense of calm conviction and is the product of a winemaker who values observation over intervention.
Etzel’s surname is a familiar one in Oregon wine. His father, Michael Etzel, co-founded Beaux Frères, a name that helped define modern American Pinot Noir. But Rodeo Hills isn’t a continuation of that legacy, it’s a reflection of Jared’s own curiosity and discipline. “My dad’s work taught me to respect the vineyard before the winery,” he says. “That’s where everything starts.”
Jared Etzel.
The name Rodeo Hills traces back to Jared’s childhood. He told us his father used to drive him and his brother along the winding gravel roads that led to this very hillside. They’d be bouncing around in the truck, and he would ask his dad ‘Can we go back to Rodeo Hill?’. The phrase stuck, part joke, part imprint, and decades later, it became the perfect name for a site that connects his past to the present.
Planted in 2016 and 2017, Rodeo Hills sits between 850 and 950 feet in the Dundee Hills AVA, its vines rooted in the area’s signature volcanic Jory soil. The vineyard is organically farmed and includes 6 acres of Pinot Noir and just over 1 acre of Chardonnay, drawn from Jared’s favorite heritage selections from his father’s Beaux Frères vineyard.
The Dundee Hills AVA renown Jory soil.
Here, elevation and aspect bring lift and precision to the wines. The result is Pinot Noir with vivid red fruit, supple texture, and a mineral-driven backbone; wines that balance energy and grace.
The winery’s rammed-earth tasting room, completed two years ago, mirrors Jared’s minimalist sensibility. Built directly into the hillside, its modern, unembellished isn’t designed to stand out, but rather to belong.
Inside, the space is calm and tactile: pale clay walls, soft light, and a sense of quiet that feels more meditative than performative. The tasting experience mirrors Jared’s style: focused, unhurried, and free of distraction.
Inside the rammed earth tasting room.
Since its inaugural vintage in 2021, Rodeo Hills produces a small but intentional range of wines. The Rodeo Hills Pinot Noir captures the estate’s essential character: lively red fruit, savory edges, and polished tannins. Made only in select vintages, highlights barrels of free-run juice and sees a touch more new oak, adding depth and silken weight without overt richness.
The Hard Press bottling, by contrast, incorporates more pressed juice, creating a darker, more structured expression. It’s a subtle study in contrast showing how pressure, both literal and metaphorical, shapes a wine’s personality.
The 7-acre estate vineyard.
In 2023, Oregon’s third-warmest growing season on record, Jared had the luxury of time. “We could let the fruit hang without worrying about over ripeness,” he says. “It gave us wines that feel composed, classic Dundee Hills fruit with a sense of ease.” The following year brought lower yields but excellent tannins, a trade-off he seems content with. “The energy in 2025 looks great,” he says simply.
Before starting Rodeo Hills, Jared worked at Domaine Roy & Fils, where he deepened his understanding of structure and balance. Those years refined his philosophy: that great wine doesn’t come from doing more, but from knowing when to step back.
The 2023 Hard Press and Rodeo Hills Pinot Noirs.
He and his wife Erica live in Portland with their two young daughters. The commute to the vineyard has become part of his rhythm time to shift from family life to the focus of farming. Beyond Rodeo Hills, he also works on a side project called Late Sky and is consulting for a small sparkling wine venture set for release in 2026. Each offers a different creative outlet, but Rodeo Hills remains his centre of gravity.
Driving the gravel road that climbs toward the property, it isn’t hard to imagine that early truck ride: the laughter, the bumps, and the blur of red earth.
The rammed-earth tasting room immersed in the vineyard.
Those rides unknowingly shaped his future, just as the vineyard now shapes the next stage of Oregon Pinot Noir’s evolution.
For Jared Etzel, Rodeo Hills isn’t about rewriting a family story. It’s about expressing the meeting point of his instinct and experience; everything he’s learned from the land, his craft, and his family. There’s no grand gesture, no chase for legacy. Just a winemaker, a hillside, a few acres of vines, and the steady work of turning observation into something lasting.
10275 NE Worden Hill Rd
Dundee, OR 97115
T: (503) 583-8189
E: winery@rodeohillswine.com
*Tastings by appointment.
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