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Title
Oral history interview with Dick Erath [Sound Recording 04]
Date(s)
- 1999-03-04 (Creation)
Extent
Audiocassette; 00:30:30
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Biographical history
Richard "Dick" Charles Erath was born in Alameda, California, in 1935. He grew up in Oakland, California, and in 1949, his family briefly relocated to Seattle, Washington, before returning to Oakland in 1951. After high school, he attended Oakland Junior College and joined the U.S. Naval Reserve, where he went through the Navy electronic technician training program. He then attended the University of California at Berkeley, but did not complete a degree. In 1961, he and Tina J. Butler were married; they later had two children. In 1965, he made his first barrel of wine in his backyard while living in Walnut Creek, California. He studied enology, the science of winemaking, at the University of California at Davis. In 1969, he planted his first grapes in in the Willamette Valley at Erath Winery in Dundee, Oregon. He focused on Pinot noir. He sold his winery, which still bears his name, in 2006.
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Tape 2, Side 2. This oral history with Dick Erath was conducted by Clark Hansen from March 4-12, 1999, at the Erath Winery in Dundee, Oregon. The interview was conducted as part of the Oregon Wine Archives Oral History Project, which collected interviews with notable figures in the wine growing industry, including vintners, vineyard growers, community members, and workers active in the development of Oregon’s wine industry. Also included is a photograph of Dick Erath taken by Clark Hansen at the time of the interview. The interview was conducted in three sessions. In the first interview session, conducted on March 4, 1999, Erath discusses his family background, including his grandfather’s experience in the German Army during World War I, and his parents’ experience as German immigrants in the United States. He talks about his early life in Oakland, California, including his recreational activities. He then discusses his education at Oakland Junior College, in the Navy electronic technician training program, and at the University of California at Berkeley. He talks about working for the Shell Development Company while attending college. He also talks about his interest in photography and car racing. He then briefly discusses his marriage to Tina J. Butler in 1961. He describes his early interest in winemaking, taking enology classes at University of California at Davis, and the history of winemaking in California. He discusses his interest in Pinot noir; the similarities between the climates Oregon and Burgundy, France; and how he chose the site for his winery in Dundee. He also talks about the history of winemaking in Oregon. He describes his early years as a winemaker, his grape-growing experiments, and his early successes and failures. He talks about ideal grape-growing conditions, his first vintage in 1972, and merchandising his wines in the early Oregon wine market.
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Copyright for the interview and photograph is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.
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- eng
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- Hansen, Clark (Contributor)