Monday, Dec. 26, 2011

Oregon winemaker dies

By Andy Perdue, Wine Press Northwest

Forrest Klaffke, longtime winemaker for Willamette Valley Vineyards in Turner, Ore., died this morning after a difficult battle with cancer.

Jim Bernau, Willamette Valley Vineyards CEO, announced the news.

Klaffke, a Sacramento native, came north to Oregon in the 1990s and was the assistant winemaker at Willamette Valley Vineyards before taking over the head winemaker job when Joe Dobbes left in 2001. He worked at the winery for 18 years.

Klaffke fought cancer two years ago and won the first battle, but it came back this fall with a vengeance, spreading to several areas of his body, including his brain. That didn't deter Klaffke, who was making some of the finest Pinot Noirs of his career. Whenever grapes were scheduled to come in, he postponed chemotherapy treatments to make sure the Pinot Noir was well taken care of.

Here's a column we wrote about Klaffke just a few weeks ago.