Oregon Hill’s picturesque location in Morris is 18 miles south of Wellsboro. LINDA STAGER/West Branch Life

“I make wine. Would you like to try some?” That’s how 17-year-old wine-making prodigy Eric Swendrowski sold his wines in the early days. Now, Oregon Hill Wine Co. is celebrating its 40th year anniversary with a Sip and Sound celebration this summer. The Swendrowski wine-making legacy is in full swing.

Eric learned winemaking from his father and in 1983, twenty original wines anchored a new winery, named for its location atop Oregon Hill in northern Lycoming County. At the time, Eric was the youngest licensed vintner in Pennsylvania.

Eric then married Karon and they started a family. But 6 years ago, Eric died of a catastrophic brain event and suddenly Karon was thrust into being the single parent of 14-year old Katarina and 12-year old Alexandra, as well as the owner of a successful winery.

Since then, the winery expanded under Karon’s management, the original Oregon Hill location in Morris grew to include two satellite wineries in McElhattan and Wellsboro.

Karon explains, “With a Pennsylvania limited winery license, you can have your main location and five satellite locations. I had been looking to expand, and when I saw the McElhattan property, I knew this was it. It was a former horse barn at the old Shoemaker Estate. I officially opened there in June 2019. It offers something totally different from our original location where we make wine and you have people coming and going. At McElhattan, folks gather and stay for a while.”

She continues, “We don’t serve food but we welcome people to bring their own food in. We have live music there and folks can enjoy drinks and entertainment while they eat.”

Two months later, Karon opened a Main Street Wellsboro storefront, offering a cozy art gallery experience along with the usual retail sales and tastings.

Karon welcomes visitors primarily at their production winery, though she is hands-on in the running of the business. She has well-trusted managers in each of her satellite locations and a skilled winemaker and assistant winemaker who still use the family recipes to make the now 25 to 35 wines in stock. Some are well-known and found a following from the beginning, but the winery has now expanded its selection to include a full range of tastes, from dry to dessert wines. New wines include Raspberry Joli, Chocolate Cherry Joli and Mountain Honey.

Karon reminisces. She pulls a bottle of one of Eric’s original award-winning wines off the shelf and then holds up a bottle of her new Raspberry Joli.

“Eric learned how to make this wine with his father. They called it ‘Joli’, the French word for ‘pretty’ because of its vibrant color. Eric was teaching our daughters how to make wine when he died. From the father, to the son, to his daughters. We had some local raspberry juice in the winery when Eric died. I wanted to make something special with it. Now we have this Raspberry Joli – a tribute to our family’s legacy. “

Karen is grateful the winery is now celebrating its 40th anniversary. “A lot of people would have given up but I had people I trusted to help me move forward and I had courage. I’ve learned so much in the last six years. I’ve been successful and this will all be there for our daughters. I want to do this for them.”

For details on their anniversary celebration, Sips and Sounds, on July 22 visit their website or the winery’s Facebook page.

oregonhillwinery.com