Wander With Wonder – Discovering Wow Moments Around the World or Across the Street
Explore the captivating story of Ghost Hill Cellars and its high-quality Pinot Noir rooted in history and legend.
As a traveler, have you ever wondered about the history behind the wine you drink? I’ve been haunted by the idea that a fifth-generation farming family had survived multiple calamities—the Great Influenza (aka Spanish Flu), the stock market crash, the Great Depression, two World Wars, Prohibition, and occasional farming feast but mostly famine—to finally succeed after almost 120 years by selling high-quality Pinot Noir wine grapes. All this on land with the legend of the ghosts of a miner and his horse, both murdered in the 1870s for their poke of gold. Nonetheless, here we are with the story of Ghost Hill Cellars.
The Haunted History of Ghost Hill
Gold was discovered in the 1850s in the southern region of the Oregon Territory. In the late 1870s, the military built a road going from the goldfields of Southern Oregon to Portland. The “Military Road” was built to facilitate the gold rush in Southern Oregon and to move the gold north to sell it in Portland.
The neighboring farm, Abbey Road Farm, became a stagecoach stop on that route. The miners traveling the road found a hill with enough elevation to keep a lookout on the surrounding area yet still be close enough to the stagecoach stop to do mail and package exchanges and take care of other business at the stage station. People would mostly come from the coast in groups to stay on top of that hill. However, one poor guy set out on horseback alone one fated night.
As was common back in the late 1800s, the miner was followed from his claim, and late at night, while he slept, someone snuck into his camp, stole his gold, and, in the process, killed him and his horse. During the late 1800s, psychics, seers, and spiritualists worked in the mining camps and settlements. A sort of mysticism developed around “Ghost Hill,” and people started reporting sightings of the ghost of the old miner on horseback, prowling the hill looking for his poke of gold.
That haunting story had become quite prevalent by the time the Bayliss family purchased the property in 1906, so they mostly avoided the hill and its haunted history, focusing instead on developing other parts of the 234-acre farm.
The Next Chapter
The next chapter of this wine country story and Ghost Hill’s history is just beginning. The Bayliss family planted Pinot Noir vineyards in 1999 and today exclusively farms those grapes for Oregon wine production at their Willamette Valley estate.
The new Ghost Hill Cellars wine tasting room was built in 2024 and is the first structure anyone has ever erected on Ghost Hill. Cameron Bower, fifth-generation proprietor and chief spokesperson, shares his perspective.
“It’s our understanding that when the land was cleared by the Bayliss Family in 1906, some of the neighbors found the bones and rotting saddle of the horse, which reemphasized the history of the area and how dangerous it had been and the fact that perhaps people had actually seen the Ghost on top of Ghost Hill. Colleen William, a former neighbor, saw the ghost’s bones many years ago but has passed away. Their ancestors have the newspaper article tucked away in a trunk, and we’re trying to get them to let us look through it,” says Bower.
“When we built our tasting room, the legend of Ghost Hill was almost 120 years old,” explains Bower. “Over those years, people had seen the ghost, and weird things happened, and things continued to happen, and I suspect they will continue to happen as we maintain our presence up there on the hill and with a reputation as a haunted winery.”
Haunted Tasting Room at Ghost Hill Cellars. Photo courtesy Ghost Hill Cellars
Bower shares a few more examples of sightings. “One time, late at night, when we were building the tasting room, I got a late-night call from James, our concrete contractor, stating that we have a ghost on the hill, which he didn’t really know anything about. I told him that it was called Ghost Hill. But he was serious. He felt his presence when he was troweling the concrete. He looked down and saw a face in the concrete. He actually took photos of the ghost in the concrete and sent them to me.”
Ghost in Slab with Distant View at Ghost Hill Cellars. Photo courtesy James and Ghost Hill Cellars
“When I was up there working one night,” remembers Bowers, “I got the same sort of chill and hair raised on the back of my neck and looked up and saw a very large coyote walk out of the bramble, which is very unusual. And he was very big, so much so that I thought he was a wolf at first, and he also had red eyes, which I found very eerie. Normally, with a coyote, you can just yell at them, and they scatter off. This one growled back at me, so I quickly realized this wasn’t going to be the normal coyote encounter and quickly departed the scene.”
Spooky Events and Good Wine
The new tasting room is set in a modern farmhouse with 360-degree views and patios around the perimeter. It is open Thursday through Sunday from noon to 5 PM. Several dedicated rooms are available for weddings, and the venue hosts other special events throughout the year.
Friday nights are special and can be a little spooky. The tasting room is open late, until 9 PM, for “Friday Night Lights,” when ghost tales are told around fire pits, sunsets are viewed, and Pinot Noir is imbibed.
Friday Nights Lights at Sunset at Ghost Hill Cellars Tasting Room. Photo courtesy Ghost Hill Cellars
If you are wondering about haunted places in Oregon, the Bayliss family is planning to bring a medium to the tasting room this Halloween in the hope of discovering the name of the miner and possibly others that haunt the hill. The family decided to name the vineyard on the top of Ghost Hill after the poor prospector who had lost his life so many years ago. Maybe grapevines and good wine will compensate for losing a gold treasure for the spirit of the still-to-be-named miner.
Articles Related to Oregon Wines
Oregon Wine Country via Amtrak
Wine Tasting Day Trip to Dundee, Oregon
A Luxurious Overnight in Oregon Wine Country
We invite you to explore Wander With Wonder for more of our favorite Oregon wines and places to visit in Oregon.
.