Albariño

Food pairings: Ceviche, grilled shrimp with garlic butter, shellfish, fish tacos and other light seafood dishes.

Vineyards and terroir: The grapes come from Kraemer Farms, a family-owned and operated grape farm near Mount Angel in Oregon's Willamette Valley. The Kraemer family has lived and worked in the Willamette Valley for a hundred years and specializes in growing premium wine grapes. Albariño is a rare variety in the cool-climate Willamette Valley, better known for Pinot Noir.

Family and history: Ransom was founded by Tad Seestedt, who was born and raised on a farm in New York's Finger Lakes. After a spell in New York City and corporate America he headed west on the Oregon Trail. In 1997 he began distilling, reviving the 19th-century barrel-aged "Old Tom" gin, and he named the company for the bank debt that held his dream to ransom. Today Ransom Wines & Spirits is an alembic distillery, artisan wine company and vermouth house on an organic farm near Sheridan, in the foothills of the Coast Range, where barley has grown since 2008 and the first vines went in in 2010; the farm has been certified organic since 2011. Craftsmanship, heritage and a deep respect for terroir are the core of the "Ransom Way."

In the pictures: Barrels under a rainbow and barrels stacked outdoors (photos courtesy of Ransom Wines & Spirits).