Culver, Ore.—One small step by the Oregon Wine Board promises to be a giant leap in terms of profile for wineries in Central Oregon and downtown Portland. With marketing-savvy Tom Danowski now at the helm, the board plans to add emphasis about Portland’s urban wineries and those in remote Central Oregon to its website’s “Explore Wine Regions” section in the coming weeks.

“We are going to create a tab for Central Oregon and the Portland Urban wineries as well. This is merely for their convenience in helping people find the wineries in those two areas,” Oregon Wine Board spokesperson Charles Humble told Wines & Vines this week.

The state has 538 wineries overall, according to WinesVinesDATA, with just 36 located outside the main viticultural areas of the Willamette and Columbia valleys and Southern Oregon. Multnomah County, which includes downtown Portland, boasts 20 wineries, while the Central Oregon counties of Jefferson and Deschutes are home to Maragas Winery, 1,200-case Volcano Vineyards and Faith, Hope and Charity Vineyard and Events Center.

Central Oregon also has half a dozen vineyards growing both noble and hybrid grapes. The region has its own industry association, the Winegrowers Association of Central Oregon. Until now, though, the region has had a very low profile, even within the state.

“There was very little ability for someone that didn’t know we had wineries and vineyards in Central Oregon to find us through any substantial channel,” said Doug Maragas, who opened 3,000-case Maragas Winery tasting room in Bend in 1999, but has since relocated to the vineyard property in Culver—quite literally in the middle of nowhere, as we reported in 2007.

“The Oregon Wine Board is helping us blow that horn.…It’s huge marketing-wise for people to find us, and also it’s the first step toward getting an AVA here.”

A petition for an American Viticultural Area designation won’t happen for at least three years, but the incremental benefits of a higher profile promise business benefits in the meantime. “We’re still not an AVA, a region, but there is a location,” said Cindy Grossmann of Faith, Hope and Charity Vineyards near Terrebonne in Deschutes County. “It identifies that there are vineyards and wineries in Central Oregon.”

Faith, Hope and Charity planted a 15-acre vineyard in 2010 and is developing a winery as part of an events center that includes a lavender plantation, guest ranch and cottages. Grossmann hopes to plant as many as 50 acres of cold-hardy hybrid varieties on the property, which totals 312 acres and includes a variety of agri-tourism offerings as part of its events center.

“It definitely helps put us on the map,” she said. “Viticulture is an additional industry to Central Oregon, and it fits right into Central Oregon’s No. 1 industry, which is tourism.”

Central Oregon grapegrowers and wineries have enjoyed support from Chris Lake of the Southern Oregon Wine Institute at Umpqua Community College. Faith, Hope and Charity’s initial two vintages have been made in part at Pallet Wine Co. in Medford.

The alliances give the nascent region access to expertise while bringing it within the ambit of the state’s established viticultural areas. Doug Maragas also hopes the recognition raises awareness of what Oregon has to offer beyond the well-known Pinots of the Willamette Valley.

“We’re trying to even the scales a little bit so that when people think of Oregon, they associate us with great wine and not just Pinot Noir,” he said.