John Platt: Oral History Interview

This interview is with John Platt of Helvetia Winery. In this interview, John talks about moving off a houseboat to Helvetia, planting grapes, and expanding his business into a winery.John shares about moving to the Helvetia area after a piece of land came up for sale and meeting with an extension agent to determine what kinds of crops he should plant. Among the list was grapes, which John and his wife Elizabeth planted with the intention of selling fruit to home winemakers.John talks about his other work during that time, including legal work with Pacific Northwest Native American tribes and their fishing rights, as well as Elizabeth’s work in politics including a 6-year term in Congress. As they began planting the vineyard and building the winery, they were flying back and forth to DC for her career.Later in the interview, John discusses how he went about deciding what to plant, collaboration with many in the industry, and learning to farm grapes by “looking it up” and “making mistakes.” Within 20 years of planting the vineyard, he had purchased additional land to build a winery and host guests at the house-turned-tasting room. While he sees lots of challenges facing the industry in the future, he’s also optimistic that the industry will continue on for years to come.This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at Helvetia Winery in Hillsboro on April 6, 2026.