Doug and Gina Maragas began their journey of winemaking in Oregon in 1999. Back then, when Central Oregon was an underdeveloped wine region, it offered much more affordable real estate than more popular wine-producing locations like Sonoma and Napa counties in California. They purchased grapes from well-established vineyards in Washington, Oregon, and California. In 2006, they planted 50 grape varieties and clones to determine which would work best on their property. By 2009, they started bottling their own wines using their own facility and winning awards in the San Francisco Chronicle wine competition with a white vintage of chardonnay, pinot gris, and sauvignon blanc. They have now planted vineyards near Warm Springs for zinfandel, merlot, cabernet franc, and cabernet sauvignon. Maragas Winery follows organic and sustainable farming methods and uses farm dogs to control predators and chickens to control insects. It produces about 2,000 cases of bottled wines each year. Doug Maragas believes that the soil's balance is their responsibility as winemakers, and the volcanic soils, abundance of sun and dry summers, and good water drainage in their vineyards in Central Oregon allow their vines to thrive.