Raise a glass to America's immigrant winemakers

Moe Momtazi views wine not as a commercial commodity, but as a living spirit that springs from the marriage of the sun and the earth.

Momtazi is the founder of Momtazi Vineyards and Maysara Winery in McMinnville, Oregon. As this modern-day conservationist and ancient Zoroastrian philosopher noted in the 2024 James Beard award-winning documentary SOMM: Cup of Salvation, "Wine is the sun’s radiance in liquid form."

A visit to Maysara Winery's tasting room, decorated with tapestries and other artifacts, embodies the Momtazi family's Persian culture. (“Maysara” is an ancient Persian word that means “house of wine.”) Each glass of Pinot Noir and other wines poured at their tasting room connects visitors to the unique sensation of experiencing wine produced from grapes grown in a manner that fuses biodynamic principles with the spirit and purity of the wine in Persian culture.

From escaping the mullahs to growing grapes in Oregon

When Momtazi first arrived in the United States in the 1970s from Iran to study civil engineering at the University of Texas in Arlington, he recalls being greeted by a very welcoming community. "Back then, people respected immigrants. They wanted to know where you came from and what you do," he opines.

After graduation, Momtazi returned to his homeland until he and his pregnant wife escaped on a motorcycle in 1982 following the Iranian Revolution. Momtazi reflects on how he still felt welcomed upon arriving in the United States for the second time. "This was the only place that allowed us to be considered as citizens."

U.S. law in the 1980s permitted the Momtazis to file for political asylum. As he had an engineering degree and experience in that field, within five years Momtazi was able to secure a work permit, a green card, and citizenship for his family. "I really love this country and the laws of this country."

In 1990, his growing family settled in Oregon's Willamette Valley. There he incorporated the Persian principles of farming and winemaking he learned from his grandfather. These practices were first developed by the Persian philosopher Zoroaster and later refined by Rudolf Steiner, the founder of the biodynamic farming movement.

In Momtazi's estimation, "As immigrants, we contribute so much to the economy and well-being of this country."

As I reported earlier for OnlySky, the Momtazi family carries the immigrant experience forward through their efforts to support Lutheran Community Services Northwest (LCSNW)’s Safe Route Program. Many of the immigrants in this area who are working at farms, restaurants, vineyards, and other local businesses rely on LCSNW to help them access much-needed resources in the Pacific Northwest. The Momtazis’ ventures to support LSCNW include producing 500 cases of wine they named “Immigrant,” with a third of the proceeds going to LSCNW, along with hosting meetings, immigration information sessions, donor happy hours, and cooking classes for LSCNW. Also, they sponsored FIESTA!, an annual fundraising dinner and auction held at their winery that raises awareness and support for LCSNW’s programming.

ICE raids in the Willamette Valley

While the Momtazi family has been able to achieve the American immigrant dream, others, like the neighboring Sotelo family, cannot do likewise. In an Instagram post from June 16, 2025, Chris Serra, Executive Director for LIVE, an Oregon environmental certification program for wineries, posted this awful news:

Moisés Sotelo, whom many of you know and have worked with, and has been in the industry for decades, was seized by ICE officers on June 12 in Newberg. His family has set up a GoFundMe. Moises was in the process of becoming a US citizen which in a cruel irony may have put him on ICE’s radar.

There have been other raids in our industry recently, and whether someone was hard-working or a leader should not matter when considering human rights and due process under our laws. Moises being both has perhaps spurred the industry to quick action, but it bears remembering that the same legal and moral considerations should be given to our most vulnerable.

As per Oregon Public Radio, federal officials claim Sotelo's deportation is due in part to a 1997 DUI. Neither the Yamhill County District Attorney’s office nor the Newberg Municipal Court can find records of a DUI charge for Sotelo.

Sotelo was deported to Mexico on Friday, July 17, 2025. His daughter flew that day to join him and they are now united in Mexico.

On Kristof Farms' Substack, Nicholas Kristof, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist and co-general manager of Kristof Farms in Yamhill, Oregon, ponders the long-term effects of such deportations:

If mass deportations go ahead, who will harvest blueberries? Who will milk cows? And do we really want to break up families on a massive scale, for Pew reports that 79 percent of the children of undocumented immigrants are U.S. citizens? It should be possible to tighten the border and deport lawbreakers, while creating a path to citizenship for people who have been here for decades and behaved lawfully. None of this is easy, but it’s better than detaining people like Sotelo and destroying families and businesses.

In an opinion column for The New York Times, Kristof points to how even conservative Yamhill County voters who voted for Trump for the past three election cycles demonstrated overwhelming support for Sotelo. In addition to donating to the Sotelo family's GoFundMe campaign, Kristof highlights a community group that erected a billboard in the county declaring: “We live here, together. Losing immigrants hurts us all." It seems at least some Trump voters can differentiate between prosecuting actual gangsters versus destroying small businesses.

While Momtazi notes that dealing with the current situation in America is very difficult, scary, and challenging for most immigrants, he remains hopeful. "I have faith in the US Constitution and the wisdom of the forefathers of this country who worked from the very beginning of this country’s formation to ensure that the Constitution would be the savior for all of us into the future."

That said, he adds, "We also need to be realistic and find out what has led our nation to this situation and find the root cause of the deep polarity that we are facing now." For starters, Momtazi suggests educating people about the biodynamic principles of producing food that's good for both people and the planet. "Most people in the United States are disconnected from where their food comes from and what they put into their bodies. Also, they're not really in tune with just how much immigrants do to support all the things they enjoy and take for granted in their everyday life."

American wine depends on immigrants

In reflecting on the global impact of deporting immigrants without due cause, one wonders if the Willamette Valley would have emerged as an international wine destination without contributions from local leaders within the wine community such as Momtazi and Sotelo. For example, wines produced using grapes from Momtazi Vineyards continue to garner accolades, while Sotelo's vineyard management skills have been invaluable in assisting other vineyards to produce grapes that result in superior wines.

Also, according to Momtazi, for finicky grapes such as Pinot Noir to produce spectacular wines, they need to be hand-picked by experienced workers such as those immigrants, who have tended to this land for decades. Such work cannot be done by machines without sacrificing considerable quality, thus reducing a world-class Pinot to the equivalent of a mass-produced commercial wine. In addition, trained workers at Momtazi Vineyard hand-pick certain flowers and herbs to make teas that are applied to the grapevines to ensure the vines and grapes remain healthy.

Thanks in large part to Momtazi, Sotelo, and their fellow immigrants, in 2024 the Willamette Valley winery community experienced what has been touted as one of the best harvests in recent memory. But with Sotelo now in Mexico and the future of other immigrants tenuous at best, the future of the Willamette Valley wine community, and the United States, remains unclear.

For those feeling powerless in such a turbulent sociopolitical climate, Momtazi believes it's important for people to remember every time they purchase a product to remember that their dollar is casting a vote. "If they care about sustainability both for the land and their bodies, as well as supporting immigrants, then they need to support like-minded brands. Even if we feel powerless because of what we see in the media every day, we all have the collective power of what companies we choose to support during these times."