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Villa Antonio Winery in Hillsboro has roots in Italy

It is a hidden gem in the Hillsboro zipcode.

HILLSBORO

It is a hidden gem in the Hillsboro zipcode.

"The setting is beautiful," says Eileen Edwards.

A winery with roots in Italy.

"Both my parents are Italian immigrants and my dad grew up on a farm in Italy. One of their crops was growing grapes and they would always take the grapes and make it into wine. So he always wanted to sort of get back to his roots," explains Thomas Polesel.

So his dad, Antonio, bought some land and and planted a few vines in 1990.

"His original goal I believe was to make enough wine for himself and his buddies. That was it."

But one sip led to another and in 2001 they opened Villa Antonio Winery.

"We have 40 acres of property and of the 40 acres we have about 12 acres of vines now."

This year's crop has been exceptional.

"I mean without a doubt this is the largest crop I've ever had. This is probably a two pound cluster of grapes I mean that's just enormous," he says lifting a huge cluster.

Of course, you won't be able to taste the wine from these grapes for awhile, but there are plenty of bottles from years past all of which you can purchase and pour on the picture perfect property.

"So if you want a light sweet wine I have that covered, if you want something in between a semi-sweet, an off dry I have that covered and if you want a full bodied-dry red I have that as well."

There is also a long list of menu items.

"So my mother was the original chef she truly did everything from scratch and she retired a year ago. Now I have Chef Bruce Piatek."

They have soups and salads, sandwiches and wood fired pizzas. We do everything from light lunches to weddings to gourmet dinners.

There's even live music on Fridays and Saturdays.

"They have it all," Edwards says.

So take a little trip down 55 to a place that won't be a hidden gem too much longer.

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