Founded by Ted and Meri Gerber, Foris Winery and Vineyards is family-owned and managed. In 1971, Ted and Meri purchased hillside acreage in southern Oregon's remote Illinois Valley with the specific intention of growing grapes. Starting from scratch, they built a house, bought the land that is now Gerber Vineyards, and began planting grape vines. As one of the state’s grape growing pioneers, the Gerber family recognized the potential to grow high quality, premium viniferous grapes in the higher elevations of the region. For a number of years they provided fruit to various vintners in southern Oregon, and in 1986 started producing their own wines under the Foris label.

Foris now boasts more than 178 acres of estate vineyards, just 25 miles due east of the Pacific Ocean in Southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley appellation. Founding owner, Ted Gerber’s commitment as a caretaker of the vineyards since the planting of the first vine to the last, is the hallmark of Foris and the foundation of the family's commitment to produce distinctive, high quality wines.

The entire Gerber family subscribes to a simple philosophy that has served them well over the years. They strive to make the Foris experience "nice enough so that everybody enjoys coming to work." They go out of their way "to be friends to their employees, not just bosses."  If low employee turnover and high client satisfaction are any indication, their philosophy appears to be working well.