Even if one lives in Salem it’s tough for wine lovers to know what is being referred to when talk centers around “East Canyon” wineries.

So what follows is “writer’s liberty": A discussion of what’s going on, enologically speaking, in the viticultural area just a touch north and east of Silverton to where one bumps up against the Silverton Hills and the other foothills of the Cascade Range.

Although the region is growing as rapidly as anywhere else in the fertile and diverse wine lands of the state, four are of particular note. Abiqua Wind Vineyard, AlexEli Vineyard & Winery, Domaine Margelle Vineyards and Vitis Ridge each offer similarities and differences with the other — as well as varied focus.

And only one of the four — Vitis Ridge — belongs to the East Valley Wine Group, which includes some nearby wineries (St. Josef’s Winery, Hanson Vineyards, Piluso Vineyard & Winery, Silver Falls Vineyards and Paradis Family Vineyard).

Abiqua Wind Vineyard is located in the Abiqua Valley, east of the Willamette Valley near Silverton, which makes it a hardcore denizen of East Canyon.

The vineyards were established in 1978 on land left over from timber-harvesting practices that once dominated the Silverton-area industry. Current vineyards were planted in 1984 and are cultivated by “dry farming” practices on the steep, south-facing hillsides.

Today, the land produces the expected Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris offerings of a number of valley wineries, but try to spice things up with such items as an off-dry Gewürztraminer, a Müller-Thurgau, an Early Muscat and a rich Gewürztraminer ice wine created from frozen late-harvest grapes.

Seven miles north of Silverton lies AlexEli Vineyard & Winery. Brothers Anthony and Philip Kramer purchased the property early in 2008 from the Dobbes family, which planted the vines in 1982 and ran the operation as Marquam Hill Vineyard in that time.

Joe Dobbes remains the winemaker for the operation.

AlexEli produces Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling, Gewürztraminer and Müller-Thurgau wines from the 20-plus acres of vineyard, with surrounding acres encompassing a 30-acre forest and an eight-acre lake.

A new tasting room was added in September to welcome guests wishing to enjoy the fruits of the winery’s first crush in the updated winery.

Domaine Margelle’s slogan, “Old Vines, Old World, Refined Taste,” is meant to convey a European ambiance in the east Willamette Valley hills near Scotts Mills.

Steve and Marci Taylor bought their land in 2005 and have built a French Chateau-like estate on the property to produce, so far, a 2007 Pinot Noir and a 2008 Pinot Gris from their 15-year-old Dijon and Pommard clones.

Other “value added” amenities such as private tastings, weddings, a vacation rental and music concerts have been put in place to support the estate feel of the area.

Claudia Deckelmann, sales representative for Vitis Ridge in Silverton, and husband, Tim, are the representatives who try to get people interested in the wines made from grapes grown in Tim’s brother Chris Deckelmann’s 80-acre vineyard.

Vitis Ridge has five partners: Chris and Sharon Deckelmann, Glen Brunger (the winemaker), and Bruce and Sally Eich. The small winery produces approximately 2,500 cases of wine each year, including Pinot Noir, Gewürztraminer, Muscat, Riesling, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Maréchal Foch, a dessert wine called Grigio D’Oro and Petit Verdo Vibrato, a port.

As a member of the East Valley Wine Group, part of the Oregon Wine Board’s groupings of area wineries, they are part of a wine tour running from Aurora to Aumsville. The group schedules events under the slogan, “Enjoy the wines, not the crowds.”