{"id":2291,"date":"2013-02-09T22:38:55","date_gmt":"2013-02-10T06:38:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jennifer.idyllspress.com\/?page_id=2291"},"modified":"2024-02-13T12:28:32","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T20:28:32","slug":"a-region-uncorked-southern-oregons-thriving-wine-scene","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jennifermargulis.net\/articles\/a-region-uncorked-southern-oregons-thriving-wine-scene\/","title":{"rendered":"A Region Uncorked: Southern Oregon’s Thriving Wine Scene"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SouthernA Region Uncorked was first published in Oregon Business Magazine <\/em>in May, 2009<\/p>\n

by Jennifer Margulis<\/a><\/p>\n

Driven by demand and nurtured in the diverse terrain, Southern Oregon\u2019s wine industry begins to come of age<\/h2>\n

Talent\u2019s industrial strip along Highway 99 is lined with storage warehouses, auto body shops and junk stores. But turn down Rapp Lane and you\u2019ll quickly find yourself on some of Southern Oregon\u2019s most beautiful and verdant back roads, driving past white goats and a piebald horse munching dry grass and several black cows staring blankly at green hills dotted with snow.<\/p>\n

With an extended growing season, warm weather and fertile soil, this countryside between two of the region\u2019s fastest-growing cities, Ashland and Medford, long has been celebrated as a fruit-growing region. The first pear trees were planted in the late 19th century and dozens of eager business pioneers from the East Coast and the Midwest rushed to Oregon to buy land. But in the past 10 years there has been an enormous shift from planting fruit trees to planting higher-value grape vines. With that has come an explosion of new wineries, with more than half a dozen new vineyards planted this year alone. Currently 60 vineyards in Southern Oregon hold winery licenses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we planted our grapes in 1990, there were six wineries and about 350 acres of grapes in the Rogue Appellation,\u201d says Laura Lotspeich, whose winery, Trium, is located at the top of the hill on Rapp Lane. The Rogue Appellation extends from the California border north to Grants Pass and includes the Applegate Valley, the Illinois Valley, the Rogue River Valley, and the Bear Creek Valley. Today there are 67 wineries and over 3,000 acres of grapes planted. \u201cMuch of that growth has happened in the past five to 10 years,\u201d says Lotspeich.<\/p>\n

The economic impact on the region is twofold: in addition to creating new jobs, these wineries are adding to the already well-established tourism industry in the area. Tourism in the region historically has been from the arts (the Britt Festival in Jacksonville and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland) and from outdoor recreation. But now the area\u2019s wine industry is drawing tourists.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of buzz recently about the warm-weather varietals,\u201d says Linea Gagliano, public relations coordinator at Travel Oregon. \u201cThese are newer wines and people are excited to try them.\u201d<\/p>\n

State economic development officer Bruce Laird sees the recent boom in wineries and wine tourism in Southern Oregon as part of a bigger picture. \u201cThere\u2019s a strong movement here toward artisanal foods, like local cheeses, breads, and microbreweries,\u201d says Laird. \u201cArtisanal wineries like the ones in Southern Oregon are part of that movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Laura Lotspeich, 55, and her husband Kurt moved in 1990 to Talent from Conifer, Colo., to plant their first grape vines, they were among only a handful of growers in the region. Lotspeich, who has a degree in interior design and has spent most of her career managing specialty design shops, says they made some basic mistakes at first. Since the wine scene in Southern Oregon was so new, they had to learn as they went. They planted a variety of Chardonnay grape, which did not grow well on their site, and ended up ripping out 750 vines. But they kept meticulous records, shared the results of their failures and successes with other growers in the area, and learned quickly from the mistakes. Soon they were selling their grapes to wine makers.<\/p>\n

Though Lotspeich says with a laugh that the adage in the industry is to \u201ckeep your day job,\u201d within five years they started seeing a positive cash flow. In 2008, about 50% of the grapes grown on the Lotspeichs\u2019 18.5 acres were trucked north to wineries outside of the Rogue Appellation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tremendous growth in vineyard acreage being planted in Southern Oregon is being driven by northern Oregon wineries,\u201d says Michael Donovan, the managing director of RoxyAnn Winery in Medford and board member of the Southern Oregon Wine Association. \u201cThey are buying all the big red varietals down here and making other red wines to sell alongside their Pinot Noir.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because of the geographic diversity of the region, many varietals that cannot be grown in the Willamette Valley flourish in the south, and the quality of the grapes coming from Southern Oregon has continued to improve as growers and wine makers, like Lotspeich, gain experience in the region. While the Willamette Valley\u2019s Pinot Noir has been the most celebrated wine in Oregon, the high-quality grapes from the southern region have helped the state establish a reputation for other wines. The terrain and weather patterns in Southern Oregon are so diverse that the microclimates in this region support a variety of different grapes.<\/p>\n

Bill Steele\u2019s Cowhorn Vineyard in the Applegate started selling its wines in 2006. The Steeles own the only biodynamic and organic vineyard in the region and, after doing professional soil and temperature analyses, they learned that their rocky nutrient-deficient soil and climate are very similar to that of the southern Rhone Valley in France and that Vigonier, Marsanne, Rousanne, Syrah, and Grenache grapes grow well on their land. \u201cI don\u2019t think this area is going to have a single varietal that is going to be a stand-alone,\u201d Steele says. \u201cWe have the opportunity to have various manufacturers produce very high qualities of different kinds of wine.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bear Creek part of the Rogue Valley, where Trium is located, has made its name growing very ripe, quality grapes for Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Seeing a demand for high-end wine, the Lotspeichs went into partnership with two other couples. In 2005, after 15 years of growing grapes for other wineries, the first vintage (a 2003 Growers\u2019 Cuv\u00e9e), under the label Trium, hit the market. Since then, the wine side of their business has been steadily growing: They\u2019ve seen a big jump in the number of visitors to their tasting room and last year harvested 57 tons of grapes, using nine tons to make Trium wines.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the fastest grape-growing region in Oregon,\u201d says Donovan, a big man with graying brown hair and small wire-rim glasses. He\u2019s sitting at a glass table in RoxyAnn\u2019s expansive tasting room where for $5 customers can sample seven different wines and also buy local produce, chocolate, cheeses and tacky oenophile gifts, like salt shakers shaped like wine bottles. As he talks, Donovan\u2019s enthusiasm is contagious. The numbers are encouraging and there\u2019s an excitement in the industry that\u2019s palpable. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen a rate of growth that is phenomenal,\u201d Donovan says. \u201cThe vineyard acreage being planted is growing at a rate of between 14% and 17% annually.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winemakers and grape growers in Southern Oregon agree that one of the main reasons for the recent success of wines in the region is the spirit of cooperation among people in the industry. \u201cI\u2019ve been absolutely dumbfounded by the camaraderie and support that all the grape growers and the wineries in this area provide to each other,\u201d says Emily Mostue, co-owner of Rocky Knoll Vineyard in Medford.<\/p>\n

Although Rocky Knoll has been selling grapes for 30 years (and Mostue\u2019s family was among the first to grow pears in this area), Rocky Knoll unveiled its first vintage only four years ago in 2005. They now produce 650 cases a year. Mostue has found other growers eager to share the secrets of their success and ready with advice about everything from how much water to use to irrigate Rocky Knoll\u2019s south-facing vineyards to how to most effectively market the bottled wine. \u201cI never would have anticipated that,\u201d she says. \u201cYou feel like you\u2019re part of a developing industry where people are really supportive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not your typical business model,\u201d Donovan says, explaining that this collaboration goes beyond just the Southern Oregon region and that wine growers throughout the state are cooperating more to market Oregon wines. \u201cI often tell people: \u2018We don\u2019t want you to stop buying Pinot Noir. In fact, we want you to buy more Pinot Noir, but we think you can give up on buying New Zealand or Australian or California wines.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the majority of the labels from Southern Oregon are from small vineyards that farm only between five and 10 acres, wines from the area cost more than wines from California, New Zealand, Australia and other regions that have such large-scale production. The average price of a bottle of red wine produced in Southern Oregon is between $16 and $20, which makes it a luxury product to many buyers, especially now.<\/p>\n

But Donovan and Lotspeich think that the quality of the region\u2019s wines and the customer service at the tasting rooms is convincing consumers to spend the extra money. In the first quarter of 2009, sales of all the products in the tasting room at RoxyAnn were up 9% from last year and this Valentine\u2019s Day saw twice as many visitors as ever before. \u201cI don\u2019t want to say that we are not going to be affected by the recessionary downturn, but I\u2019m encouraged,\u201d says Donovan. \u201cIf wineries continue to watch their expenses, watch their outlays and take care of the customers that they have, then they should do well.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the economy pinches far-flung travel budgets, more visitors from Portland and Seattle have been coming to check out the wine scene in Southern Oregon. \u201cIt\u2019s a bit like touring the world,\u201d says Lotspeich. \u201cWe have some German wines, French wines, Spanish wines, and Syrah, so you don\u2019t have to go to Australia, France, Germany and Spain to try them.\u201d This year Trium\u2019s tasting room will be open longer hours than ever before. She can\u2019t know for sure, but Lotspeich thinks she\u2019ll see a large number of customers visiting on Mondays, when the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland is dark.<\/p>\n

Still, it\u2019s an uphill battle for Southern Oregon to gain national attention as a wine- growing region, sandwiched as it is between California\u2014which produces 95% of the country\u2019s wine\u2014and northern Oregon and Washington State, which are much more established wine regions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge Southern Oregon has is to gain more recognition,\u201d says Greg Jones, professor of Environmental Studies at Southern Oregon University and an expert on the region\u2019s wine industry. \u201cIn some ways the industry is still in its infancy. The challenge is becoming known for what we do best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related articles:<\/strong>
\nVines and Valleys in Oregon<\/a>
\nWine (Not Whine) Writing<\/a>
\nEat Some Yak Meat<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Region Uncorked was first published in Oregon Business Magazine in May, 2009 by Jennifer Margulis Driven by demand and nurtured in the diverse terrain, Southern Oregon\u2019s wine industry begins to come of age Talent\u2019s industrial strip along Highway 99 is lined with storage warehouses, auto body shops and junk stores. But turn down Rapp […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3869,"parent":1544,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"yoast_head":"\nA Region Uncorked: Southern Oregon's Thriving Wine Scene — Jennifer Margulis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jennifermargulis.net\/articles\/a-region-uncorked-southern-oregons-thriving-wine-scene\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Region Uncorked: Southern Oregon's Thriving Wine Scene — Jennifer Margulis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Region Uncorked was first published in Oregon Business Magazine in May, 2009 by Jennifer Margulis Driven by demand and nurtured in the diverse terrain, Southern Oregon\u2019s wine industry begins to come of age Talent\u2019s industrial strip along Highway 99 is lined with storage warehouses, auto body shops and junk stores. 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