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By Joseph V Micallef This is the first portion of a three-part series exploring the wines of southern Oregon. Subsequent columns will explore the wines and wineries of the Umpqua and Rogue Valley regions. Over the last several decades Oregon has emerged as a major wine producer. The Willamette Valley, in particular, has gained worldwide fame for its pinot noir. The valley has certainly become the center of Oregon’s wine universe, accounting for around 71 percent of the grapes grown in the state. Along the way it’s been forgotten that southern Oregon was the birthplace of Oregon’s wine industry. Grapes were first planted in the region in the mid-19th century. In the mid-1850s, Peter Britt, arguably Oregon’s first commercial wine producer planted a vineyard, Valley

May 1, 2019 Greatest of the Grape honors Umpqua Valley By OWP Staff Greatest of the Grape, Oregon’s oldest wine festival, continued its historical run with its 49th iteration on April 13, inside Douglas Hall at the Douglas County Fairgrounds — a new venue for the event. Presented by the Umpqua Valley Wineries Association, the gala featured 28 wineries alongside 14 local restaurants and caterers serving appetizers paired with the select wines. Richard Sommer, the first in Oregon to plant Pinot Noir and considered the father of Oregon’s modern wine industry, helped establish the event in 1970 as a wine-tasting supper held at the Umpqua Hotel in downtown Roseburg. At the time, Governor Tom McCall said about the Umpqua Valley,

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Cycle Umpqua comes to Umpqua Valley wineries! Take an Easy, Fun, Fine-Wine Ride Through Oregon’s Premier Cycling and Wine Region. Check it out on Cycle Umpqua.

By Eric Degerman on May 19, 2018 Abacela’s 2017 Estate Grenache Rosé has won gold medals at four West Coast wine competitions in 2018, including Experience Rosé in Sonoma. (Photo by Andy Perdue/Great Northwest Wine) HEALDSBURG, Calif. — Abacela in Southern Oregon continues to collect gold medals up and down the West Coast this year in the rosé category as its 2017 Grenache Rosé recently received a double gold medal at the Experience Rosé Competition staged in Sonoma. The five-year-old judging, which rebranded this year after its debut as Rosé Today, was orchestrated by Sonoma-based sommelier Debra Del Fiorentino. The 2018 competition generated 317 entries, signalling an increase of 37 percent, and included wines from Australia, France, Italy and Canada. This spring, Abacela, the Umpqua Valley winery

Visit the Umpqua Valley this holiday weekend! Celebrate Oregon Wine Month in the Umpqua Valley! Enjoy wine tasting and exploring the natural beauty of the Umpqua. Our 30+ wineries will be open and pouring wines over the holiday weekend.Make sure to pick up an Umpqua Valley Passport at your first winery. Five winery stamps gets you a free gift and then put in a drawing for 2 cases of Umpqua Valley wines! Here is a partial listing. Please see individual winery websites for exact hours, dates and tasting fees. Abacela Saturday & Sunday, 11 AM to 6 PM $15.00 entry, $7.50 club members, free for minors, drivers and Royal members. Wine tasting, nibbles and logo glass.   Brandborg Winery Saturday,

For Immediate Release Ken McGinnis kmcginnis@reustlevineyards.com Reustle-Prayer Rock Vineyards 2016 Grüner Veltliner “Best of Class” at San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition  This year’s San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition bestowed “Best of Class” honors on Reustle-Prayer Rock Vineyards 2016 Grüner Veltliner. Also showcasing well for Reustle-Prayer Rock Vineyards was their 2016 Riesling, 2016 Viognier, and 2014 Rojo Dulce – all winning Double Gold Medals. Reustle also took home Gold medals for the 2016 Grüner Veltliner – S, 2016 Matrix, and 2015 Pinot Noir. In addition Reustle-Prayer Rock Vineyards received Silver Medals for nine of their other wines. Obviously pleased with the performance of his wines, Owner/Winemaker Stephen M. Reustle stated, “ The San Francisco Chronicle is always a tough competition and to have

By Andy Perdue, Wine Press Northwest March 19, 2018  ROSEBURG, ORE. – — Pat Spangler, a former floor trader on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, turned a dilapidated Oregon winery into one of the best around, thanks to delicious winemaking and attention to detail. Spangler Vineyards is this year’s Oregon Winery of the Year. Spangler grew up on an Ohio sheep farm, far from anything resembling a winery. Right after graduating from high school in 1985, he ran into a friend in Columbus who was getting into making beer. The drinking age in Ohio then was 18, and Pat thought making his own beer sounded like fun, so he promptly become a home brewer. Four years later, he moved to Chicago to work at

For Immediate Release Ken McGinnis  kmcginnis@reustlevineyards.com   Reustle-Prayer Rock Vineyards 2015 Tempranillo & 2016 Grüner Veltliner-S “Best of Class” at Monetery International Wine Competition. Reustle-Prayer Rock Vineyards scored big at this year’s 25th anniversary Monterey International Wine Competition earning “Best of Class” honors and a Platinum Medal (94 points) for its 2015 Tempranillo and “Best of Class” and Platinum Medal (95 points) for its 2016 Grüner Veltliner – S. Reustle also won Gold Medals for their 2015 Merlot and 2015 Pinot Noir Reserve, while Silver Medals were awarded to their 2016 Syrah Reserve, 2016 Syrah, 2016 Malbec, 2015 Syrah Reserve, 2015 Pinot Noir, 2015 Tempranillo Reserve, 2015 Syrah, and 2016 Grüner Veltliner-Estate. Regarding Reustle’s Tempranillo, Judges from this years competition commented, “This massive

The 48th Annual Greatest of the Grape, presented by the Umpqua Valley Winegrowers Association at Seven Feathers Casino Resort, was held Saturday, March 3rd, 2018.   PEOPLES’ CHOICE AWARDS   The Greatest of the Grape  Winner: Abacela, 2014 Tempranillo-Malbec “Fifty-Fifty”   Reds Winner: Hillcrest Vineyard, 2015 Malbec-Tempranillo Runner Up: Bradley Vineyards, 2016 Ruby’s Red Whites Winner: Cooper Ridge Vineyard, 2016 Riesling Runner Up: Delfino Vineyards, 2016 SuBerwein Wine / Food Pairing Bradley Vineyards, 2016 Ruby’s Red with Tomaselli’s Pastry Mill & Cafe’s Cherry and Blackberry braised Beef Brisket Favorite Food Cow Creek Restaurant’s oven braised Pork Belly, Asparagus-Corn Relish, and Pimento Oil   PROFESSIONAL AWARDS   WINE JUDGING Gold Medals Cliff Creek Cellars, 2016 MRV  Becker Vineyard, 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon  Chateau Nonchalant, 2015 Malbec 

Reustle-Prayer Rock Vineyards, 2017 Northwest Winery of the Year, wins “Best of the Best!” title at Wine Press NW Platinum judging. Kennewick, WA. Eric Degerman of Wine Press NW reported, “Stephen Reustle caps his reign as the Pacific Northwest Winery of the Year by topping the 2017 Platinum Judging with his flagship bottling of Grüner Veltliner.” Wine Press Northwest’s 2017 Platinum Judging held in Kennewick, WA, awarded Stephen Reustle its top honor as his Reustle-Prayer Rock Vineyards 2014 Grüner Veltliner was awarded a DOUBLE PLATINUM Medal and was named “Best of the Best” winning the best of show. This year’s competition was marked by success across the spectrum of wine for Reustle, as he earned 4 Double Platinum Medals, 5

By Nancy Rodriguez, Oregon Valley Verve Magazine A convergence of three mountain ranges, the Klamath, the Cascades and the Coast Range created this region with a series of interconnecting small mountain ranges and valleys.  A convergence of another kind occurred when in the 1880’s pioneers with a vision and a passion traveled the Applegate Trail to create a “sense of place” in this valley of one hundred valleys. That interconnection led to the new frontier of winemaking and to a success that far exceeds the boundaries of the geographic limits or confines of time. “The fundamental idea of place led to success.”  Earl Jones, Abacela Standing on the threshold of the future and where the old world meets the new world,

by MJ Daspit, Wine Scene Magazine This year marks the 50th-anniversary of the first commercially-released vintage of Pinot Noir in Oregon. Only 200 cases were made in the Umpqua Valley’s Richard Sommer from his HillCrest estate grapes harvested in 1967. Of those 200 cases, only one case remains, carefully preserved by present HillCrest owners Dyson and Susan DeMara. As officially commemorated by Oregon House Resolution 4-A in 2011, Sommer was the first to plant Pinot Noir in Oregon in 1961. DeMara, who acquired HillCrest from Sommer in 2003, explains that Sommer propagated cuttings obtained in 1959 from Louis Martini’s famous Stanley Ranch, previously known as Talcoa Vineyard, the first vineyard planted in Napa Valley. Two years later, after the vines

DISCOVERING THE BIG THREE WINERIES IN SOUTHERN OREGON’S UMPQUA VALLEY by Christine Havens THE UMPQUA VALLEY has a streak of wildness to it. Sparsely populated, its towns lie scattered amidst a series of rugged, undulating hills thatched in spikey Douglas fir and black oak. The Umpqua River and its winding tributaries churn and tumble through a network of valleys formed by the collision of three mountain ranges—the Klamath, the Coast Range and the Cascades—before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. In the 1800s, prospectors dredged and panned sandbars of the South Umpqua and the Rogue rivers, in search of matchhead–sized nuggets of gold. It’s this dramatic history and landscape that colors the region, whose wines I had never tasted despite 15

Press Release: 47th Annual Greatest of the Grape Subject: Southern Oregon Wine Awards On Saturday, March 4, 2017 the 47th Annual Greatest of the Grape event was presented by the Umpqua Valley Winegrowers Association at Seven Feathers Casino Resort. This is the oldest celebration and recognition of wine and food pairing the Northwest which began 47 years ago. The gala event is organized by a group of volunteers that are members of the UVWA and those supportive of the local wine industry. Ali Spens, with Umpqua Bank, chaired the 2017 Greatest of the Grape this year and is quoted as saying “we had a sellout crowd and everyone was having fun, enjoying the great wine and delicious, creative food pairings