The state of Oregon was, at the close of 2013, home to almost 24,000 acres of vines, with 950 total vineyards and 605 wineries. Oregon wineries crushed 56,239 tons of fruit in 2013, putting the state in third place as a producer of vinifera wines and fourth, behind New York, in total grape acreage. In Oregon, much commercial focus is on Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, which in 2013 accounted for a combined 18,250 acres, or 75% of the state’s vineyards. Pinot Noir alone provided 58% of the state’s total harvest. By early 2015, the state claimed 18 AVAs in whole or in part. Three skirt the borders of Oregon and Idaho in eastern Oregon; the remainder fall along the western side of the Cascade Range, stretching from California to Washington in three nearly parallel growing regions, the Willamette Valley, Umpqua Valley, and Rogue Valley. The Willamette Valley is by far the state’s most important growing region: in 2013 it produced 73% of the state's grape harvest, and in many vintages the figure is closer to 80%. Oregon’s elevator pitch is pretty clear: the state makes Pinot Noir, and lots of it, mostly in the Willamette Valley.

Oregon AVAs

AVAs: Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills, Eola-Amity Hills, McMinnville, Ribbon Ridge, Chehalem Mountain, Yamhill-Carlton District

WILLAMETTE VALLEY

The Willamette Valley, a broad valley bounded by the Coast Range on the west and the Cascades on the east, was the end of the road for thousands of 19th-century pioneers traveling westward by wagon along the Oregon Trail. A land of promise then, the valley floor and its hillsides today are a patchwork of cropland: farmers grow every type of berry, hops, Christmas firs, hazelnut trees, and—of course—vinifera grapevines. The 3,430,000-acre Willamette Valley AVA itself essentially follows the contours of the V-shaped valley as it stretches 120 miles southward from the suburbs of Portland, through the towns of McMinnville and the state capital of Salem, to its narrowest point south of the city of Eugene. (A 10,000-acre extension southward, principally designed to incorporate the vineyards of King Estates, Oregon’s largest producer, will likely be approved in 2015.) The northern valley between Salem and Portland is home to almost 85% of the AVA’s Pinot Noir, and all six of the Willamette Valley’s smaller, nested AVAs are also located here, roughly encircling McMinnville. While some consumers tend to associate all of Oregon with Pinot Noir—and the grape does show up all over the state—it is this 40-mile-long, half moon-shaped corridor, amidst the foothills of the Coast Range in the northwestern valley, where the state’s reputation for world-class Pinot Noir was forged.

The Willamette Valley was among the first areas of the Pacific Northwest to grow grapes. As fur traders from Fort Vancouver retired, many traveled south across the Columbia and settled in the valley, bringing cuttings from the fort and establishing early vineyards near the Willamette River. There is evidence of a still appearing in the valley in 1835—whose owners professed to turn any good wine into brandy—but these early forays into viticulture, in a remote and lawless region of the world then claimed by both Britain and the young US, are difficult to substantiate. If the original Fort Vancouver vines were vinifera, the composition of the Willamette’s vineyards would change substantially with the steady arrival of American settlers in the 1840s. In 1847, amidst a treasure trove of other young fruit and nut trees that laid the foundation for many modern orchards, the settler Henderson Luellen brought a wealth of American vine cuttings to the valley. A horticulturalist named A.R. Shipley imported both American and vinifera grapes into Oregon in the 1860s, and by 1869 the Oregon State Fair was awarding prizes for “foreign” and American grapes. There is evidence of winemaking in the mid-19th century, but it is unclear just how much actual wine was produced from these early American vineyards in the Willamette Valley—the favored grapes were V. labrusca varieties like Concord and Catawba, and the favored use was for the table.

The modern story of the Willamette Valley begins in the mid-1960s with a cast of two: David Lett and Charles Coury. Like Richard Sommer in Umpqua Valley, both men traveled north from California seeking cooler climes for the grapevine. In 1965 Lett brought Pinot Noir to the Willamette Valley, establishing the original Eyrie Vineyard on a south-facing slope in the Dundee Hills in 1966. In 1965 Coury purchased an acreage and established his vineyards in the northernmost reaches of the valley, just northwest of the modern Chehalem Mountains AVA boundary. As patriarchs of winemaking in the Willamette Valley, the two men held divergent perspectives: Coury’s winemaking interests lay in modernizing production and providing everyday appeal, while Lett was seemingly more artisanal and introspective. According to his son (and current Eyrie winemaker) Jason Lett, David’s attraction to the Dundee Hills’ potential followed “years of careful climatic research.” Coury’s founding role has been diminished, perhaps unfairly, by the history books, and his vineyards today are part of David Hill Winery. Lett’s name, on the other hand, has been enshrined: he produced a 1975 Eyrie “South Block” Pinot Noir that entered competitions in Paris in 1979 and Beaune in 1980, finishing in third and second place, respectively. The second tasting, in which Eyrie competed amidst a blind flight of Burgundy grands crus assembled by Robert Drouhin, brought the Beaune négociant closer to purchasing Oregon property. Lett’s response to the sudden spotlight, inexplicably, was to take his “South Block” Pinot Noir off the market—for the next 27 years!

By the mid-1970s, a handful of other early pioneers had joined Coury and Lett in the Willamette Valley. Dick Erath planted his first vineyard in 1969, and Dick Ponzi founded Ponzi Vineyard in 1970. David Adelsheim planted his first vines among the Chehalem Mountains in 1972. Oregon geologist Scott Burns keeps it simple: “In the early days, it was just two Dicks and two Davids.” But interest was growing, and other projects slowly came online. Myron Redford planted the first vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills in 1970 and launched Amity Vineyards in 1974. Oak Knoll, a fruit winery located just 18 miles west of Portland, produced its inaugural vintage of Pinot Noir in 1973. Elk Cove was founded in 1974. Sokol Blosser harvested the estate’s first vintage in 1977 and the Casteel family of Bethel Heights planted their first vines in the same year. In 1984 John Paul founded Cameron Winery and John Thomas planted his now-legendary, eponymous vineyard. Ken Wright started Panther Creek in 1986. Many of these early pioneers, like Coury and Lett, ventured north from California, dreaming of world-class Pinot Noir. Their early aspirations gained validation in 1987, when Robert Drouhin purchased an estate in the Dundee Hills and declared that his family would grow Pinot Noir in two places—Burgundy and Oregon. His daughter Véronique made Domaine Drouhin’s first Oregon wine the following year. By 1990, there were 70 bonded wineries in Oregon, and most of them broke ground here, in the Willamette Valley. 

Part of the Willamette Valley’s allure, reinforced by the Drouhin family’s Dundee Hills purchase in 1987, is in its climatic similarity to Burgundy. The two regions nearly align in terms of latitude, as the 45th parallel runs right through the northern Willamette Valley. They are broadly similar in both degree-day averages—Burgundy and the Willamette Valley both fall into Region I—and annual growing season temperatures. However, these averages are achieved differently. The Côte d’Or’s season is compressed and shorter; it sees summer temperature spikes that surpass those of Willamette Valley, and its temperatures rise and fall more sharply in the spring and fall. Data compiled by Greg Jones (Dept. of Environmental Studies, Southern Oregon University) illustrates the point: on average, budbreak in the Willamette Valley occurs one week before budbreak in the Côte d’Or, yet véraison and harvest typically begin later, five to seven days after commencing in Burgundy. Amount and timing of rainfall in Burgundy and Oregon also differ. In Salem, average annual rainfall is approximately 40 inches (1020 mm). Rainfall may dip slightly in the western areas nearest the Coast Range, but overall the Willamette Valley has a wetter climate than Burgundy. Most of its precipitation, however, occurs in the winter months, whereas more than 50% of Burgundy’s annual rains fall during the growing season. Rot therefore becomes less of a worry in Oregon’s dry summers than to the vignerons of Burgundy. Concomitantly, day length in Burgundy and the Willamette Valley are similar, but summer rainfall in Burgundy affects total sunshine hours. And finally, with a run of recent hail-shattered vintages in the Côte de Beaune, Oregon vintners can breathe a sigh of relief—the Willamette Valley might see hail impact a vintage one year out of 50. 

LIVE:In 1997, a small group led by Ted Casteel of Bethel Heights and Carmo Vasconcelos of Oregon State University created the Low Input Viticulture and Enology (LIVE) Program. The non-profit organization is committed to a more sustainable future for its member wineries and promotes an overall reduction in the number of raw materials—from water to chemical fertilizers and pesticides—required in the vineyard and winery. LIVE offers third-party sustainability certification for vineyards and wineries in Oregon (since 1999) and Washington (since 2006). Wineries may use the LIVE logo on labels, provided the winery is LIVE-certified and at least 97% of the grapes come from a LIVE-certified vineyard. Wines produced in non-certified wineries may add this phrase instead: “made with LIVE-certified grapes.” Many of Willamette Valley’s top wineries now carry LIVE certification.

About 50% of Oregon’s total vineyard acreage has been certified as sustainable through third-party agencies like LIVE, but the Willamette Valley faces its fair share of pest problems. Bird pressure, for example, is perennially high as the Willamette Valley is positioned in a migratory pathway. If left unchecked, a single flock can peck apart an entire vineyard on its journey south, and birds are particularly damaging in later harvests. Grape rust mites are a nuisance in the springtime, and rodents like gophers and voles are a constant headache for growers. Below ground, phylloxera made its first recorded appearance in the Willamette Valley in 1990, and many of the Willamette Valley’s most historic, own-rooted vineyards now live with infestation. While its overall spread remains thankfully spotty, most growers choose to replant with resistant rootstocks in precaution. And unlike Burgundy, where soil tilling is usually a necessary part of the sustainable arsenal, tilling has become an unfashionable practice in the Willamette Valley. Here growers don’t need to return life to a dead soil; breaking up the topsoil only contributes to the spread of phylloxera, nematodes, and other undesirable bugs while ruining the water-holding capacity of a soil in Oregon’s dry summers.

How does the Willamette Valley compare to the Columbia Valley, its northeastern neighbor? It shares some climatic features with the western Columbia Gorge, but its growing conditions are markedly different from most of Washington’s wine regions. West of the Cascades, the Willamette Valley does not wrestle with the extremes of hot or cold that characterize the Columbia Valley, nor is it wracked by aridity. Dry-farming is possible, and irrigation is often used sparingly; it is applied principally to establish young plants, to navigate the driest periods in late summer, and to endure those years in which drought conditions manifest. Mold and rot are certainly less pronounced than in Burgundy, but the Willamette Valley faces greater pressure from powdery mildew and botrytis than eastern Washington. Growers must spray vigilantly. One of the clearest distinctions drawn between Washington and the Willamette Valley, however, is a line in the soil. The Missoula Floods that washed through Washington and poured out the Wallula Gap flooded the Willamette Valley as well, and the original AVA boundaries were marked to match the floodwaters’ reach. In Washington, growers rely on the nutrient-rich soils but cope with extreme water stress—they need soil vigor because they are farming a desert. In the Willamette Valley, where soil moisture is rarely a problem, growers instead rely on nutrient-depleted soils to restrain vine vigor. To do this, most vineyards are planted on slopes above 275 ft., raising them up from the flood-deposited soils and frost-prone valley floor. 800-900 ft. is generally the maximum elevation for quality red wine vineyards in the Willamette Valley. In contrast, at that elevation the Columbia Valley’s vineyards would still face a desperate struggle against frosts and freeze!

In the Willamette Valley, there are four major soil types derived from four different underlying geologies. Three of them—uplifted marine sediments, volcanic soils, and loess—are reasonably nutrient-poor and important for quality wine production. Notably, there is no limestone or marl in the Willamette Valley.

• Uplifted Marine Sediments: More common on the western side of the valley, these nutrient-poor soils are derived from sandstone and shale that once composed the ocean floor—the entirety of western Oregon was under the sea until the rise of the Coast Range and Cascades about 15 million years ago. Layered marine sediments thus form the oldest bedrock in the Willamette Valley. The Willakenzie series in the northern Willamette Valley and the Bellpine series in the south are examples of soils derived from uplifted marine sediment. They tend to be sandier and thinner than the volcanic soils. Pinot Noir wines produced on marine sedimentary soils are typically noted as darker in color and fruit profile. 

• Volcanic Soils: As the Cascades rose upward some 15-17 million years ago, lava flows poured westward from the chain’s highly active volcanoes, covering the still-submerged valley floor in basalt. Today’s reddish volcanic soils are depleted and weathered, formed atop this underlying basalt parent rock. The Jory series, named for Jory Hill in Salem, is the best-known volcanic soil type in the Willamette Valley (and the state’s “official” soil, thanks to Scott Burns). The Nekia series, a shallower volcanic soil, is also common in the area. The volcanic soils in the Willamette Valley tend to contain more clay and therefore have a higher water-holding capacity than other soil series in the region. Tasters often ascribe a lighter color and a red fruit profile to Pinot Noir wines produced on volcanic soils here. 

• Loess: A windblown soil, loess swept into the Willamette Valley over the last 2.6 million years and is now anchored onto many of the northeastern-facing hillsides of the northern valley. Unlike the young loess soils of Washington, these reddish silt soils predate the last ice age and are often intermixed with basalt-derived soils and marine sediments rather than the more fertile flood sediments. Examples include the Laurelwood, Cornelius, and Cascade series.

• Missoula Flood Deposits: These flood-borne sediments arrived as recently as 12,000 years ago, as the cyclical Missoula Floods roared through the Wallula Gap and the Columbia Gorge, spilling out into the valley. Today about 10% of the Willamette Valley’s vineyards are on these low-lying, deep, fertile soils; they compose the valley floor and are best purposed for other forms of agriculture. Woodburn is the primary series.

In the Willamette Valley, growers have borrowed viticultural techniques and plant material from both Burgundy and California, but the result has been to create a distinctive and evolving Pinot Noir culture for Oregon. The valley’s oldest Pinot Noir vineyards were planted by UC Davis grads with the Wädenswil (UCD 1A and 2A) and Pommard (UCD 4 and UCD 5) clones of Pinot Noir—cuttings taken from their alma mater. The Pommard clone was an early favorite, as it seemed to generate lusher, darker fruit and spice flavors, even as Eyrie’s eye-opening “South Block” Pinot Noir was a product of Wädenswil. Ultimately, however, most early planting decisions were based strictly on availability and a clone’s resistance to disease. Understanding of a clone’s impact on final wine character became more widespread with the arrival of the Dijon clones in the 1980s. David Adelsheim had convinced Raymond Bernard to share his new clones of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with Oregon’s young winemaking scene years earlier during a visit to Burgundy, and his efforts finally bore fruit: Bernard’s clones, nicknamed “Dijon” from the shipping container’s return address, made their (legal) debut in the United States in 1984. After a short quarantine at Oregon State University, the new clones—including 113, 114, 115, 667, and 777—were made available for commercial planting in 1988. With the introduction of the Dijon clones, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir producers could significantly expand the winemaking palette for Pinot Noir.

The architecture of the Pinot Noir vineyard in the early days was also borrowed from California: the earliest vineyards were own-rooted, planted at low densities with 10-12 ft. between rows, and trained along high trellises. Nowadays, one sees different approaches. Most new Pinot Noir vineyards are planted on phylloxera-resistant and devigorating rootstocks. Spacing between the vines, while rarely as tight as the 1x1 meter (3x3 ft.) plantings of the Côte d’Or, has shrunk considerably: modern vineyards often leave 3.5-7 ft. between rows and 3-5 ft. from one vine to the next. Canopy height has been reduced as well. As growers seek to limit vigor through density, rootstock choice, cover crops and restricted tillage, older trellising systems designed to control vigor by dividing the canopy become less attractive. Thus, once-common trellising systems like the Lyre or Oregon’s own Scott Henry have been replaced by Guyot training and a vertical trellis in newer plots. Finally, one factor of site selection itself is changing: classic sites—and some of the best Pinot Noir vineyards in the Willamette Valley today—are south- or southeast-facing, but growers are beginning to look more seriously at the north slopes, eyeing an uncertain future climate.

As a wine, it is difficult to pinpoint an exact Willamette Valley style of Pinot Noir, as it is subject to every manner of winemaker interpretation. One can say that Willamette Pinot generally has brighter acidity and lower pH than its cousins in California, yet it exhibits greater fruit ripeness than the wines of Burgundy. Alcohol levels typically fall into the 13-14% range, and in some years and some vineyards chaptalization is required—it is legal in Oregon, unlike in California. Some are more tannic than others, driven in part by a vineyard’s proximity to the windy Van Duzer Corridor (see McMinnville and Eola-Amity Hills, below). As in any other Pinot Noir-growing region, one can find adherents for whole cluster fermentations (e.g. Cristom and White Rose) but the “classic” style is more likely de-stemmed. And while some lavishly oaked high-end wines exist (from producers like Domaine Serene, Antica Terra and the new, ultra-ambitious Chapter 24) many of the region’s most emblematic wines are limited in this regard—an economic reality for some, a stylistic choice for others. What one can say without equivocation is that this was the first great Pinot Noir wine region to emerge in the United States, and likely the first region in the world to prove that great Pinot Noir can be made outside the confines of Burgundy.

Dundee Hills AVA (est. 2004)

The Dundee Hills AVA encompasses a 6,490-acre, vine-covered mass of hills rising above the flat northwestern Willamette Valley floor near the town of Dundee. The AVA’s elevation ranges from 200 ft. to 1,067 ft.—the highest summit in the hills. Originally, the proposal called for a “Red Hills of Dundee” AVA, reflecting the hills’ nearly uniform red Jory series soils. The hills’ elevation limits frost exposure, provides better air drainage to shield against botrytis, and brings the vineyards up and out of the valley floor’s vigorous flood-borne soils. With 2,000 acres under vine, the Dundee Hills is the most densely planted region in Oregon, and the most historic. It is the site of the original Eyrie Vineyard—as well as four newer vineyards in the winery’s portfolio, all tended by the Jason Lett, David’s son—and its neighbors include Sokol Blosser, Domaine Drouhin, Archery Summit, and Domaine Serene. Famed sites include Maresh Vineyard, Abbey Ridge, and the Thomas Vineyard. Pinot Noir in the Dundee Hills has the potential to produce the Willamette Valley’s most delicate and perfumed wines.

Yamhill-Carlton District AVA (est. 2004)

The horseshoe-shaped AVA surrounds the communities of Yamhill and Carlton, located north of McMinnville and west of the Dundee Hills AVA. Nestled in the foothills of the Coast Range, the AVA’s soils are derived entirely from uplifted marine sediments, and the appellation ranges from 200-1,000 ft. in elevation. Major wineries within the AVA include Elk Cove, Ken Wright, and Penner-Ash. Shea Vineyard is the AVA’s most important site.

Chehalem Mountains AVA (est. 2006)

A 20-mile-long uplifted range of hills and ridges just 19 miles southwest of Portland, the Chehalem Mountains protrude from the foothills of the Coast Range, framed by the Tualatin River and the Willamette Valley floor. The Chehalem Mountains rise in elevation from 200 ft. to 1,633 ft. (the summit of Bald Peak, the highest point in the Willamette Valley) and collect more rain than the lower-lying areas of the valley floor. Capped by madrone forests—which early pioneers mistook for laurel—the northern flanks and hillsides in the range are covered with wind-deposited Laurelwood soils, and experience the coolest average temperatures of any winegrowing hillsides on the western side of the valley. Soils on the southern and western slopes are more typically derived from volcanic or marine sedimentary layers, and grapes tend to ripen earlier. Dick Erath planted the region’s first vineyard in 1968, and Erath’s fellow Willamette Valley pioneers Ponzi and Adelsheim are among the producers calling the Chehalem Mountains AVA home today. The Ribbon Ridge AVA is located within the Chehalem Mountains AVA.

Ribbon Ridge AVA (est. 2005)

The Ribbon Ridge AVA is a single spur extending southward from the Chehalem Mountains. It reaches 683 ft. in elevation, and at 3,350 acres it is the smallest AVA within the Willamette Valley. Soils on Ribbon Ridge are predominantly Willakenzie series, and rainfall is slightly lower than in the nearby Dundee Hills and Yamhill-Carlton District AVAs. With fewer than 300 acres currently under vine, it is home to only a few producers, including Beaux Frères and Brick House. However, its small size makes it one of the most densely planted areas in the entire Chehalem Mountains AVA.

McMinnville AVA (est. 2005)

Named for the town on its northeastern edge, McMinnville is located in Yamhill County and is the westernmost of the Willamette Valley’s nested AVAs. It sits squarely in the mouth of the Van Duzer Corridor, a gap in the Coastal Mountains through which cool, constant Pacific winds blow. One winemaker describes the Van Duzer winds as “catastrophic”; the effect is to denude vines, to reduce berry size and crop load, to produce thicker skins, and to create general stress for the vine and grower. Vineyard sites often occupy east-facing slopes in shelter from the west winds. The constant gusts do reduce fungal issues and create denser, more tannic Pinot Noir wines, loaded with darker fruit flavors and pigment. With open access to the coast’s cooling influence, McMinnville experiences the greatest diurnal shift in the entire Willamette Valley: nighttime temperatures can plummet in the summertime by 40-50° F. Rainfall is also slightly less here than in AVAs further east as the Coast Range creates its own small rain shadow effect, and McMinnville has no defining geology—its vineyards lie on a complicated tangle of marine sedimentary and volcanic layers. With the Van Duzer Corridor's impact recalling Mistral winds, this may be an interesting location for Syrah in the future.

Eola-Amity Hills AVA (est. 2006)

The Eola and Amity Hills are clustered between the towns of Amity and Salem and together comprise the southernmost AVA in the Willamette Valley. Eola-Amity Hills was one of the last of the region’s nested AVAs to gain TTB approval—after encountering opposition from Eola Hills Wine Cellars, the petitioners added “Amity” to push it through. The name Eola, however, allows one to more accurately infer the AVA’s chief climatic element: wind. Like windblown “eolian” soils, the name Eola is derived from Aeolus, Greek god of winds, and the AVA itself sits directly east of the Van Duzer Corridor. The winds aren’t as punishing as in McMinnville, but Pinot Noir from the region nonetheless tends to exhibit a more rugged tannic structure, deeper color, and more pronounced acidity than in areas further north. As in McMinnville, the coastal winds increase in the afternoons, and the AVA experiences one of the widest diurnal shifts in all of Willamette Valley, with slightly cooler average temperatures than most other areas further north. Thus, despite its hot summer afternoons and southerly location, Pinot Noir often ripens one to two weeks later here than in the Dundee Hills.

Vineyards on the AVA’s eastern hillsides are typically planted on basaltic soils—Nekia series soils are most common—while the western hillsides contain more marine sediment. Only a few vineyards are planted on the extreme western slopes; most lie among the hills or along their far eastern flanks, shielded from the direct battery of wind. Evening Land’s Seven Springs Vineyard, Domaine Serene’s low-elevation Jerusalem Hill, and Roserock, a site purchased in late 2013 by Domaine Drouhin, are important sites fanning along the hills’ eastern edge. The AVA’s densest cluster of vineyards, however, lies in the center of the hills, just north of Spring Valley Creek. Here, Bethel Heights, Justice Vineyard, Temperance Hill, and Argyle’s Spirit Hill—a high-elevation site employed in sparkling wine production—are adjacent to one another, marking the core of the AVA.

Van Duzer Corridor AVA (est. 2019)

Bounded by the Eola-Amity Hills to the east and the Coastal Range to the west, the Van Duzer Corridor AVA is a more recent addition to the cohort of nested Willamette Valley AVAs. It is named for the low point in the coastal hills that funnels in the cold winds that shape the region. The Van Duzer Corridor AVA sits at lower elevation than the surrounding AVAs and is characterized by marine sedimentary soils. One of the coldest and windiest areas in the Willamette, the area was once considered too marginal for grapegrowing, but the high natural acidity and concentration of the fruit produced under these conditions is gaining greater appreciation. Van Duzer, Johan, and Firesteed were among the first wineries to make their homes in the region.

Two additional nested appellations, the Laurelwood District and Tualatin Hills AVAs, were approved in 2020. These new AVAs are located just outside of Portland, within the Willamette Valley AVA, and share characteristic Laurelwood-loess soils. Lower Long Tom AVA, Willamette's southernmost appellation, was approved in 2021. In 2022, Mount Pisgah Polk County Oregon AVA joined the ranks of nested AVA's within the Willamette. 

White Wines in the Willamette Valley

Clearly this is Pinot Noir country, and David Lett receives credit for planting the Willamette Valley’s first Pinot Noir grapes. However, in 1966 he also planted the first commercial plot of Pinot Gris in North America, and an Eyrie 1970 Pinot Gris was the first wine in the United States to carry the name of the now-commonplace variety on the label. Pinot Gris, Oregon’s leading white grape and second most planted variety overall, has continued to experience great success in the marketplace, and is produced in various styles—some fruit-driven, some more textural and spicy, some dry, some finished with a little residual sugar. Still, many wineries view Pinot Gris as an entry-level wine and look to other white varieties to produce wines of contemplation.

For a region so acclimated to Pinot Noir, the Willamette Valley historically has struggled with its usual bedmate Chardonnay. In the 20th century many sought to emulate the tropical flavors and rich textures then popular amongst California Chardonnay producers but lacked the warmth and ripeness to do so successfully. Willamette Valley producers have benefitted from a return to elegance as a preference in Chardonnay style, less reliance on new oak, and a greater diversity and savvier understanding of clonal material. The original Chardonnay material, a Wente selection from Napa’s Spring Mountain Vineyards, came with David Lett in 1965. At David Adelsheim’s behest, Dijon Chardonnay clones arrived in the 1980s and were first released from quarantine at the end of the decade. They were immediately adopted by Argyle, Domaine Drouhin, and others, and have adapted more successfully in the cooler climate of the Willamette Valley than in California. Today most new plantings are Dijon clones, but growers are increasingly exploring the potential of massale selections as the clones adapt to their new home in Oregon. Willamette Valley Chardonnay has long been sidelined, but in the 2010s Oregon’s second most planted white variety is experiencing a revival of fortunes.

Riesling and Pinot Blanc are the state’s third and fourth most planted varieties, respectively, and both are capable of generating great wines in the Willamette Valley. As in Washington, Riesling became a popular variety in the 1970s and once accounted for almost one-quarter of the young wine state’s total production. Richard Sommer first planted Riesling in Umpqua Valley in 1961, but today most of the 700-odd acres of the variety are cultivated in the Willamette Valley. The Oregon Riesling Alliance, a trade organization, counts over three-dozen wineries as members; most are likewise located in the northern Willamette Valley. (Brooks Winery, located in the Eola-Amity Hills, is one of the grape’s most passionate advocates in the state, producing numerous single vineyard bottlings across the entire spectrum of sweetness.) Pinot Blanc is also showing promise, despite a total state acreage of fewer than 250 acres in 2014. The grape had a rougher entry into Oregon—the “Pinot Blanc” among David Lett’s original UC Davis cuttings turned out to be Mélon de Bourgogne, and the real thing wasn’t available for commercial planting until the mid-1980s. Cameron Winery produced Oregon’s first Pinot Blanc in 1988.

SOUTHERN OREGON

AVAs: Southern Oregon, Umpqua Valley, Red Hill Douglas County Oregon, Elkton Oregon, Applegate Valley

Past Eugene, the southern Willamette Valley tapers to a point and the landscape becomes progressively more mountainous as one nears the California border. The Cascade, Coast, and Klamath Ranges merge and tangle, creating numerous small, sheltered valleys. Amidst these mountains two winegrowing regions, the Umpqua Valley and Rogue Valley, form the 2,285,000-acre Southern Oregon AVA, an aggregate AVA stretching 125 miles from south of Eugene to the California border. Its northern boundary is nearly adjacent to the last southern sliver of the Willamette Valley AVA, yet the two regions are worlds apart in terms of recognition. When wine consumers—and frankly, much of the trade—hear Oregon, they immediately think of Pinot Noir and its home base, Willamette Valley. Wines from the south are unknown. The Southern Oregon AVA thus debuted in 2004 to arm its various winegrowing regions with a cohesive identity in the marketplace, a means of differentiation. It represents a reversal of the typical approach, in which a broad winegrowing region is first delimited and sub-regions gain individual AVA acceptance afterward. Here, the Umpqua Valley and Rogue Valley AVAs were already in place, granted in 1984 and 1991, respectively.

The climate of Southern Oregon AVA’s valleys has more in common with inland Northern Californian regions—think Lake County—than the Willamette. The growing season here is truncated, with a greater danger of early fall frosts than in the prime vineyards of the Willamette Valley. Diurnal shifts are often greater, and growing degree-day medians across the southern AVAs tend to be 100-300 higher (°C) than in the Willamette Valley’s AVAs. In those smaller areas where most grapes are actually grown, degree-day averages throughout a season can be closer to 1000° higher. Nonetheless, the AVAs of Southern Oregon are generally considered Region I, and Pinot Noir still represents about one-fifth of the total plantings in the southern part of the state—and it’s a poorly kept state secret that a lot of this fruit supplements the production of wineries further north. Syrah, Merlot, and Pinot Gris also enjoy substantial acreage in the south, prodded along by its slightly warmer climate. Greg Jones, who authored the Southern Oregon AVA petition, draws some comparisons between the climates of Ribera del Duero in Spain and the Umpqua Valley; as such Tempranillo shows great promise in Southern Oregon and makes up about 5% of the total vineyard.

UMPQUA VALLEY

AVAs: Umpqua Valley, Elkton Oregon, Red Hill Douglas County, Oregon

The Umpqua Valley AVA surrounds the city of Roseburg in Douglas County, at the heart of Oregon’s timber industry. It encompasses the entirety of the Umpqua River watershed and its many interconnected valleys—the “hundred valleys of the Umpqua,” formed by the river and its tributaries as they meander toward the ocean. The AVA is 65 miles long by 25 miles wide, and it contains two nested AVAs: Elkton Oregon AVA, its coolest and wettest sector; and Red Hill Douglas County, Oregon AVA, a remote area with only a small handful of vineyards, where the ground is colored red by Jory soils.

As in other parts of Oregon, winegrowing in the Umpqua Valley has 19th-century roots. In modern-day Red Hill Douglas County, Jesse Applegate planted the region’s first vineyard near the town of Yoncalla in 1876. His grapes were likely destined for the table, but two German immigrants, Edward and John Von Pessl, planted vinifera vines and actually produced wines near Roseburg in the 1880s. Adam Doerner followed suit a decade later. Doerner’s winery survived Prohibition and its founder’s death, remaining in operation through 1965—long enough to witness the beginning of a new age in Umpqua, and Oregon, wine.

In 1961, Richard Sommer discarded his UC Davis colleagues’ criticisms of Oregon’s suitability for quality winegrowing, and bought a farm in Umpqua Valley. Sommer planted Oregon’s first Pinot Noir grapes (right next to a plot of Cabernet Sauvignon) and established what is now the state’s oldest estate winery, Hillcrest Vineyards. Spurred by Sommer’s successes, Paul Bjelland founded the now-defunct Bjelland Vineyards in Umpqua Valley in 1968 and the Oregon Winegrowers Association in 1969. Scott Henry, inventor of the double-curtain trellising system that bears his name, founded Henry Estate in Umpqua Valley in 1972. Jonicole Vineyards (now Spangler) broke ground in 1973. In a region known historically for its lumber and cattle, wine grapes slowly gained a new foothold. Today, there are about 1,500 acres of wine grapes in Umpqua Valley and nearly three-dozen producers of wine. Abacela, founded by Greg Jones’ father Earl in the mid-1990s, is the appellation’s leading producer, making a case for world-class Tempranillo in Oregon. The estate vineyards of King Estates, the largest producer in Oregon and a key early proponent of Pinot Gris, are positioned just outside of the Umpqua Valley AVA boundary, southwest of Eugene.

ROGUE VALLEY

AVAs: Rogue Valley, Applegate Valley

Rogue Valley AVA is Oregon’s southernmost winegrowing region, comprising the Valley of the Rogue River itself and those of three tributaries: Illinois Valley, Applegate Valley, and Bear Creek Valley. Overall, the Rogue Valley is the warmest winegrowing region in all of Oregon, with some areas recording Region II heat summation levels comparable to Bordeaux. In warmer years, like 2013 and 2014, the heat summation tallies can even reach levels commensurate with Region III. The region’s most densely planted areas are the hillsides of the Applegate Valley, an independent AVA since 2000; and Bear Creek, the warmest and most inland of Rogue Valley’s sub-regions, stretching between Medford and Ashland. The Illinois Valley is nearest to the coast, where the climate can be cooler and rainy, but the sheer size of the Klamath Range limits maritime influence throughout much of the AVA. The peaks here tower above those of the Coast Range further north, often reaching 7,000-8,000 ft. in elevation and sapping moisture from the Pacific air. In their rain shadow, Applegate Valley and Bear Creek Valley are the driest winegrowing areas west of the Cascades in Oregon, recording as little as 10-18 inches annually in some years. In Applegate Valley vineyard elevations ascend to almost 2,000 ft. above sea level, making it the highest point for viticulture in Oregon as well. 

The Rogue River cuts due west through the Klamath Mountains at Grants Pass, making it the only true east-west river system south of the Columbia in Oregon (although its tributary rivers all flow northwest). Its valleys, etched deeply into the surrounding mountains, drew their first wave of white settlers in 1851 with the discovery of gold at Rich Gulch. Peter Britt, a Swiss photographer and horticulturalist, was among them; he settled near Medford and in the mid-1850s planted the region’s first vineyard with Mission grape cuttings from California. Britt founded Valley View Winery in the 1870s and planted a wealth of new vinifera grapes, possibly even Pinot Noir. But Prohibition killed the small Rogue Valley wine industry, and in the modern era the Rogue Valley got a slower start than the Umpqua Valley. A smattering of tiny vineyards appeared by the early 1970s, and in 1978 Siskiyou Winery (Illinois Valley) and a new, unrelated Valley View Winery (Applegate Valley) were bonded as the first wineries in the Rogue Valley’s modern rebirth as a winegrowing region.

By the end of the 2000s, the Rogue Valley AVA contained over 40 wineries and more than 110 vineyards. Average vineyard plots tend to be smaller in the Rogue Valley than in the Umpqua Valley—often six or seven acres apiece rather than 18 or 20—but the AVA’s most famous vineyard site, Del Rio, is also its largest, with 375 acres of vines. Several major producers are based in the Rogue Valley, including Bridgeview and Foris, and the smaller biodynamic estate Cowhorn has emerged as a quality leader for Rhône-style white and red wines in the region.