Located about mid-way between Portland, Oregon and San Francisco, California, Southern Oregon is an amazing vacation destination and oenophile’s delight.
A paradise for lovers of the great outdoors and great wines, Southern Oregon offers you mountains, rivers, green forests, pastoral plains, and vineyards planted to umpteen grape varieties. As a growing region, the Southern Oregon AVA stretches 125 miles south of Eugene to the California border, and 60 miles between the Cascade Mountain Range to the east and the Coast Range to the west. While this beautiful area provides the warmest growing conditions in Oregon, its hillsides and valleys provide an array of microclimates where cool-climate grapes successfully grow. So, expect to find an amazing amount of diversity while touring and tasting.
Besides sampling wine, Southern Oregon is full of things to see like Crater Lake National Park, the Oregon Caves National Monument and Historic Chateau, the Redwood forests, and the Rogue, Umpqua, and Klamath Rivers.
About the Wines
The Applegate Valley, Red Hills Douglas County, and the Rogue, Illinois, and Umpqua Valleys are the region’s sub-appellations. Cooler areas produce wonderful Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Gewürztraminer; while the warmer, more arid regions ripen big reds such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Tempranillo, Merlot, Malbec, Dolcetto, Zinfandel, Grenache, and Syrah. Other unique varieties like Albariño, Pinot Blanc, Grüner Veltliner, Marsanne, Roussanne, Baco Noir,Marechal Foch, Mourvèdre, Sémillon, Petite Sirah, and Viognier also do well here, so you’ll be delighted by the variety awaiting you in the tasting rooms.
Touring & Tasting is a media company that produces a wine and travel magazine and is also partner in the Hitched Wine Club.
Steve Cooper is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Hitched. You can follow him on Twitter at @hitchedmedia.
