Hoorah for Syrah

What makes the Umpqua Valley AVA so amazing? Why, the diversity, of course. We live in Vitis vinifera heaven! At some wineries you'd think that they just went " inny meeny minny mo" and planted whatever came up. But there's one grape that seems to keep popping up: Syrah.

So many of our wineries make a great Syrah that I'm casting my vote for this Rhone grape as our signature varietal. Others appear to agree. Of 28 wines entered in this year's "Greatest of the Grape" it was a Syrah that took top honors in the professional judging.

And what's not to like about Syrah? Full-bodied yet not over powering with that distinct black pepper nose, this is a red wine drinkers dream come true. Yet another reason to keep coming back to the wineries of the Umpqua Valley.

Proud to be an Umpqua Wineau!

My mission is to promote the Umpqua Valley AVA. I have tried to encourage discussion of our wines on various forums to no avail. Seems that if you are excited about your own AVA then you are labeled as "self-promoting" which is a no-no.


But I can't be other than an unabashed "prophet crying in the wilderness" for the amazing wine makers of the Umpqua Valley AVA, so I will confine my enthusiasm to this blog. Apparently no one else is interested in talking about our wines.

My message is to wine lovers of the world to alert them to the fact that they have another Destination to add to their list. True wine enthusiasts travel the planet looking for the next great wine. This is a life long quest and I don't want people to stop their quest here either. Keep Exploring!

So Far: So Good!

I believe one of the greatest attractions of the Umpqua Valley AVA is the fact that all our wineries are family owned. No mega corporations kowtowing to the shareholders, pumping out unremarkable wines to meet the bottom line. Here you're more likely to meet the wine maker behind the tasting bar.

That owner may be Terri or Jim Delfino. With the finishing touches being performed on their new tasting room, we wine lovers have another haven to beat a hasty retreat to. And what a spot! Seems each new tasting room adds another "can't be beat view" to the list. Delfino Vineyards has all the right stuff, starting with great wine! Duh!

So make plans to visit this new tasting room to sample the scrumptious reds on their list. A top of the heap Syrah, a beefy Tempranillo, a chewy Dolcetto, and a Zinfandel that's no slouch. Order a bottle of their Vin Gris de Zinfandel for a picnic overlooking the pond and vines!

Come for the wine, stay for the peaceful Umpqua Valley views. What a marvilous job the Delfino's have done. Give them a call at 673-7575.

"Spill the wine..."

Wine is an amazing thing. To some it is the very blood of Christ. To others it is forbidden. And to our friends it is the focus of their lives. We either make it or we are there to lap up the latest release. So it may come as no surprise when I recount the story of The Gopher Hole.

It was a typically beautiful Oregon night and about a dozen of us wino's had formed a ring around a little camp fire kettle. The conversation was squarly on the wine being heartily consumed. I sat across the fire from a local wine maker. Suddenly the expression of his face chanced dramatically.

That look of shock that comes from losing your grip on gravity had come over his face. He was going down. Down a gopher hole that is! The leg of his plastic lawn chair had slowly discovered one of many abandoned holes left by the little devils. Now it sank rapidly into the hole.

I am here to witness that his wine glass never lost its level aspect to the ground. All the while he was tousled backward and downward, landing on his back on the lawn, his wine glass gyrated in a perfect plane with the earth. He hadn't spilled a drop!


You can talk a big game but when it comes down to you or the wine, those of us that call ourselves wine enthusiasts know what is valuable on this good earth. Broken bones vs. spilled wine. Just bring me a bottle of wine when you visit me in the hospital!

EXCUSE ME!

I spend a lot of time trying to educate people in the ediquate of the tasting room. Geez, I poured wine for 6 years and I've seen it all. One of my favorite was the guy who obviously could care less what I was pouring as long as it had booze in it. He went down the entire tasting list in two minutes. Gulp, Gulp, Gulp.

While I admit that this is the extreme "poor" taste, there are a vast majority of folks who don't get it. My biggest pet peeve is the "I own this wine bar" taster. Just the other day at a local tasting room a group of women out for a good time by hiring a limo, were "parked" at the tasting bar, monopolizing the whole thing. Diane and I had brought our tour clients in the winery only to have them stand at the side while the girls enjoyed the food set out on the bar. They never once moved aside.

To me this is the height of the ugly American. Rude and inconsiderate. So if no one ever told you, get your taste and step aside to let those in back of you get their taste. Why is this such a hard concept? Diane and I once allowed another couple to step to the bar only to have them set up shop. We had to reach around them to get our next taste!!!

Any more, people are loathed to reprimand anyone in public. The little kid drops his candy wrapper and we look the other way! (Not me!) No wonder the rude behavior is getting worse. Do your part and ask those bar-huggers to share the place!

The Good Life!

Why drink wine? My answer is simple. It takes me away from the mundane everyday life and transports me to the sunny slopes of some far-off vineyard, where tranquility rules and all are friends. Wine is a mystery.

The prevalent mood seems to be fear these days. Terrorists, taxes, drugs, Republicans! But the fruit of the vine cares little for the human condition. It occupies a world of open fields, sunshine, sweetness, and love of the land. All it asks of you is to enjoy a moment of peace and remembrance of a simple life.

Wine is not complicated. It's rotten fruit in a bottle! What it is though is a record of a time and place. Diane and I were amazed when on a wine tour in Burgundy we learned how wine made from vines just rows apart could be entirely different. One side of the road could be a Grand Cru and the other side just so-so. Amazing. That is why drinking wine is not about the "buzz" (drink Bud if you want to get stupid) but about place. Transporting your mind and soul to a magical mystical world. Inside that world you can let go of the "crush" of everyday life and slip away to another realm.

Can't see the Grapes for the Vineyards

At the recent Oregon Wine Awards in Portland a local winery, Ruestle Prayer Rock Vineyards won the Double Gold for the best Pinot Noir in the state. Yet there are many here in Roseburg that still don't realize that there is a rapidly growing wine
industry right here in their own back yards.


Case in Point: The Downtown Roseburg Wine and Art Walk. With 21 Umpqua Valley wineries currently to choose from, many of the businesses taking part in the Walk where pouring wine other than our local labels. Not only "outsider" wine, but cheap grocery store brands from as far away as Australia! It was an insult to our local wine makers!

These businesses completely missed the point. They do not understand that wine making is an art form in itself. It would be like going to Wal-Mart to purchase cheap framed artwork and displaying it as their contribution to Art in Roseburg.

I couldn't help thinking of someone, say from Portland, attending the event and wondering why the wine was from anywhere but the Umpqua Valley.
Maybe they thought we just don't produce fine wine here.


How are we ever going to present ourselves as a world-class wine region if the locals are "promoting" cheap wine from Australia.