Beyond Willamette: Oregon’s other wine regions (#WinePW)

Picture this: You’re at a party sipping your favorite beverage when the talk turns to Oregon wine. Naturally, people start raving about Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. Rightly so. Oregon’s Willamette Valley is renowned and well respected for its world-class Pinot. Definitely buy yourself a bottle if you haven’t already done so.

Is there anything else, you ask? The others stare at you. But seriously, it’s a legitimate question!

The answer is there’s plenty. Oregon is home to 23 federally recognized grape-growing areas, known as American Viticulture Areas or AVAs (parent regions in bold):

Columbia Gorge – One AVA for the entire region (spans Washington and Oregon)

Columbia Valley (spans Washington and Oregon)
Walla Walla Valley
Rocks District of Milton-Freewater

Rogue Valley
Applegate Valley

Snake River Valley – One AVA for the entire region (spans Oregon and Idaho)

Southern Oregon
Umpqua Valley
Elkton, OregonRed Hill Douglas County

Willamette Valley – 11 nested AVAs

For Wine Pairing Weekend this month, our group of intrepid bloggers is focusing on Oregon and chatting about them this Saturday, 10/12, on threads.net, starting at 8 am PT/11 am ET. In this post, I will introduce you to a few producers outside the famous Willamette Valley.

Rotie Cellars: Wine on the rocks

Cross the state border from Walla Walla, Washington, to Oregon and you enter the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater, a six-square-mile area known for gravelly basalt cobblestones reminiscent of those found in Châteauneuf-du-Pape (southern Rhône Valley, France). Christophe Baron was the first winemaker to realize the area’s incredible grape-growing potential when, in the 1990s, he turned this field of stones into the acclaimed Cayuse Vineyards.

Down the road from Cayuse is Rotie Cellars, the brainchild of owner and winemaker Sean Boyd. With a college degree in geology, this Tacoma, Washington, native spent 10 years doing oil and gas exploration before making the leap to wine. After working his first harvest at Waters Winery in 2004, he learned winemaking in multiple positions before stepping out on his own in 2007. Since then, Boyd’s goal has been to make traditional Rhône blends. What does Boyd mean by “traditional Rhône blends”? “To start with, they mean lower alcohol, less ripe, less oak, balanced, finesse driven, mouth coating wines,” he explains.

Grapes for these earthy Rhône blends are sourced from Boyd’s 18-acre estate and from other vineyard sites where grapes mature as late as possible for that varietal. In 2020, Boyd had a new, ultra-modern winery and tasting room built on these rocks. He climbed a wind tower in the vineyard and took in the view toward the road to find the ideal site for his building.

• 2022 Rotie Cellars Northern Blend, Rocks District of Milton-Freewater, Oregon
  95% Syrah and 5% Viognier, a classic northern Rhône-style wine
  My tasting notes: Savory, with roasted coffee and outdoor grilled venison meatiness. I’d pair this blend with grilled mushrooms, but if you’re a meat eater, a lamb burger would taste mighty fine, too. Alcohol: 14.2%. Price: $58.

Troon Vineyard and Farm: Gold-certified regenerative

On our drive to Troon, fog hangs between the Siskiyou Mountain ridges and lends a dreamy, fairytale-like appearance to the Applegate Valley of southern Oregon.

In geologic time, these transverse mountains are old and nothing like the volcanic peaks of the Pacific Northwest where I live. Kubli Bench, the site of Troon Vineyard and Farm, is an old river terrace consisting of fertile soils and abundant groundwater. Like northern California, the Applegate Valley gets all of its rain in winter and a little moisture in summer. It’s perfect for grapes.

At first glance, you wouldn’t notice anything out of the ordinary at Troon. Perhaps the chickens and sheep roaming the crop-covered vineyards are different from other places we’ve visited. Otherwise, there’s a well-appointed tasting room with a view of the foggy mountain ridges and several outbuildings.

But Troon is different. Their secret sauce is what’s happening underground, in their soil. Troon is Oregon’s only Demeter Biodynamic® Certified and Regenerative Organic Gold Certified™️ winery and farm, and only the fourth farm in the world to achieve that Gold Certification.

Biodynamic farming follows time-honored traditions of planting and harvesting according to the cycles of the moon and other celestial events. Experience has shown that farming in harmony with nature, rather than against it, produces healthier results for everyone.

Regenerative agriculture goes a step further: the whole farm becomes a sink, sequestering carbon and playing a small but vital role in mitigating the negative impacts of climate change.

Troon’s Nate Wall (above) studied environmental engineering in graduate school and acquired his minimalist winemaking ethos in the Willamette Valley. I was especially impressed by what he does with Vermentino, a white grape grown in Sardinia and other parts of Italy and also in southern France (where it is known as Rolle). His amber Vermentino is probably my favorite.

• 2021 Troon Vineyard Amphora Amber Vermentino, Applegate Valley, Oregon
  Grapes for this amber or “orange” wine were loaded into three separate clay amphorae: one amphora received 100% whole-cluster fruit, while the remaining two received de-stemmed berries. As with all Troon wines, no additives or adjustments of any kind were used at crush or during fermentation – no acid or sugar adjustments, no enzymes and no sulfur at crush. Primary fermentation occurred spontaneously from native yeasts and bacteria. After that, the amphorae were sealed up, and the wines continued to slowly ferment (and complete malolactic fermentation) on their skins for roughly 10 months. The wine was then pressed and settled in stainless-steel tanks before being bottled, unfined and unfiltered, with only one small addition of sulfur prior to bottling.
  My tasting notes: Like the name suggests, this wine is amber or copper colored. I get candied orange peel and spearmint tea on a richly textured nose. The palate is buttery, round and crisp with orange and lemon peel, a hint of almond and a not-unpleasant astringency on a medium to long finish. Alcohol: 12.9%. A steal right now at $40.

Leah Jorgensen Cellars: Queen of Cab Franc

Leah Jorgensen Cellars bills itself as Oregon’s premier Cabernet Franc producer. To founder and owner Leah Jorgensen Jean, a 10^th generation winemaker on her mother’s Italian side of the family, Cab Franc is the ultimate Cinderella grape. In other words, it receives less attention than it deserves.

A graduate of Sweet Briar College in her native Virginia, Leah also followed what you might call a non-traditional path to winemaking. (Does a traditional path even exist?) With an undergraduate degree in English literature and creative writing, she went on to earn postgraduate degrees in holistic nutrition at the Wellspring School and in enology, the science of winemaking, at the Northwest Viticulture Center.

She has worked as a sales, marketing and communications expert at several wineries “before leaving behind administrative offices for the lure of the cellar,” she explains. 

In 2011, Leah Jorgensen Cellars was the first winery outside of the Loire Valley in France to commercially produce a still white wine from Cabernet Franc grapes. Their blanc Franc was inspired by Crémant de Loire sparkling wines, specifically from Touraine, that are made with Cabernet Franc in a blanc de noir style or blended with Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc.

Leah works only with vineyards that are certified sustainable via LIVE (Low-Impact Viticulture and Enology) and certified Salmon Safe. This ensures they’re doing what they can to protect Pacific Northwest waterways.

In addition, she sources the fruit for her Blanc Cab Frac and Grand Reserve Cab Franc from Mae’s Vineyard. Mae’s is farmed organically, though not certified yet.

• 2021 Blanc de Cabernet Franc, Mae’s Vintage, Applegate Valley
  These red grapes were gently whole-cluster pressed, like white wine, to avoid the influence of pigment and tannin contained in the skins. The juice settled in tank for 24 hours, then was transferred into acacia barrels for fermentation and aging with regular bâtonnage sur-lie (stirring on the spent yeast cells) to add richness, complexity and salinity to the finish.
  My tasting notes: Unusual and textured wine. Light gold in color. Richly aromatic blend of apricot, pear, allspice and possibly other baking spices, and salinity. On the palate I get lemon, Granny Smith apple, those baking spices again and green tea. Alcohol: 13%. Price: $35.99 at our local coop; $40 online.

Leah’s website says, “Pair with white fish or shellfish, especially oysters or scallops wrapped in bacon; pasta with simple cream sauce; pork chops with apple compote; roasted chicken; crab stuffed poblano peppers with cream sauce; mesquite grilled trout with charred lemon; polenta with charred broccolini; a young, creamy, nutty Gruyère.”

Please note the number of shellfish or cream-based recommendations above. My first pairing, a mushroom and cheese pizza, was not quite an epic fail, but meh, not great. Round two was an appetizer of seared scallops in garlicky butter and, on the side, crackers topped with olive tapenade. As the main dish, I served shrimp and grits and an apple and walnut side salad with a simple honey mustard vinaigrette. Much better!

Check out all of this month’s Oregon blog posts:

• Wendy from A Day In The Life on The Farm is sharing “A Fall Celebration of Oregon Food and Wine“
• Culinary Cam is “Circling Back to Our Favorite Oregonian Pinot Noirs“
• Linda from My Full Wine Glass writes about “Beyond Willamette: Oregon’s other wine regions“
• Martin from ENOFYLZ Wine Blog is “Pairing 2020 Vino Vasai Cabernet Sauvignon with Hearty Beef Nilaga“
• On Crushed Grape Chronicles, Robin is sharing “Rogue Valley Amphora Grenache from Upper Five and Grilled London Broil with chocolate BBQ Sauce“
• Deanna from Wineivore talks about “Pairing Organic Ken Wright Pinot Noirs from Williamette Valley, Oregon“
• On Wine Predator…Gwendolyn Alley you will find “Fall 4 Biodynamic Oregon Wines: Brooks Riesling, Cowhorn Viognier, Troon Rose, Montinore PN + Menu“
• David from Cooking Chat is pairing “Roasted Acorn Squash Soup with Willamette Pinot Noir“