The Southern Oregon AVA is an

American Viticultural Area An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States, providing an official appellation for the mutual benefit of winery, wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know abo ...

which lies in Southern Oregon, United States. The Southern Oregon AVA was established in 2005 and was created to include the land of two smaller AVAs: the Rogue Valley AVA and the Umpqua Valley AVA. Southern Oregon AVA was established to allow the two principal winegrowing regions in the southern part of the state to market themselves jointly. This creation of a "super-AVA" is a departure from the trend in the Willamette Valley AVA or northern Oregon of establishing smaller AVAs specific to a particular locale's

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

conditions.

Description

The Southern Oregon AVA is the union of the Umpqua Valley AVA and the Rogue Valley AVA, and all land suitable for grape cultivation within the Southern Oregon AVA is also located in one of these smaller regions. A small strip of connecting territory is included in the Southern Oregon AVA to make it a contiguous region, however, this strip passes through mountainous regions not suitable for viticulture. The AVA lies entirely within the southwest corner of the state, south of Eugene and west of the Cascades, and consists of the river valleys of the Rogue and Umpqua River rivers and their tributaries.

Umpqua Valley AVA

The Umpqua Valley AVA contains the drainage basin of the Umpqua River, excluding mountainous regions. It has a warmer climate than the Willamette Valley, but cooler than the Rogue Valley to the south. Grapes grown here include

Pinot Noir Pinot noir (), also known as Pinot nero, is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name also refers to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words fo ...

, with smaller amounts of Pinot Gris, Cabernet Sauvignon,

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...

, and

Riesling Riesling ( , ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling ...

, as well as several French-American hybrids.

Red Hill Douglas County, Oregon AVA

The Red Hill Douglas County, Oregon AVA is entirely contained within the Umpqua Valley AVA. This AVA includes , and is located near Yoncalla. Originally petitioned as the "Red Hill AVA", the proposed appellation brought protest from Willamette Valley vintners, where a region known as Red Hill is also located; the name of "Red Hill Douglas County" was instead chosen to avoid consumer confusion.

Elkton, Oregon AVA

The Elkton AVA is entirely contained within the Umpqua Valley AVA. This AVA includes and is located near Elkton.

Rogue Valley AVA

The Rogue Valley AVA includes the

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

of the Rogue River and several tributaries, including the

Illinois River The Illinois River () is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River at approximately in length. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, the river has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins with the confluence of the Des Plaines ...

, the Applegate River, and Bear Creek. Most wineries in the region are found in the valleys formed by one of these three tributaries, rather than along the Rogue River itself. The region is wide by long (though much of the land within the AVA is not suitable for grape cultivation); there are fewer than 20 wineries with only planted. Each river valley has a unique

terroir (; ; from ''terre'', ) is a French language, French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, th ...

, and grows different varieties of grapes. Overall, however, this region is the warmest and driest of Oregon's winegrowing regions.

Illinois Valley

The westernmost tributary is the Illinois River, which rises in southern Josephine County, in the Red Buttes Wilderness. The river flows generally northwest along the west side of the

Klamath Mountains The Klamath Mountains are a rugged and lightly populated mountain range in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the western United States. As a mountain system within both the greater Pacific Coast Ranges and the California Coast R ...

, past Cave Junction and Kerby then through the

Siskiyou National Forest Siskiyou may refer to: *Siskiyou Mountains The Siskiyou Mountains are a Coast Ranges, coastal subrange of the Klamath Mountains, and located in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the United States. They extend in an arc for appro ...

. It joins the Rogue River from the south on the

Curry Curry is a dish with a sauce or gravy seasoned with spices, mainly derived from the interchange of Indian cuisine with European taste in food, starting with the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch and British, and then thoroughly internatio ...

–Josephine county line, approximately 15 mi (24 km) from the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. The region is marked by its high elevation and is significantly influenced by marine climates. The region is well suited for growing

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

varietals, similar to those grown in the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, the ...

Applegate Valley AVA

The Applegate Valley AVA, established in 2000, is the only sub-AVA in the Rogue Valley AVA. The Applegate River flows through the town of Applegate and near the city of

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, the location of Oregon's first winery (which has been restored and reopened as Valley View Winery). This region contains vineyards at altitudes ranging from to

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

, and is warmer and drier than the Illinois Valley to the west, but less so than the Bear Creek Valley to the east. Grapes that thrive here include

Merlot Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...

, Cabernet Sauvignon,

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse ...

, Chardonnay and Zinfandel, with Cabernet and Merlot being the dominant varietals.

Bear Creek Valley

Bear Creek is the most populated of the Rogue River tributaries, as it flows through the cities of Medford and Ashland. Here, the valley floor is

, and the climate is warm and dry. The climate of the Bear Creek Valley is similar to that of

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, and it is well suited for cultivating varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay,

Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux (wine), Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire (wine), Loire's C ...

, Pinot gris, Sauvignon blanc, Malbec and Syrah.

References

{{coord, 42.4337, -123.0917, display=title American Viticultural Areas of Oregon Geography of Douglas County, Oregon Geography of Jackson County, Oregon Geography of Josephine County, Oregon 2005 establishments in Oregon