The Umpqua Valley AVA is one of the first
American Viticultural Area (AVA) in Oregon and located entirely within
Douglas County, Oregon
Douglas County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 111,201. The county seat is Roseburg. The county is named after Stephen A. Douglas, an American politician who supported Oreg ...
. It became a sub-appellation within the larger
Southern Oregon AVA
The Southern Oregon AVA is an American Viticultural Area 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 ...
when it was established in 2004. Its boundaries are detailed in Code of Federal Regulations, Title 27 Chapter I Part 9 section 89(C).
Umpqua Valley includes two sub-appellations, the
Red Hill Douglas County AVA and the
Elkton Oregon AVA.
Grapes grown here include
Pinot noir,
Pinot gris
Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio (, ) or Grauburgunder is a white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the Pinot Noir variety, it normally has a grayish-blue fruit, accounting for its name, but the gra ...
,
Tempranillo
Tempranillo (also known as Ull de Llebre, Cencibel, Tinto Fino and Tinta del Pais in Spain, Aragonez or Tinta Roriz in Portugal, and several other synonyms elsewhere) is a black grape variety widely grown to make full-bodied red wines in its ...
,
Cabernet Sauvignon,
Chardonnay,
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 wh ...
and more.
The first post-
prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol ...
estate winery in Oregon was established at
HillCrest Vineyards in 1961, where the first Pinot Noir vines in Oregon were planted. In 1995 the first
Tempranillo
Tempranillo (also known as Ull de Llebre, Cencibel, Tinto Fino and Tinta del Pais in Spain, Aragonez or Tinta Roriz in Portugal, and several other synonyms elsewhere) is a black grape variety widely grown to make full-bodied red wines in its ...
vines in
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
were planted at
Abacela resulting in the first 100% varietal
Tempranillo
Tempranillo (also known as Ull de Llebre, Cencibel, Tinto Fino and Tinta del Pais in Spain, Aragonez or Tinta Roriz in Portugal, and several other synonyms elsewhere) is a black grape variety widely grown to make full-bodied red wines in its ...
wines in the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...
.
The first commercial
Grüner Veltliner
Grüner Veltliner (Green Veltliner) ) is a white wine grape variety grown primarily in Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. The leaves of the grape vine are five-lobed with bunches that are long but compact, and deep green grapes ...
in the U.S. was produced in the Umpqua Valley AVA by
Reustle Prayer Rock Vineyards.
References
{{Coord, 43.27055, -123.49750, display=title
American Viticultural Areas
Oregon wine
Geography of Douglas County, Oregon
1984 establishments in Oregon