OREGON WINE TOURING GUIDE 9 ANDRÉA JOHNSON OREGON WINE Come with us on a drive through Oregon wine country during harvest season, one of the greatest pleasures in the state. The fresh green scent of Douglas fir and nutty aroma of sun-warmed Oregon white oak wafts over south-facing hillsides lined with rows of tidy grapevines turning golden in the early autumn light. The vines drip with taut clusters of fruit destined to be crushed, fermented, aged and eventually bottled to travel all over the world — proudly representing Oregon wherever they go. In its seventh decade of fine winemaking, Oregon’s wine industry has never been more robust. What was 60 years ago a fledgling endeavor — built on the whim that Burgundy’s Pinot noir clones would thrive in the Willamette Valley — has evolved into over a thousand wineries and more than 1,400 vineyards representing 23 AVAs. Oregon wine country now crosses the Saffron Fields Vineyard By Emily Teel state’s diverse geography, from coastal mountains to arid eastern plains, and exports a variety of regional styles that appear in world-class restaurants and bottle shops internationally. Pinot noir may still be the queen, but the notion of what Oregon wine is and can be is growing to reflect more varietals, production methods and sources of inspiration. Even as industry founders and producers of these iconic wines cultivate new generations of winemakers, the creative possibility abounds, feeding an industry that is growing statewide. Storied tasting rooms now pour wines made from the fruit of youthful vineyard blocks alongside those made from long-standing properties. Newly named Oregon wine AVAs demonstrate the possibilities of the future, and emerging winemakers expand the notion of what Oregon wines are and will be in the decades to come.
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