![]() Enjoy a flight of Spanish-style wines at Red Lily Vineyards in Oregon’s Applegate Valley. Garcia stands on the lawn outside the tasting room, a sleek, modern building with a classic farmhouse profile. ![]() A colorful Bolander’s Lily sculpture made by Jacksonville metal artist Cheryl D. Wind your way down Highway 238 - a road so bucolic it feels more like a country lane - and cross a small bridge, and you’ll spot the winery’s namesake lily at once. Now some four dozen Oregon wineries showcase that grape, including Red Lily Vineyards near Jacksonville. San Francisco ex-pats Earl and Hilda Jones and their Roseburg winery, Abacela, introduced the Spanish varietal to the region in 1995. You’ll find tempranillo growing across the Rogue Valley. This trio of fun possibilities near Medford and Ashland includes a riverside winery that specializes in Spanish wines, a hilltop tasting room that offers flights with a view and an alfresco dining and sipping experience we’re still talking about weeks later. So if you’re road tripping this summer, hitting Ashland for a bit of Shakespeare, perhaps, or historic Jacksonville for the Britt Music and Arts Festival, you can go wine tasting, too, at nearly three dozen wineries in the Southern Oregon AVA. The region is well-suited for growing Burgundy varietals, similar to those grown in the Willamette Valley AVA.Oregon’s Willamette Valley may get all the ink, but Southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley offers plenty of delightful sipping possibilities - and it’s just over the California border. The region is marked by high elevation, and is significantly influenced by marine climates. It joins the Rogue River from the south on the Curry-Josephine county line, approximately 15 miles (24 km) from the Pacific Ocean. The river flows generally northwest along the west side of the Klamath Mountains, past Cave Junction, Kerby and through the Siskiyou National Forest. The westernmost tributary of the Rogue River is the Illinois River, which rises in southern Josephine County, in the Red Buttes Wilderness. The climate of the Bear Creek Valley is similar to that of Bordeaux, and it is well suited for cultivating varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Pinot gris, Sauvignon blanc, Malbec and Syrah. Here, the valley floor is 2,000 feet (610 m) above sea level, and the climate is warm and dry. Bear Creek Valley īear Creek is the most populated of the Rogue River tributaries, as it flows through the cities of Medford and Ashland. ![]() Grapes that thrive here include Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Chardonnay and Zinfandel, with Cabernet and Merlot being the dominant varietals. ![]() This region contains vineyards at altitudes ranging from 1,000 feet (300 m) to 1,500 feet (500 m) above sea level, and is warmer and drier than the Illinois Valley to the west, but less so than the Bear Creek Valley to the east. The Applegate River flows through the town of Applegate and near the city of Jacksonville, which was the location of Oregon's first winery (the winery has been restored and re-opened as Valley View Winery). The Applegate Valley AVA, established in 2000, is the only sub-AVA in the Rogue Valley AVA. Overall, however, this region is the warmest and driest of Oregon's wine-growing regions. Each river valley has a unique terroir, and grows different varieties of grapes. The region is 70 miles (113 km) wide by 60 miles (97 km) long (most of the land within the AVA capable of producing high quality wine is not currently used for grape cultivation) there are fewer than 20 wineries with only 1,100 acres (450 ha) planted. Most wineries in the region are found in the valleys formed by one of these three tributaries, rather than along the Rogue River itself. It is entirely contained within the larger Southern Oregon AVA and includes the drainage basin of the Rogue River and several tributaries, including the Illinois River, the Applegate River, and Bear Creek. The federal government approved this appellation in 1991. The Rogue Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in southern Oregon. Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Dolcetto, Gewurztraminer, Grenache, Malbec, Merlot, Pinot blanc, Pinot gris, Pinot noir, Sangiovese, Sauvignon blanc, Semillon, Syrah, Tempranillo, Viognier
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