The Rogue Valley has been named the nation’s top wine region in USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards, moving up from second place last year.
The recognition comes as the broader wine industry faces declining consumption. Against that backdrop, Rogue Valley vintners say the region is leaning on its diversity, collaborative culture and a strategy that connects wine with Southern Oregon’s broader tourism economy.
One part of that strategy is Rogue Valley Vintners’ “Wine with Everything” philosophy. Rather than treating wine as an exclusive luxury, the campaign connects it with other experiences Southern Oregon has to offer, including outdoor recreation, food and the arts.
“We are situating wine as something that makes your everyday not everyday,” said Meghann Walk, general manager of Hummingbird Estate and a board member of Rogue Valley Vintners. “Wine with everything means wine with life.”
Visitors can pair wine tasting with activities such as rafting, hiking or attending the Oregon Shakespeare Festival or Britt Music & Arts Festival.
The Rogue Valley’s varied geography and climate also allow growers to cultivate a wide range of grape varieties. Brian Gruber of Irvine & Roberts Vineyards, who also serves on the Rogue Valley Vintners board, said individual wineries are learning which grapes are best suited to their particular sites.
“Every winery [is] finding what they do best, what their niche is, what their microclimate, what their geology does best,” Gruber said.
He said some sites are well-suited to pinot noir and chardonnay, while vineyards just a few miles away can support Rhône varieties such as syrah and grenache.
“It’s the people in the wine industry that really give me hope,” Gruber said. “This place is such a beautiful place and such a great community of people with new ideas.”
Guests
- Brian Gruber, board member, Rogue Valley Vintners
- Meghann Walk, board member, Rogue Valley Vintners
