The Lights are on, but. there's no one Home!

Here we go again. Got this fancy shinny pictured filled promotional booklet in our News-Review and guess what? The ONLY mention of the wineries or wine industry in the Umpqua Valley AVA was a caption reading: "There are several vineyards and wineries in the Umpqua area."

Excuse me!! When, oh, when are the locals going to realize the fact that they are literally sitting on a tourist gold mine! Yea, logging has created a lot of jobs and wealth, but we all know that the days of resting on those laurels are over. People don't decide to bring their tourist dollars to Roseburg because they can watch all those logging trucks roar by. They come to have a good time out of doors and that includes visits to the 21 tasting rooms ( and growing) of the Umpqua Valley. They don't whip out their credit cards to buy wood chips.

So the News-Review spends who knows what promoting "Our Town" and skips the most vital element of our future economy, the wine industry. Seems the "left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing", given the big spread on the new wineries in a recent issue. Some one in the process of publishing "Our Town" should have sounded the alarm!

Diane and I would like to invite the editors to enjoy one of our wine tours, as our guests. Perhaps it might pump them up and get on the Umpqua Valley Wine Wagon.

Back for More!

Now that's my kinda statue. That was about all the Art Diane and I took in on our three week tour of Tuscany, the rest of the time it was wine, wine, wine!

While it was fabulous to visit Italy, we couldn't help but feel great about returning to the Umpqua Valley. Especially with the wonderful weather and fall colors.

Let me make it clear that we are no traitors when it comes to our local wines. Fact is we had to travel 5,000 miles to get to the epicenter of Sangiovese wines. Our climate just does not make the correct match to grow these spicy full body grapes.

Diane and I are even more amped up about getting people out into our amazing wine country. Tuscany was well worth the visit, but there's no place like Home!

Ciao from Italy

Life is good! Diane and I are in Tuscany now and loving it. The weather has been great (thank you Global Warming). And we are testa le Sangiovese. Lot/s of tasting! (Can/t fine the apostrophe key!!!) Yes, we are returning at the end of the month,but who knows we (and you?) may be back next year!

Hi to all our Umpqua Valley Friends. Lot/s of photos to share and even some great wines for our wino friends upon return.

Don/t worry we still love all your wines.

Ciao....(from the executive wineeau!)

Buono Viaggio!

The life of a wine enthusiast is never dull. There's all that wine out there to be tasted! In an effort to stay on top of our "wine research", Diane and I are off to Tuscany in Italy.

While it appears that Tuscany's main varietal, sangiovese , is not the best match for the Umpqua Valley, we do appreciate the grape for its spicy black fruit. Watch this blog for updates from Italy!