Hot Enough for Ya!

One of the big reason's that Diane and I moved to the Umpqua Valley was to get away from the heat in CA. The year we left CA wine country it hit 115 degrees for 3 weeks straight. And this was all without AC in our house!

Today it's hit 104. No sweat! At least if you're a grape vine. It's a desert plant, if you didn't realize it. Vines can take a lot of heat, but they do need those cool nights that we look forward to.

Now if I get my story straight, Umpqua Valley could well be the next Napa Valley. As global warming ups the ante in the areas already piping hot (like Napa), we will slide into Napa's profile by the turn of the century. Not really, but we will survive, while Napa may not.

A report found in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests ..." that production in the Napa and Sonoma valleys and Santa Barbara County would essentially be eliminated by the late 21st century."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/11/WINE.TMP#ixzz0MV4qatSl

Your great grand kids could be living in THE wine destination in the USA.

Hoorah for Syrah

What makes the Umpqua Valley AVA so amazing? Why, the diversity, of course. We live in Vitis vinifera heaven! At some wineries you'd think that they just went " inny meeny minny mo" and planted whatever came up. But there's one grape that seems to keep popping up: Syrah.

So many of our wineries make a great Syrah that I'm casting my vote for this Rhone grape as our signature varietal. Others appear to agree. Of 28 wines entered in this year's "Greatest of the Grape" it was a Syrah that took top honors in the professional judging.

And what's not to like about Syrah? Full-bodied yet not over powering with that distinct black pepper nose, this is a red wine drinkers dream come true. Yet another reason to keep coming back to the wineries of the Umpqua Valley.