Rogue Valley, Oregon: the taste of greatness - The New Wine Countries

Sunset, August, 1999 by Elaine Johnson

Say "Oregon wine" AND SAGE heads nod: the Willamette Valley, lots of rain, Pinot Noir. But in the baking summer heat of the Rogue Valley, 43 miles north of the California border, Clay Shannon and Lee Traynham are turning heads with a different vision of wine in the Beaver State.

At Del Rio Vineyards, there's not a Pinot Noir vine in sight. The wispy young vines are sun-worshipping, muscle-flexing reds: Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Merlot, Sangiovese, Syrah. There are whites, too: Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, and Viognier. These are grapes you would find in Bordeaux or the Rhone Valley in France, or in Sonoma, California, Shannon explains.

Shannon and Traynham came to the Rogue from California, bringing big bucks and business brawn. Traynham, a rancher and farmer, and Shannon, who runs a vineyard development and management company, know their stuff.

Typical vineyards in the Rogue weigh in at 30 to 40 acres and run on a shoestring. So you can't help but take seriously a site planned for 350 acres. The advent of Del Rio brings the Rogue Valley what it may need most: attention.

That's music to the ears of the Rogue's seven wineries. Says Sarah Powell, winemaker at Foris Vineyards Winery, "We're still no-man's-land in terms of recognition. We've had to pay our dues through quality, consistency, and value."

The Rogue was established as a wine region in the 1860s; after Prohibition's interruption, it resurged in the 1970s. Wineries like Foris, Valley View, and Troon make wine to rival the best of any region in the country. But the Rogue struggles with its distance from a major metropolitan area, and with differentiating itself from the Willamette Valley.

The banks of the Rogue River make up three subappellations. The southwesternmost, Illinois Valley, near Cave Junction, is cooled by the Pacific Ocean. This is Pinot Noir country - proof that the Rogue can grow Pinot Noir very nicely, though in a riper style than in the Willamette Valley. Head northeast into the Applegate Valley outside Jacksonville, and rain gets scarcer. The Siskiyou Mountains embrace the narrow valley, trapping plenty of heat. Here, and in the third subappellation - the Rogue Valley that parallels Interstate 5 from Ashland to Grants Pass - reign grapes such as the ones Del Rio grows. These hotter subappellations are experiencing the region's fastest growth.

Despite that growth, wine touring in the Rogue Valley remains a pleasantly low-key experience. The scenery is gorgeous and the small-town charms of Ashland and Jacksonville beguiling. The wineries are modest, hospitable, family run.

The ambitious giant Del Rio isn't selling wine as yet. Its first order of the day is to sell grapes. Wineries in the Willamette Valley are hungry for the fruit this region can produce. But the partners have bigger plans.

Shannon looks out over Del Rio's 200,000 vines and the historic, picture-postcard stagecoach house that sits at their base. "This is too beautiful, too perfect a site not to have a winery," he says.

Foris Vineyards Winery Berry-Port Cake

PREP AND COOK TIME: About 1 1/4 hours

NOTES: For the cake, mile-high bakers need to increase flour to 1 1/4 cups, reduce sugar to 3/4 cup, and reduce baking powder to 3/4 teaspoon.

MAKES: 6 to 8 servings

1/2 cup blackberries, rinsed and drained

3/4 cup raspberries, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup port wine

About 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar

About 1/2 cup (1/4 lb.) butter or margarine, at room temperature

About 1 cup all-purpose flour

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

Vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream

1. In a bowl, gently mix blackberries, 1/2 cup raspberries, port, and 1 tablespoon sugar.

2. Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan with removable rim.

3. In a bowl with a mixer on high speed, beat 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup butter until well blended, 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs and beat until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.

4. Add 1 cup flour and baking powder. Stir to combine, then beat on high speed until the stiff batter is well blended, about 2 minutes.

5. Scrape batter into cake pan and spread top smooth. Drain wine marinade from berries and save. Evenly spoon berries and 2 tablespoon of the marinade over batter.

6. Bake in a 350 [degrees] oven until cake begins to pull from pan rim, 50 to 55 minutes (40 to 45 minutes in a convection oven). Run a thin-bladed knife between cake and pan rim. Let cool at least 10 minutes.

7. Remove pan rim and sprinkle cake with a little more sugar. Top with remaining raspberries, cut into wedges, and moisten portions with reserved wine marinade. Accompany with scoops of ice cream.

Per serving: 310 cal., 68% (117 cal.) from fat; 306 g protein; 13 g fat (7.9 g sat.); 43 carbo (1.4 fiber); 200 mg sodium; 85 mg chol.