Checking out the Umpqua Valley

Wines & Vines, April, 1991 by Bob McKendrick

1989 Cabernet Sauvignon: Umpqua Valley; a.c. 12%; $8.50.

This is a deep, dusky red. To the nose, the fruit freshness dominates the oak. This is a Cabernet in the Bordeaux style -- made to last and grow but with the right balance of fruit to oak to make it drinkable right now. As with all the Girardet wines tasted, this one opens the taste buds and fills the mouth with flavors, full and rich.

As we drove down the winding road to our next destination, Henry Estate, I thought of Ben Franklin's statement, framed and hung in Girardet's tasting room. "Wine is a constant reminder that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

HENRY WINERY. Scott and Sylvia Henry. 687 Hubbard Creek Road (Highway 9), Roseburg; (503) 459-5120.

We can thank Scott Henry I and II for coming to Roseburg just after the Civil War and settling down to a life of farming and land -- all told about 3,300 acres, some of which now form the Henry Estate vineyards. Scott Henry III left his career as an aerospace engineer to plant his vines and make his wines in the rich loamy soil close to the Umpqua River. Scott Henry is a somewhat diffident, pragmatic man who enjoys looking a problem straight in the eye. One such problem he confronted was that of grape rot. The air moves briskly in the valley, but the rich soil tends to produce leaves that insulate against the air and, if not laboriously hand-stripped -- the result is rot. With his engineer's mind and his commitment to wine, he came up with a system of trellising the vines in such a way that guarantees all the grapes a full share of the cooling, drying breezes cutting through the Coast Range mountains from the Pacific. The "Scott Henry Vertical Trellis" is now widely used in such disparate wine-growing regions as New Zealand, Australia, Tasmania, and yes, California and Oregon. This winery uses all American Oak. With French Oak going for $600 a barrel this is a pragmatically correct choice, but Scott Henry chooses American because he wants the predominate element in his wines to be the "taste of the fruit."

Our tasting included a 1987 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay and a 1987 Cabernet Sauvignon.

Henry Estate 1987 Umpqua Valley Oregon Chardonnay (Barrel Fermented); a.c. 13.5%; $12.95.

To the eye, golden, the bouquet is light and fruity. On the palate there is a full rush of fruit and oak. A very fine wine with a restrained quality that makes it different and more pleasurable than most fat California Chardonnays.

Henry Estate 1987 Umpqua Valley Oregon Cabernet Sauvignon; a.c., 12.5%; $14.95.

To the eye, a rich ruby-red with dusky undertones. To the nose, there is a bouquet of sweet oak and fresh fruit. The fruit says "now." The oak says the best is yet to come. And the palate agrees. This is a wine guaranteed to give you a wonderful combination of fruit flavors underscored by oak now with a promise of future enjoyments five to eight years.

Our next destination is the tiny UMPQUA RIVER VINEYARDS. 451 Hess Lane, Roseburg, Ore. 97470; (503) 673-1975.

Officially recognized as Bonded Winery #137 just in time for their first harvest, this small (3,000 gallons) but determined winery is nursed and run by Dino and Debbie De Nino. They currently produce Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet franc and Semillon. With a new baby, Dino is a full-time winemaker/grower and a part-time babysitter. (When she's not helping in their winery, Debbie manages the Roseburg Country Club.) Incredibly, their first offering, a 1988 Early Release Cabernet Sauvignon, won the People's Choice Award.