Umpqua Valley Wine Tasting Tour

Edited Version: Left off Cooper Ridge – They all looked the same by that time in the day 🙂

Being more of a beer and whiskey kind of guy, I am new to the wine thing. Last summer in Indiana we stayed at Caboose Lake Campground in Remington. We found there were a lot of antique stores in the area and discovered there are many wineries and distillers there. Peg and I enjoyed the wine tasting tour in this area so much that we have put wineries on our list of things to look for as we travel. For some reason, we overlooked the wine industry in the Umpqua Valley totally.

We are staying at Hi Way Haven RV Park on Ft. McKay highway in Sutherlin, Oregon which just happens to be in the vicinity of all these wonderful wineries. We toured three of them earlier this week, then yesterday we toured four more. The folks here just make it a treat to stop in their wineries, most are family owned and operated which adds to the experience considerably.

The tour started at the Paul O’Brien Winery in downtown Roseburg. A good start was had here, as the server told us the history of the grapes in the area and the two men who came up from California to start up this winery. The Umpqua valley has approximately the same climate and latitude as the vineyards in Spain. Around the year 2000 was when the vineyards here really started up in earnest and the industry has been growing ever since. One consistent trait that all the wineries share is that great people operate them. It was a fun time at O’Brien’s made especially pleasant by the large volumes of wine poured for each tasting.

We toured Del Fino’s, Hillcrest, Cooper Ridge and Melrose wineries. It was a beautiful day, in picturesque country, meeting wonderful people. All the red wines here have this really smooth taste to them and I have discovered a new favorite Tempranillo. We are headed back to Cooper Ridge on Sunday for a Barbeque and live music overlooking the Umpqua River.

Sjh

Links to the wineries – they all ship to you – try one.

Umpqua Valley Wine tasting tour