![]() ![]() ![]() The region has been extensively profiled in food, wine, and travel magazines for its combination of world-class winemaking (in the form of personal, handcrafted wines and the region’s links to Burgundy in France) and beautiful natural scenery. The Willamette Valley is the wine region most people have in mind when they talk about the world-class Pinot Noirs being produced in Oregon. Similarly, the Southern Oregon AVA is further comprised of two nested AVAs – Umpqua Valley and Rogue Valley. The Willamette Valley AVA is then further comprised of 5 nested AVAs – Chehalem Mountains, Dundee Hills, Eola-Amity Hills, McMinnville, and Yamhill-Carlton District. In addition, the Snake River Valley AVA straddles the Snake River on the border between Oregon and Idaho, and the Columbia Valley AVA straddles Oregon and Washington State. When people talk about Oregon wine regions, they are really talking about the three primary Oregon AVAs – Willamette Valley, Southern Oregon, and Columbia Gorge. In addition, Oregon’s winemakers have won awards and plaudits for their Pinot Gris and Chardonnay wines, while the state’s beautiful topography (green rolling hills, deep valleys, gorges, and forests) has made the region a must-visit for true oenophiles. Oregon is now considered to be one of the premier wine regions in the world for Pinot Noir, and the location of many of the state’s best wineries in the Willamette Valley. By far, the most popular grape variety within the state is Pinot Noir, followed by Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon. In 2016, Oregon winemakers sold 3.4 million cases of wine, making the state the fourth largest in the nation, trailing only California, Washington State and New York State in terms of overall wine production volume. After that, the number of wineries within the state began to grow exponentially, and by 2016, there were 18 recognized American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) within the state (including some that are nested inside of each other), 720 wineries and 72 different varieties of grapes grown. By 1970, there were still only 5 commercial wineries in the state, but that all changed in 1975, with the first international award for an Oregon-grown Pinot Noir. At that time, a group of adventurous winemakers from California set out to prove that it was possible to create world-class wines in Oregon. While the history of winemaking in Oregon dates back to the 1840s and the establishment of the original Oregon Territory, the modern commercial winemaking industry in Oregon only began in the mid-to-late 1960s. ![]()
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