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Valley's wines gain on Bordeaux Photo by Bob Pennell Aguila Vineyards owner Sherman Lamb, left, and Southern Oregon University professor Greg Jones discuss which grapes will grow best in Lamb's Pioneer Road fields near Talent. So growers part from the pinots of the north By JOHN DARLING ASHLAND -- Southern Oregon is on the verge of being recognized as a virtual sister to the world's best wine-growing region, France's Bordeaux. Seeing their nearly twin climates and terrain, the growers and vintners of Southern Oregon have expanded their Bordeaux varieties: chiefly cabernet sauvignon and merlot. They've pulled away from the pack of what used to thought of as "Oregon wines" -- the pinots, which grow best in the Willamette Valley. And it's working. Between 1990 and 1997, the number of vineyards in the Rogue Valley grew from 39 to 51, acreage went from 433 to 646 and wineries went from seven to 10. Bordeaux varieties make up 30 percent of Southern Oregon grape production. "It's mostly the Bordeaux grapes," said Sherman Lamb, owner of Aguila Vineyards near Talent. "And the proof is in the pudding. Our pinot wasn't very good and our Bordeaux types are great." The trend is no surprise to wine enthusiast and Southern Oregon University geology professor Greg Jones, who is helping push the trend along. "They (Bordeaux types) have much more body, a more defined structure, more tannin, more character," Jones said. "It's a bigger wine." Jones earned a doctorate from the University of Virginia with a thesis titled "Climate Control of Growing Grapes and Making Wines in Bordeaux, France." "Bordeaux," he noted, "is the finest wine-growing region in the world." The son of a small Umpqua Valley grower, Jones came to SOU in 1997 and dove into the field of synoptic climatology, or how a region's climate affects agriculture. He has continued his research here, gathering data through interviews with growers, mapping slopes, elevations, sun aspects, rainfall and varieties -- who is growing where with what results. He said he plans to publish papers occasionally detailing his findings. The implication is clear, he said: The Rogue and Umpqua basins can climb to the heights of the Bordeaux region. Are they there yet? "We are not up there with the very best," Lamb said, "but we are considered world-class in several areas." "We're still on a learning curve," Mike Wisnovsky, co-owner of Valley View Vineyard, said. "You'll see us get there in the next four to five years, as we get more acreage and improve our site selection." Valley View's 1995 Anna Maria Merlot got a score of 88 out of 100 at a recent tasting. "The French got a better score, but theirs costs a lot more. In flavor, ours is close," he said. One big factor in local wines' success, said Lamb, is promotion. That's the job of the Portland-based Oregon Wine Board, which collects fees from growers based on tonnage. "In my opinion, more needs to be done to promote the uniqueness of Southern Oregon," Lamb said. "We're winning tastings all the time, but our (new direction) has not been noticed to the degree it should. We're still feeling overwhelmed by the upstate pinots.'' Wisnovsky said the board is starting to promote the region's wines with its "Brand Oregon" slogan. The board is staging good wine tastings for all 60 Oregon wineries in the spring and fall in Portland. Jones noted that Del Rio Orchards in Gold Hill has been purchased by two California men, who have taken it out of the fruit business and plan to make it the largest grower in Southern Oregon. The firm put in 100 acres of vines last year and will go to 320 acres this year. "It's starting to snowball," Lamb said. "It's going to hit critical mass soon and take off." (A climate and weather Web site is maintained for growers at www.sou.edu/geograph/clim.htm ) Today's Business Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA