t’s been said that Gewürztraminer is the wine world’s worst name: If consumers can’t pronounce it, they won’t buy it, no matter how good it is. (Perhaps topping that would be Crljenak.) Pronunciation was the only drawback I could come up with for not considering Umpqua Valley as a potentially great region in which to make wine - not only a place to make great wine, but a place to attract serious tourism.

Even though it is pronounced exactly as it is spelled, the name doesn’t come tripping off the tongue. (It refers to the various Native American tribes that live in the area.) Umpqua Valley is in Southern Oregon, and as a wine-growing region, it is not nearly as famed as is the more northerly Willamette Valley, which has a worldwide reputation for its Pinot Noir and other wines. Indeed, the Willamette is so well identified with Pinot Noir that, to many people, it is all that Oregon wine making seems to be about. This leaves other Willamette wines screaming for attention. And it leaves other regions scratching their heads. Not to mention lovers of wines other than Pinot Noir.

Start with the fact that Willamette Valley’s Pinot Blanc, Riesling, and Pinot Gris are among the finest wines it makes. Still, they are dwarfed in attention by all the fawning and kowtowing that greets the area’s Pinot Noirs. (I also love Amity’s remarkable Gamay Noir, but that’s another diatribe.)

Then there is the plaintive cry of other Oregon regions, such as Umpqua Valley, Applegate Valley, and Rogue Valley, all of which make some pretty fine wine.

What is compelling about Umpqua is that the quality of the wines here, many with a regional distinctiveness that emphasizes food compatibility, has rocketed forward in the last three years. When I visited here in 2005, I was surprised by the overall quality. A recent tour in early March was even more startling.

Moreover, recent support by the local non-wine community for the growing wine industry is not only heartening, but welcome. Especially for wine consumers seeking a new and undiscovered wine region where the wines remain fairly priced, where the tasting rooms, even on weekends, are only moderately busy, and where the hospitality is warm.

Finding Umpqua Might be Easier Than Pronouncing It

Umpqua Valley, roughly two hours south of Portland on Interstate 5, is dotted with smaller towns that provide the support base for a potentially large tourism industry. That industry is based on the beauty of the local parks; boating, hunting and fishing; the scenic coastline, and the nearby campuses of Oregon (at Eugene) and Oregon State (at Corvallis).

It’s still not easy to find most of the wineries that exist here. Not one is visible from the main artery, I-5, which runs north-south between Portland at the north and the California border city of Ashland. The Umpqua is a fairly vast, green valley that features forested hills and a pace of life that is unhurried. Of the two dozen wineries that now operate here, most are owned by transplanted wine lovers from other regions, such as Earl and Hilda Jones of Abacella, Terry and Sue Brandborg of Brandborg Vineyard and Winery, and Patrick and Loree Spangler of Spangler Vineyards.

For the most part, they chose this area over one of the more well-known spots in California because of the twin benefits of quality and value. Studies done recently show that some 140,000 acres of land in Southern Oregon are tillable for vineyards, and of that total, some 40,000 acres are prime land that can grow superb grapes to make truly great wine.

Add to that the fact that the average cost of an acre of that land runs between $3,000 and $5,000 (most of it on the lower end of that range). Even with clearing and planting costs, potential winery owners are looking at a tiny fraction of what it would cost in Sonoma, Santa Barbara or even Monterey counties.

Thus far the success of the Umpqua has come from just about 1,000 planted acres of grapes, most of which are scattered hither and yon in varying climate regions that range from being able to make sensational dry and off-dry Riesling and Müller-Thurgau (at Henry Estate), Spanish varieties like Albariño and Tempranillo (at Abacella), to Bordeaux varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc (at Spangler). And now Reustle Prayer Rock Vineyards has produced what Steve Reustle says is nation’s first commercial Grüner-Veltliner.

As you can see, variety is the spice of vinous life around here, and that means lots of different things for consumers to try. It’s also a handicap in that the Umpqua isn’t as easy to typecast as is the Willamette Valley, which can rightfully claim it’s the home of world-famed Pinot Noir.

So although the Pinot from the Umpqua shows great potential, it’s not going to alter the travel plans of wine geeks looking for the latest Oregon Pinot Noir to wow their snob neighbors. But given the cost that the Umpqua vintners paid for their land, it’s clear that this is perhaps the last undisturbed mecca for all types of fine wine.

All of Southern Oregon, including the warmer Rogue Valley, developed as a wine region far more slowly than its storied cousin just to the north. Part of the reason is that Willamette Valley is easier to get to from Portland, and thus tourism fueled growth early on.

Variety of Varietals is Umpqua’s Pro and Con

Oddly, Umpqua’s blessing - being able to ripen a wide variety of grapes so well - means that it can’t pinpoint a superstar wine that can lead the district into instant world fame. And thus has it has lagged in the publicity department.

One of the largest growers in the area, Melrose Vineyards, has more than 150 acres of superb grapes, and sells fruit to wineries in Willamette Valley, yet it is hard pressed to gain recognition as an Umpqua success story.

Melrose owners Wayne and Deedy Parker make superb wines. But their greatest claim to fame has been the cheerful acceptance of their grapes by other wineries far better known. Both Panther Creek and Rex Hill, two of the Willamette Valley’s brightest stars, have made superb Pinot Noirs that are composed entirely of Melrose fruit.

And yet those two wineries chose not to use Umpqua Valley as their appellation! I suspect it has to do with not aiding the enemy. After all, Willamette has the name and the prestige, and its wineries can charge pretty much anything they want for a Pinot Noir. But can they get an elevated price for a wine whose appellation is Umpqua Valley?

This is how anointed is the name Willamette. The wines in question mention the Melrose vineyard on the back label, in smaller letters, but the appellation acknowledges “Southern Oregon,” and not Umpqua specifically.

Among the people you find in the Umpqua are some of the most fun-loving and wine-passionate people in the entire wine world. Some are younger folks who couldn’t afford to move into richer land; others are people who used retirement funds to develop a second career.

For example, Greg and Fran Cramer opened MarshAnne Landing (a fanciful name made of their middle names) to focus on Rhône blends. Greg was a chemist for the FDA before retirement. For dedication, it’s hard to beat the Jones’s superb Abacela Vineyards, a Tempranillo specialist that also makes a number of other exciting wines. The same grape also fascinates scientific-minded Steve Reustle, which is why he was willing to take the risk with the nation’s first commercial plantings of Grüner-Veltliner. The 2007 wine he made from it is startlingly superb.

Among the top wineries here is Brandborg Cellars in Elkton. Terry Brandborg is an escapee from the California industry, and candidly admits he couldn’t afford a winery there.

Long-established Henry Estate Winery makes a string of superb wines, notably elegant whites. Giradet focuses on French-styled reds. Two relative newcomers here are the Spanglers (the property called LaGarza was renamed), and Dyson and Susan DeMara (who bought HillCrest). Both couples said they moved here because Napa was too expensive.

In addition, the Umpqua also has wineries named Anindor, Becker, Bradley, Julianna, Misty Oaks, Palotai, River’s Edge, Sienna Ridge, and Wild Rose. Among the top wines from Umpqua are Brandborg’s 2004 Syrah ($27), a startlingly distinctive wine with black pepper, violet, clove and other spices.

Umpqua Valley’s Way to Name Recognition

Some of the best news for the Umpqua Valley is how the local community college and Umpqua National Bank have created direct paths to professionalism. The bank (which has a branch in St Helena in the Napa Valley) is doing it with loans to local wineries. The college is doing it with local students.

Using the Walla Walla Valley as a case study, the college authorized an in-depth, two-year study of emerging wine-country regions and the impact of solid local support. The study, conducted by an Idaho-based consulting firm, produced surprising facts.

“The consulting company came up with a model that this area would produce 5,000 wine-country jobs and create $115 million in annual payroll,” said Blaine Nisson, president of Umpqua Community College. “That represents 12 percent of the region’s economic growth”. He said the Walla Walla example showed that over an eight-year period, the area grew from just 22 wineries in the late 1990s to 120 today, “and our region has a number of advantages over Walla Walla.”

The latter area in far-eastern Washington, on the Oregon border, is a five-hour drive from Seattle. It is more than four hours by car from Portland. And what it offers to those who make the long drive is not much in the way of scenery – “unless you like looking at rolling wheat fields,” said Andy Perdue, editor of Wine Press Northwest and author of “The Northwest Wine Guide: A Buyer's Handbook.”

Nisson of UCC said, “Walla Walla is off the beaten path, but this region has the Umpqua river,” other streams for boating and fishing, a hunting industry, and the beauty of the nearby Oregon coastline. And a true benefit is the high-speed I-5 corridor that makes commuting between the cities and smaller towns - where the wineries are - a lot easier.

Reflecting the optimism contained in the consulting company’s study, Umpqua Community College developed a one-year certificate program in viticulture and a two-year Associate of Arts degree program that includes courses in enology. “We are trying to encourage students to stay in the area,” said Nisson, sounding much like Dr. Stanley Howell of Michigan State University, whose wine-making programs sought to have students remain in Michigan. That strategy has paid off handsomely. Michigan now has one of the nation’s most dynamic wine industries.

The UCC wine curriculum has just begun, and on March 3, the college sponsored a one-day marketing seminar that wine maker Steve Reustle called the best he had ever attended. It was filled. And the college is planning a series of wine industry workshops in April and May. These were so well-received that the college sold out all 25 seats months in advance, then opened up the program to 10 more seats, sold them out, “and we have had to turn away many more. And when we discussed doing the program in 2009, people began signing up to work on next year’s marketing workshop,” he said.

As a final note, the college has high hopes of winning a substantial grant for its wine programs from the state.

Practice saying the name. Umpqua. It may be a household word before long.

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Umpqua Valley map courtesy of Umpqua Valley Winegrowers Association