My Wine Prediction

Things are constantly peaking and falling in the world of wine, much like in everything. A certain region will get really hot then cool off down the road. Certain grapes (read: riesling) will become synonymous with making poor quality, cheap wines to being worthy of becoming possibly one of the next darling grapes of the critic community. And certainly riesling seems to be getting it's fair share of attention. Two weeks in a row the local paper has featured articles about that exact grape, and this is not too long after writing up a previous one a few weeks back. There just seems to be some excitement behind the wine now, and rightfully so. Well, I am not here to continue this conversation about how "Gosh, riselings CAN be good wines these days! Seriously! Just listen!". I'm kinda getting sick of it anyway. No, I am here to make my prediction of what will be the next "riesling" storyline in the world of wine. And I've got to say...

Southern Oregon.

Ok, maybe it won't get a ton of national reviews or anything, but to me this is an up-and-coming wine growing area. There's some potential down there (seen by vineyards like Abacela and Del Rio, who sources much of their grapes) and other vineyards, like Rex Hill who released a really yummy Southern Oregon Pinot Noir Cuvee' last year, have tapped into that. To me it's the next area to explore in Oregon. The potential just needs to be honed in and given some time and the right winemakers. We've already proved to people we can make good pinots in the willamette valley. So I think in the next 5 years you'll be hearing more about what's happening in between Willamette Valley and California.

Looking to try a southern Oregon wine tonight? I like Abacela Vintner's Blend #8, which recently hit the market (skip blend #7, it's underwhelming). A blend of all around 8 grapes it is very acceptable at ~$15 with good fruit flavors. Abacela also makes some tempranillos and most recently, an albarino, which has garnered some nice reviews. Cheers!