Rogue
Valley Growing Areas — Terrior
Overall:
Terroir is a uniquely French term that embodies the sense of place in all agricultural
pursuits, but has become largely synonymous with viticulture and wine production
worldwide. Terroir is a holistic concept that relates to both environmental and
cultural factors that define the marriage of a given winegrape cultivar planted
in its ideal climate, over favorable topography and physical soil characteristics,
that together combine to create the potential to produce fine wine. The Rogue
Valley represents one of the most diverse terroirs found in any one wine region
in the world. This diversity comes from the bioregion’s unique geology, landscape,
and climate.
Landscape:
The landscape of the Rogue Valley AVA is extremely diverse, being derived from
the joining of three mountain ranges of varying ages and structure: the Klamath
Mountains, the Coastal Range, and the Cascades. The region is drained mainly
by the Rogue River and its major tributaries; the Applegate River, the Illinois
River, and Bear Creek. The agricultural landscape of the Rogue Valley AVA is
mostly comprised of valley lowlands with some isolated hills, stream terraces
or benches, and footslopes of alluvial fans scattered by hilltops and ridges.
From this diverse geology comes a widely varying mix of metamorphic, sedimentary,
and volcanic derived soils that produce unique terroirs throughout the region.
The Rogue Valley ranges from roughly 700 ft in elevation to over 6600 ft at its
highest point. Vineyards in the region are planted to elevations that range from
900 ft to nearly 2500 ft and are found on gradual to very steep slopes that are
distributed along the isolated hills, stream terraces or benches, and at the
foot of alluvial fans throughout the region.
Elevations over the Rogue Valley and Applegate
Valley wine growing regions.
Climate:
From a climate perspective the Rogue Valley offers some the most diverse growing
conditions in Oregon and the United States, providing the conditions needed to
produce both cool and warm-climate grape varieties. The growing season averages
155-185 days with degree days varying from cool climate suitability in the Illinois
Valley to intermediate values in the Applegate Valley to warm climate suitability
in the Bear Creek and Valley of the Rogue. Due to the region’s higher elevations,
the general north-south tending valleys, their proximity to the Pacific Ocean
and intervening topographical barriers, the area experiences a climate transect
of wetter and cooler conditions in the western parts of the region to the warmer
and drier eastern portions of the valley. Annual precipitation varies from 15-95
inches across the region, declining in amount from west to east with less than
15 percent of the total precipitation occurring during the growing season of
April through October.
Annual precipitation over the Rogue Valley and Applegate Valley wine growing
regions.
Growing
degree-days over the Rogue Valley and Applegate Valley wine growing regions.
Degree-days are a measure of heat accumulation and therefore suitability
for
different types of winegrapes.
| 
