Oregon Wine: Exciting and Favorably Regulated

I have rarely found a red wine from Oregon that I did not like. In a quick look over the reviews, I couldn't find any reds from Oregon that were below a B grade. Now that's some good exciting wine. I don't remember any other region holding up that well. I love Italian, Spanish, California, but they have all let me down at some point or another. I have yet to be let down by an Oregon red. This is an exciting prospect. Oregon is the neighbor state to my birthstate of Washington and sits north of the state I lived in from the age of 2 to 7, California. In fact my parents were both born in Oregon and I still have lots of family there, so I do feel some ties to Oregon.

I found an Oregon Winery Guide I had picked up at a tasting a while back and was looking at it yesterday. I would love to take a trip through Oregon wine country, it's one of the most beautiful states and then add wine touring and you are almost in heaven. Something I found intriguing in the Winery Guide was the extent of regulation of the wine industry in Oregon, or at least the regulation of the label.

The regulations don't necessarily guarantee quality, but they are a step towards it. At least you know the wine you are drinking conforms to the law they have set up, that's not the case in California where things are wide open. I won't debate the merits of each system now, but each does have its strong points. Here now is an excerpt from the Oregon Winery Guide on label regulations:

The nation's most stringent wine labeling laws were adopted in Oregon in 1977. Then, and now, many wine labels used region and variety names that Oregon wine leaders did not believe adequately described the bottle's contents. Oregon winemakers therefore created standards that provide more accurate and meaningful information to consumers.

For example, the names of foreign regions like "Chablis" and "Champagne" are not allowed on Oregon wine labels. Oregon wine must contain at least 90 percent of the stated varietal. Nationally, 75 percent is required; Oregon allows Cabernet Sauvignon to comply with this standard, since it is traditionally blended with Merlot, Cabernet franc, etc.

Label Specifics
Winery Name: Name of the producer
Vintage: Harvest year, 95% must be from the stated year
State: Origin of grapes
Varietal: Type of grape (Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Riesling, etc.), 90% must be of stated varietal
Appellation: An official American Viticultural Area. Oregon has six. 100% of the grapes must be from the stated region to use the appellation.

Winery Name Vintage Oregon Varietal Appellation

Oregon wine, exciting, and you know what you're getting!