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The Cynthiana wine grape may be one of several native
species that could lead to a Central Oregon wine industry. |
I’m getting rather tired of the laughs. I’m referring to the response I get from most of my friends when I suggest that we’ll have a successful wine industry in Central Oregon in the not-too-distant future.
The problem, of course, is obvious to anyone who lives here and knows anything about agriculture – our weather. In the winter, our temperatures routinely dip below zero. And in the summer, we’ve been known to get frost in July. As one of my friends (a farmer, I might add) put it: “We get 89 frost-free days. Too bad they’re not consecutive.” We have huge swings in temperatures – sometimes in the same 24-hour period.
These conditions make it difficult to grow anything, let alone something as temperamental as fine grapes.
Most well-known fine wine is made from the Vitis Vinifera species of grapes that are native to parts of Europe, Asia and the Mediterranean region. These are the grapes that have been used to make wine for thousands of years, and they include all the household names, including cabernet sauvignon, merlot, pinot noir, syrah, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and Riesling.
They make wonderful wines,
