Since its inception in 1984, the Umpqua Valley Wine Region has become a serious wine destination. It offers beautiful landscapes wrapped around a dramatic river, diverse wines, and historical vineyards. And it produces some of the finest wines in the Pacific Northwest, featuring over 40 wine varietals grown regionally.

The unique geology of the Umpqua Valley Wine Region creates nutrient and mineral-rich soils in which grape vines thrive, while the temperate climate mimics that of the best winegrowing regions in Europe and the Mediterranean. The combination of soil and climate provides an ideal atmosphere for growing wine grapes. And yet, even though it is one of Oregon’s oldest viticultural regions, it has retained its genuine, unpretentious character. Like Napa Valley 50 years ago, it is common in the Umpqua Valley Wine Region to sip on wine poured directly by the winemakers who love to share their deep knowledge and love of viticulture with visitors. You might even get to meet the winemaker’s dog.

The Umpqua Valley’s winegrowing history is a rich tapestry that dates to the 1880s when German immigrants who had worked for the Beringer Brothers in Napa planted the first wine grape vineyard in the Umpqua Valley. The modern-day wine industry began post-prohibition when Richard Sommer established HillCrest Vineyard in 1961. Still going today, it is Oregon’s oldest estate winery, having pioneered the creation of the first Oregon Pinot Noir.

Where to Taste
Excited to start our first day of wine tasting, we headed to the tiny town of Elkton. Home to six wineries and 12 commercial vineyards, Elkton Oregon has been its own AVA since 2014. The pleasant 45-minute drive from Roseburg took us through country roads, crisscrossing the sparkling Umpqua River several times. The name Umpqua means “along the river.”

Knoll Vineyards
Our first stop was Knoll Vineyards, owned by Leslie and Steve Beckley. They began planting grapevines on their Elkton property in 2018. They converted a 30-year-old horse barn into a winery when Leslie, at age 64, earned her degree in enology and viticulture and became a winemaker.

Guests can request a private tour of the vineyard, but its tasting room is currently located in Tomaselli’s Pastry Mill and Café in Elkton. The café is well-known in the region, and when the prior owner retired in November 2023, the Beckleys took it over. Leslie says, “It’s been here for 40 years. It’s a legacy in Elkton, and it was important to keep it for the burgeoning wine industry in the region.”

The café uses a massive smoker to cook chicken, pork, woodfired pizza, and beans, so we anticipated a delicious lunch. But our priority was to first taste wine. The 2021 Syrah Rosé, a perfect summer sipper, paired well with the salmon pâté. The 2021 Reserve Pinot Noir, with heady marionberry and black cherry aromas, paired well with our smoked chicken and black bean salad.

Brandborg Vineyard & Winery
After lunch, we crossed the street to visit Brandborg Vineyard & Winery’s two-story tasting room. Sue and Terry Brandborg searched for a cool, coastal climate to plant a vineyard and found the Umpqua. Terry says, “The hundred valleys of the Umpqua offer a complex topography for winemakers to play in. Where else can you go from Alsace to Burgundy to the Rhone to Rioja in one wine region?”

In 2010, the Brandborgs made their first white Pinot Noir. Sue says, “It was so popular that we kept making it.” The 2018 Pinot Noir, soft and somewhat lighter, features fruit and spice aromas with a lingering finish. Brandborg has a pizza oven, tented outdoor seating, a small stage inside for music, and a casual upstairs tasting room.

Once you’re in Elkton, visiting other wineries is easy. River’s Edge, just a short drive from the town center, produces some lesser-known cool-climate wines, including an Aligoté, a Pinot Gris Rosé, and a Baco Noir. Lexème Wines, also nearby, is building a tasting room but offers in-home appointments for tasting until it opens.

Hillcrest Vineyard
“A good wine tastes like the place it was grown” is HillCrest Vineyard’s trademark slogan. They can claim that because they make wines the way they were crafted 200 years ago in the Old World. Visiting HillCrest Vineyard is like making a pilgrimage to a special place, as it is the oldest continually operating, post-prohibition estate winery in Oregon and the birthplace of Oregon Pinot Noir.

Pioneering vintner Richard Sommer established HillCrest Vineyard in 1961. Current owners Dyson and Susan DeMara take wine production as seriously as did the vineyard’s founder. Open daily, the wood-paneled tasting room is rustic yet comfortable. With tastings guided by winemaker Dyson DeMara or his daughter Hannah, visiting the tasting room is like visiting an old friend—warm, welcoming, and unpretentious. Authentic to the typical experience of wine tasting in the Umpqua Valley Wine Region, Dyson poured wine while explaining its unique characteristics.

Abacela
This family-owned winery is in the warmer, drier southern part of the Umpqua Valley Wine Region. Earl and Hilda Jones have operated it since they purchased the 463-acre property in 1992. A former pear and apple orchard, today 76 acres of graceful rolling hills are planted with vineyards producing 17 varietals, including Tempranillo, Albariño, Malbec, Viognier, Tinta Amarela, and Touriga Nacional. Abacela is the first winery to commercially grow and produce wine from Spain’s noble Tempranillo grape in the Pacific Northwest.

Aged 20 months in French oak, the 2021 flagship Tempranillo Barrel Select offers a great aroma and pairs well with charcuterie from the winery’s on-site kitchen. Seated wine tastings are offered on the patio or in the tasting room.

Paul O’Brien Winery
In the heart of downtown Roseburg, we tasted lush reds at the Paul O’Brien Winery and tasting room. A repurposed car dealership houses the entire facility. It has a large brick front and garage door entry that is big enough to drive your car through. Paul O’Brien’s is Umpqua Valley’s first urban winery. With over 20 years of winemaking experience, owner Scott O’Brien Kelley teamed up with HillCrest owner and 30-year veteran winemaker Dyson Paul DeMara to open this winery. The winery’s name is a combination of the owners’ two middle names. The winery makes reds and whites and offers stand-up tastings at the bar or seated tastings in the spacious lounge.

The 2021 Umpqua Pinot Noir is the flagship wine and best seller. Both owners worked at the Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa and now offer a 2022 Fume Blanc, a tribute to Mondavi’s original 1970s version. The winery also offers a taste of its delightful Malmsey, a Maderia-styled sweet dessert wine. Scott Kelley says, “The Paul O’Brien Winery is the epitome of Umpqua Valley Wine Region hospitality. You leave having experienced something unique and having had a good time.”

Trella Vineyards
The Williams family established Trella Vineyards in 2011 at the base of the Callahan Mountains in the Umpqua Valley, just a short distance from Oregon’s first Pinot Noir planting. Its tasting room, however, is in downtown Roseburg. This winery features Italian and Spanish varietals from sustainably farmed vineyards.

A vintage 1908 brick-walled building with a casual bar and café table seating atmosphere houses the tasting room. Tastings are a choice of two different flights of five wines. Small bites of cheese, charcuterie, and desserts are available.

The 2018 Tempranillo had smooth, earthy tannins, dark cherry flavors, and a deliciously long finish. However, the 2018 Pinot Noir is their highest-selling wine and, hence, flagship wine. “We started Trella from scratch,” says owner, winemaker, and doctor by day Stephen Williams. ” Umpqua Valley Wine Region hospitality means the person pouring the wine is likely the person who planted the vines and made the wine.”

Cooper Ridge Vineyard
This 25-acre estate and winery is 150 feet above the North Umpqua River and offers extraordinary panoramic views of Pinot Noir vineyard rows stretching downhill toward the river, the valley floor, and mountain ranges in the distance. Spacious outdoor patio seating is available, weather permitting. Owned by Steve and Paula Wilson, Cooper Ridge Vineyard produces several varietals from 100% estate-grown grapes. Among the whites, the Grüner Veltliner is popular. The Tempranillo is one of their best-selling reds.

They feature small bite plates and hold regular weekend events with music and food trucks to accompany the tastings. Also, a guest house is available if you’re looking for a perfectly private and peaceful getaway. The view from the guest house’s balcony is as spectacular as the view from the tasting room.

Melrose Vineyards
When you arrive at Melrose Vineyards, you are greeted by an enormous, dark wooden, 100-year-old, fully restored, and modernized barn with a green roof and large, sliding corrugated metal doors in the entry. The tasting room is cavernous, with plenty of tables and chairs for seated tastings. A long, shiny wooden bar dominates one side of the room, with a well-stocked gift boutique at both ends.

Family-owned and operated by Wayne and Kerry Parker, the 300-acre vineyard was planted in rich river bottom soil along the banks of the South Umpqua River. Many varietals range from Oregon’s most common Pinot Noir to Pinotage and Baco Noir. Wine flights of three or six glasses of either red or white wines are available for tasting at very reasonable fees. The winemaker’s dedication shows through in the taste of premium, fruit-forward, balanced wines.

With a full on-site kitchen, the winery offers lunches, weddings, and private catered events. The friendly staff at Melrose Vineyards welcomes visitors, saying, “Great wines, great times, Melrose wines!”

As we wrapped up our visit to this bucolic wine region, we found it scenic, rural, friendly, and welcoming. Most Umpqua Valley Wine Region wineries are still family-owned and operated, and they offered us a hospitable experience in their tasting rooms and vineyards. And yes, we often met the winemaker who poured their wine and sat down with us for a personalized tasting.

Where to Eat
Tomaselli’s Pastry Mill and Café
Tomaselli’s Pastry Mill and Café in Elkton is a favorite with locals and visitors to this bucolic wine region. The restaurant has been making homemade baked goods and serving hearty American fare since 1981. New owners Leslie and Steve Beckley took over the restaurant in November 2023 and are committed to providing the same quality fare that original owner Marty Tomaselli offered for 40 years. The café serves breakfast, lunch, pizza, and baked goods Wednesday through Sunday. It features a sizeable smoker for cooking chicken, pork, beans, and woodfired pizza.

The Parrott House
The Parrott House in downtown Roseburg is housed in a restored 1891 Victorian with rustic-elegant décor. It is a feast for the eyes and the appetite. The owner had all the tables and bars built with distressed wood. The Reform Bourbon Bar, packed with 135 bottles of bourbon, scotch, and rye, is a whiskey lover’s dream.

The outdoor seating is aptly named the Magnolia Patio, thanks to the mature leafy Magnolia tree adjacent to it. While there are numerous nuances and details to discover in the Parrott House, chef Aaron Thompson steals the show with his eclectic menu. Though the restaurant is known for steak and lobster, the menu also features foraged mushrooms, crispy Brussels sprouts with fondue, and Brazilian spiced salmon. Owner Heidi Lael says the restaurant draws a lot of travelers to Roseburg to see this vibrant establishment.

True Kitchen and Bar
True Kitchen and Bar, in downtown Roseburg, is housed in a renovated brick building. The rustic wooden floors, natural wood accents, and soft lighting create a warm, inviting ambiance. True Kitchen is known for its juicy TKB burger loaded with bacon jam, smoked gouda, caramelized sweet onion, avocado, and aioli. But the shrimp and grits, seared scallops with brown butter risotto, and adobo-lime chicken with ancho cream offer mouth-watering alternatives.

The drinks menu features twenty craft cocktails designed by the restaurant’s in-house mixologists. The owner proudly offers only local Umpqua Valley wines on the menu.

Where to Stay
The Hampton Inn
Its downtown Roseburg location provides an ideal base for exploring the Umpqua Valley Wine Region. The hotel offers free Wi-Fi, a hot breakfast, an indoor saltwater pool, and a fitness center.