16 Summer 2019 Applegater
GRAPE TALK
New “A-team” wineries
in the Applegate
BY DEBBIE TOLLEFSON
After changing hands and renovating,
two new “A-team” wineries opened their
doors in the Applegate.
Apricity Vineyard, on the former
location of the Crow and Bear Winery,
opened a new tasting room in the Jerome
Prairie area. Augustino Estate and Vineyard
has refurbished its vineyard and remodeled
the tasting room at the former Bridgeview
Winery on North Applegate Road.
Augustino Estate and Vineyard
When I talked with Augustino’s owners,
Reggie Boltz and Debbie Spencer, in their
tasting room in March, they told me they
started growing grapes at their ranch in
O’Brien, in southern Josephine County, in
2001. They have a great tasting-room tree
house on Brown Road in O’Brien.
Both the vines and the tasting room
at 16995 North Applegate Road needed
some TLC when Reggie and Debbie took
over in 2017. The newly remodeled tasting
room has a fun “wine mine” room (wine
cellar) for private events and dinners, and
the remodeled tasting room is spacious
and comfortable.
The current tasting-room flight features
a variety of wines from Augustino’s many
acres of grapes, including 2017 Rosé (a
syrah and malbec blend), 2017 Pinot
Grigio, 2016 Chardonnay, 2015 Pinot
Noir, 2016 Syrah, and 2015 Cabernet
Sauvignon. The tasting room also serves
food, with an expanded menu for the
summer months.
Debbie Tollefson
Reggie and Debbie’s success with their
wines includes a Best in Class at the 2018
San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
for their 2014 Syrah and recognition
in 2019 by the San Francisco Chronicle
for both the 2016 Tempranillo (Double
Gold) and their 2014 Pinot Noir (Gold).
The 2018 Oregon Wine Experience
awarded their 2014 Pinot Noir a Gold,
and the New Orleans International Wine
Competition in 2018 gave Augustino’s
2016 Tempranillo a Double Gold.
Debbie and Reggie have lots of fun
ideas for their North Applegate tasting
room, including wine-tasting rides in a
draft-horse wagon along the Applegate
River and some special events for their
growing wine club.
Apricity Vineyard
The other “A-team” winery I visited
this spring was Apricity, located at the
western end of the Applegate Valley.
This new boutique vineyard and tasting
room is striving to use sustainable
practices in all aspects of farming and
construction. The original design for
the tasting room called for building
with hempcrete, but Josephine County
Building Safety Department’s hurdles for
building with hemp, historically the most
renewable resource available, became
insurmountable. The original vision
has dwindled to the only commercially
interactive hempcrete learning wall that the
owners know of in Oregon. This beautiful
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wall, which displays information
about hempcrete as well as the steps
to build with hempcrete, now stands
as a testament to their passion for
utilizing renewable products in all
aspects of their vineyard. They have
incorporated reused and repurposed
materials throughout the tasting
room, including mushroom board,
barnwood, brick, and steel.
Apricity owners, Laloni Cook
and Noah Lowry, have created the
only tasting room in the northwest
Apricity tasting room. Photo provided by Apricity.
Applegate Valley appellation. Laloni
and Noah are growing their grapes
100 percent chemical free with an
emphasis on microbiological health.
They are certified by CNG (Certified
Naturally Grown), a certification
organization with even stricter
standards than USDA organic
certification. Their grapes are crafted
at Pallet Wine Company by vintner
Linda Donovan at southern Oregon’s
first LIVE certified production
facility, located in Medford.
(LIVE is a certification that aims
to preserve human and natural
resources in the wine industry in
the Pacific Northwest.) The wines
Augustino wine mine. Photo provided by Augustino.
Apricity produces are petite syrah,
tempranillo, primitivo, chardonnay, syrah mailing list for special events, wine club
noir, and viognier. The Apricity winery and offerings, and tasting-room hours.
Debbie Tollefson
tasting room are located at 5719 Jerome
debbie.avrealty@gmail.com
Prairie Road, Grants Pass. Get on their
541.299.0402
www.oregonsolarworks.com