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About Applegater. (Jacksonville, OR) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2019)
Applegater Fall 2019 ■ BOUTIQUE WINERIES Continued from page 1 gold, as indicated by visible mine tailings. Perfect soil conditions enabled owners Kathy and Duane Bowman to produce an exquisite traditional blend of French Bordeaux. Visitors to their tasting room, in the historic McCully Inn in Jacksonville, can sip wines on the garden patio and hearken back to the inn’s vintage days of the late 1800s. Devitt Winery. In 2001, when Jim and Susan Devitt’s dream of selling grapes proved more of a challenge than expected, their backup plan of “making our own wine” sounded to them like the old adage “when pigs fly” (which later became a name of one of their wines). Yet Devitt Winery proved that persistence can become a pinot and tenacity a tempranillo and produced impressive varietals and blends. When Jim died in 2017, Sue’s grandson, Brendon, took over as winemaker. Guzzo Family Vineyard. Paula and Tony Guzzo transitioned from tech to terrace with what started as a landscaping project and a few rows of vines on Murphy Creek. Not long after reading Jeff Cox’s book, From Vines to Wines, the Guzzos traded a home in the San Francisco Bay Area for their boutique winery. Their secret, now out of the barrel, is limited quantities of smooth and mighty red wines uniquely aged in small format American oak barrels. The Guzzos are producing hand-pressed, handcrafted, award-winning wines, satisfying to the most sophisticated palate, while remaining approachable for the emerging wine enthusiast. Their recently opened tasting room allows visitors to see how they ferment, hand-press, barrel-age, and bottle their wines. Guests can sip and share stories while sitting at retired oak barrels hand-painted by Paula with local scenic landscapes. LongSword Vineyard. Wine enthusiasts flock to LongSword Vineyard to view colorful paragliders overhead while sampling an amazing flight of varietals. LongSword’s sparkling chardonnay, Accolade, is sure to lift your spirit. Those looking to pursue other flights of fancy can enjoy an original adaptation of the classic Peter Pan in September, presented by Wanderlust Theatre Company at the winery. Rosella’s Vineyard and Winery. Rex and Sandi Garoutte, Rosella’s owners since 1998, tend ten acres of vines along Missouri Flat Road. In their quaint tasting room, where stories from Rex are paired with Sandi’s famous “Spretzels,” visitors enjoy tastings of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, zinfandel, and blends. Many of their wines have Hawaiian names, e.g., Manu Aloha and Ula Waina, in tribute to Rex’s late mother, Rosella, who loved to visit the islands. 21 Walport Family Cellars. Second- generation Applegaters Eric and Amy Walport represent the next generation of agro-visionaries incorporating permaculture design and use of chickens and sheep into their vineyard management practices. The Walports’ cattle ranch has been transformed into rows of cabernet. Visitors can enjoy cabernet, merlot, and malbec, among other varietals, in the new tasting room or under the trees up Slagle Creek. Applegate vineyards tended by families with a passion for wine, a love of the land, and an eternal hope for a bountiful harvest are the core of this community. Come for a visit and a bit of viognier, sip the latest release of sauvignon blanc, relax to one of the valley’s many red blends, and leave singing “K syrah syrah.” Cathy Rodgers cathyrodgers55@gmail.com Winery photos by Cathy Rodgers. Tasting Room Info Cricket Hill Winery 240 E. California Street, Jacksonville 541-899-7264 • crickethillwinery.com Open Thursday - Sunday 1 - 6 pm May 1 - Thanksgiving • Devitt Winery 11412 Highway 238, Jacksonville 541-899-7511 • devittwinery.com Open daily noon - 5 pm Closed Wednesdays • Brendon Butler (center) of Devitt Winery. Tony and Paula Guzzo of Guzzo Family Vineyard. Guzzo Family Vineyard 1386 Murphy Creek Road, Grants Pass 541-862-8617 info@guzzofamilyvineyard.com Open Friday - Sunday 11 - 4 pm • LongSword Vineyard 8555 Highway 238, Jacksonville 541-899-1746 info@longswordvineyard.com Open daily noon - 5 pm • Rosella’s Vineyard and Winery 184 Missouri Flat Road, Grants Pass 541-846-6372 • rosellasvineyard.com Open daily 11 am - 5 pm • Rex Garoutte of Rosella’s Vineyard and Winery. Eric Walport of Walport Family Cellars. Walport Family Cellars 470 Slagle Creek Road, Grants Pass 541-846-9563 • wfcellars.com Open Saturday - Sunday 11 am - 6 pm HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM THE APPLEGATER TEAM! From the Heart of the Applegate Anthology of original essays, poems, and short stories contributed by Applegate Valley writers in support of the Applegater. Available for $16 at: Amazon.com and applegater.org; Applegate Valley Realty, Jacksonville; Bloomsbury Books, Ashland; Oregon Books, Grants Pass; Terra Firma, Jacksonville A pplegate R iver L odge & R estaurant Lodge open 7 days a week Restaurant open Tuesday - Sunday 5 - 9 pm Live Music on the deck on Sunday 3 - 10 pm Available for Retreats , Weddings, and Family Reunions Lodge 541-846-6690 • Restaurant 541-846-6082 Retreats 541-660-0244 eddings & Special Events 541-200-9882 W 15100 Highway 238, Applegate, Oregon
