We’re Number One!

By now you have probably heard of the stunning award our local winery Reustle Prayer Rock Vineyards received at the recent Riverside International Wine Competition held in Southern California. “Small Winery of the Year” was the honor bestowed upon the Umpqua winery after 9 of its 10 wines entered in the competition took silver medals or better.

I have written about Reustle Prayer Rock many times over the past two years. I began tasting their wines in the Spring of 2007 just after moving here. I can remember my very first visit and how impressed I was with their wines. Gloria & Stephen Reustle were new to the wine industry and they had only recently opened their tasting room. The last three years has brought huge growth for them and their winery. The addition of their wine cave being the most noticeable but less conspicuously there has been significant growth of the vineyard with new grape varieties being planted and new wines being made. They have followed in true Umpqua Valley tradition by claiming a number of firsts for the region including producing the first Grüner Veltliner in the country and building the first wine cave in the Umpqua Valley. They continue to enter their wines in many wine competitions both locally and internationally, receiving many awards and accolades. This most recent, “Small Winery of the Year” award being one of the most prestigious.

This is a deserved award for Reustle Prayer Rock. Their inexhaustible efforts toward making the very best wines possible is obvious. Stephen Reustle is as driven a vintner as I have known and his wine making style is very much his own. But for all of us in the wine industry this award is so much more than just a recognition of one winery and one winemaker. It is a validation of something much bigger. It is a just and overdue recognition of our AVA (American viticulture area) the Umpqua Valley. It is additional proof of what so many have known for so long; the Umpqua Valley produces world class wines and is a world class wine region. Richard Sommer,  Oregon's wine pioneer knew it and believed in the region so strongly he devoted much of his life to Umpqua Valley wine, paving the way for our current winemakers and their families. The terroir of the region has attracted a number of talented, driven, passionate winemakers like Stephen Reustle. The combination of this talent and mother natures gift of great land and proper climate are a recipe for greatness. Greatness that is beginning to be recognized in the world wine community.

This should make us all proud. And I mean all of us, wine lovers and non wine drinkers a like. All of Douglas County residents should stand a little taller and feel a little prouder of their home. Recognition as a legitimate wine region to be reckoned with is good for the local economy. A growing local wine industry means jobs. Award winning wines and wineries means tourist dollars coming in to our small businesses and local communities. This award won by Reustle Prayer Rock Vineyards truly is an award shared by all of us here in the county. Congratulations Reustle Prayer Rock Vineyards and congratulations Umpqua Valley!