American Viticultural Area · OR
Umpqua Valley
Umpqua Valley is a federally-designated American Viticultural Area in OR, established in 1984. The map below shows its official TTB boundary alongside nearby AVAs.
The Umpqua Valley boundary is highlighted. Nearby AVAs are rendered in gray — click any of them to view that AVA's page.
At a glance
Established
1984
State
OR
Climate
Mixed
Boundary recorded in 27 CFR Part 9 · Source: TTB
About the Umpqua Valley AVA
Umpqua Valley, designated 1984, sits in southern Oregon between the cool Willamette Valley to the north and the warm Rogue Valley to the south. It is sometimes called the "Hundred Valleys of the Umpqua" for its jumbled terrain — a maze of small valleys and ridges drained by the Umpqua River, with no single dominant climate. Conditions shift from cooler and wetter in the north to warmer and drier in the south. Umpqua Valley lies within the larger Southern Oregon AVA and contains the Elkton Oregon and Red Hill Douglas County AVAs.
That patchwork of microclimates supports an exceptionally wide range of grapes. Cooler northern sites grow Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, and Riesling, while warmer southern sites ripen Tempranillo, Syrah, and Bordeaux varieties — the region is particularly associated with pioneering Tempranillo plantings in Oregon. The diversity makes Umpqua Valley one of the most varietally varied AVAs in the Pacific Northwest.
Nearby AVAs
Other American Viticultural Areas closest to Umpqua Valley — useful when a vineyard sits inside more than one AVA at once.