Cowhorn Vineyard & Garden
Details
Cowhorn Vineyard & Garden is located in the Applegate Valley appellation of southern Oregon. Our 117-acre property is just a few miles north of the California border, alongside the Upper Applegate River. About 25 acres are planted to wine grapes.
Our estate is different from most others, in important ways. To start with, we chose grape varieties that are historically associated with the Rhône River wine region of France: Syrah and Grenache for red wine, and Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne for white wine. While our latitude is a bit lower than the Rhône, and our growing season is shorter, other qualities are similar, especially to Châteauneuf-du-Pape: river-side bench-land with little rain, hot summers, and rocky soils that don't hold much water. The folks in the Châteauneuf region obviously figured out which grape varieties excel under these conditions, because their wine has been famous (and fabulous) for a long time. So even though these varieties are not widely planted in America, they're right at home in our estate vineyard.