Climate Focus Helps Abacela Produce Award Winning Wine | Vineyards

He was already a researcher, having done such work in the medical field. While traveling to Europe to do medical work, he had enjoyed wine, finding a favorite in tempranillo. But he discovered that tempranillo grapes weren’t grown commercially for wine in the United States.

“No one had an answer as to why no tempranillo was produced in America,” Jones said. “This raised the question of this researcher: ‘Why doesn’t someone find out the mystery behind it and develop it.’

Jones researched the issue and discovered that the climate in Spain, where Tempranillo thrives, cannot be matched in California, where many types of grapes are grown. Jones found that tempranillo vines need a warm growing season between mid-April and October, cool nights and little rain before they are harvested in late October before the first frost.

His research found a climate in southwestern Oregon that is similar to that of Rioja, Spain, where good tempranillo grapes and wine are produced. In 1992 Jones and his wife, Hilda, bought property just outside of Winston. They ordered grape canes in 1993, moved to the site in 1994 from Florida, and a year later planted the canes on 12 acres, four of which were with tempranillo.

The Joneses named their vineyard Abacela. It means “he / she / they are planting a vine”.

Over the next 15 years, the vineyard was enlarged four times and now totals 76 acres. The Tempranillo vines cover 25 acres and other varieties adapted to the climate of the site such as albarino, grenache, malbec, syrah and a few others are grown on smaller areas. The vineyard is monitored by three weather stations, 24 temperature sensors and 40 soil moisture probes.

Earl Jones was the winemaker in the early years. The grapes from the vineyard produced 3,000 cases of wine in 2003. As the vines grew, production increased to around 12,000 cases in 2018.

Abacela’s tempranillo was an immediate success. It was the first tempranillo in the United States to win a national competition.

“This confirmed our view that climate is a key factor,” Jones said, adding that about 100 Oregon wineries now grow tempranillo and a few climate-specific sites in California, Idaho and Washington do. also the grape.

Andrew Wenzl has been Abacela’s chief winemaker for 13 years.

“It’s an age-old quote, but it takes good grapes to make good wines,” he said. “We have several different types of soil here that offer higher levels of maturity. This is why we are able to make good wines here.

Abacela wines have won numerous awards over the years. Nine of his wines obtained between 90 and 93 out of 100 in different judgments.

“We are absolutely a team here,” said Wenzl. “There are those who work in the vineyard to grow great grapes and it’s not enough to make great wine, but you have to sell it, so kudos to the tasting staff.”

Jones’ experience in medical research and as a teacher led him to enter an internship program at Abacela in 2001. Over the past 20 years, 50 interns working in bachelor’s or master’s degrees at several universities in the United States or in the United States. wine regions of foreign countries have worked in Abacela for three to five months, gaining experience in the vineyard or cellar.

Abacela sells most of her 15 varieties of wine to members of her wine club and through outlets in Oregon, but she also works through a distributor and sells wine in California, Idaho. , Washington, New Jersey and New York.

“We have been able to market our wine well,” Jones said. “We try to take these fine grapes that we grow and make the best wine possible. We learned early on to only grow grapes suitable for our climate here. We try to follow global standards.

Earl and Hilda Jones were honored by the Oregon wine industry with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Abacela tasting room is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. all year round except on certain public holidays. Educational opportunities such as wine walks and lectures and vineyard tours are offered.