Our Vineyards | StoneRiver Vineyards

ABOUT US

WINEMAKER

PHILOSOPHY

OUR VINEYARDS

StoneRiver Vineyards is renowned for crafting some of the finest wines in Oregon, situated in the Bear Creek Valley, part of the Rogue Valley American Viticulture Area (AVA) in Southern Oregon.

Our vineyard comprises three adjacent parcels formerly known as Pioneer Orchards, Fowler Ranch, and Brookbank Orchards, totaling 45 acres. Of this, 31 acres are planted with 16 grape varieties (6 white and 10 red), 3 acres are dedicated to 10 Eco-zones that enhance our conservation efforts, and 2 acres serve as a buffer zone along Coleman Creek for riparian restoration. The remaining nine acres support our vineyard and Tasting Room operations.

StoneRiver Vineyards is located in the Anderson sub-watershed, one of 21 sub-watersheds in the Bear Creek Watershed in Southern Oregon. Bear Creek Valley, which is defined by the Bear Creek Watershed, is approximately 400 miles square and 28 miles long. There are 83 named creeks in Bear Creek Valley. These creeks all flow into Bear Creek, then into the Rogue River where they travel approximately 127 miles and empty into the Pacific Ocean.

VINEYARD LAYOUT

The Talent Irrigation District (TID) Middle Canal separates StoneRiver Vineyards into two sections, the Upper Vineyard and the Lower Vineyard. The Upper Vineyard is located on the west side of the Canal and contains about 38% of our vineyards. It ranges in elevation from 1693 to 1755 feet and has a moderate 2 to 4% slope moving from west to east. The Lower Vineyard is located on the east side of the Talent Middle Canal and contains about 62% of our vineyards. The Lower Vineyard ranges in elevation from 1620 to 1688 feet and is mostly level with a slight 0 to 1% slope.

UPPER VINEYARD

The Upper Vineyard is bordered by Coleman Creek, one of two major tributaries in the Anderson Sub-watershed. Coleman Creek starts near Anderson Butte (5247 ft) and travels about 5 miles before it passes over the north end of our vineyards. It continues another mile and a half to a point just north of the town of Phoenix, where it empties into Bear Creek.

The Upper Vineyard consists of 5 blocks (9, 10, 11, 12 & 13). These 5 blocks are made up of 13 sub-blocks.

SOIL

Underlying the Upper Vineyard are three distinct soil types. Most of the Upper Vineyard (Blocks 9A, 9B, 9C, 10A, 10B, 10C & 10D.) consist of Quaternary alluvial fan deposits (Qaf). These soils, the youngest in the Valley, are fan-shaped deposits of poorly sorted sand, silt, and gravel that were deposited 10,000 - 12,000 years ago at the mouths of torrential-flood channels. The Qaf soils in our Upper Vineyard are at the outer edges of the Qaf deposits and include a higher level of clay than found in the Lower Vineyard closer to the valley floor. These soils are home to some of our Pinot Noir, Syrah, Petit Verdot, Tempranillo and Malbec varietals and have produced several gold, double gold, platinum and Best in Class award winning wines and vintages.

The second soil type underlays a small 1 and a half acre block that contains two small sub-blocks (Blocks 11A, 11B & 11C). These sub-blocks are planted with Pinot Gris, Chenin Blanc and Pinot Blanc. Most of this block is on a shale ledge that protrudes onto our property from the Siskiyou Slope on the west. These soils are very shallow; sometimes less than a foot to the shale ledge. The soil here also produces exceptional wines. Go to AWARDS to see a complete list of our wine awards.

The third soil type is of unknown origin. It was brought into the property to backfill an old 19 century placer mine. This soil type underlies two sub blocks (12A & 12B). It includes a small block of our Pinot Noir and Petite Sirah.

WIND

Our Upper Vineyard has another unique characteristic. The winds coming from Anderson Butte have a clear unimpeded path as they move over our vineyards and drop into Coleman Creek at the eastern edge of the property. This has both a positive and a negative effect on our vines. The positive effect is that most of the cold air passing over our vineyards settles in the Coleman Creek basin to the east. Since Cold air settles at the lowest point, this natural phenomenon helps mitigate potential frost damage to our vines during the spring when they are the most vulnerable.

The negative effect is that the winds are occasionally severe enough to wreak havoc with our vines. A good example is what happened in the spring of 2014. In less than a minute one of our Malbec rows was almost completely flattened. Several metal line stakes were bent in half and the metal torn. Fortunately, we were able to upright the vines and stake them again without any long term damage.

UPPER VINEYARD STATISTICS

ACREAGE

21.5 Acres

PLANTINGS

2002, 2005, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2023

ROW SPACING

9 Feet

BLOCKS

9A, 9B, 9C, 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D, 11A, 11B, 11C, 12, 13

FROST PROTECTION

None

AREA PLANTED

12 Acres

VARIETIES

Chenin Blanc, Malbec, Petite Sirah, Petite Verdot, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Syrah & Tempranillo

DENSITY

Varies

SOIL

Mostly Coleman loam. 8-20in; dark brown dry; slightly hard, friable, sticky & plastic; very fine tubular pores; slightly acid ph 6.8

IRRIGATION

Gravity fed drip irrigation; 1/2 gallon pressure compensated emitters

LOWER VINEYARD

The Lower Vineyard contains a secondary residence, our Tasting Room and the buildings and equipment used for vineyard operations. The Lower Vineyard consists of 8 vineyard blocks that are divided into 17 sub-blocks and contain 19 acres of grapevines. 9 different grape varieties are planted in the Lower Vineyard.

SOIL

Underlying the Lower Vineyard (Blocks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8) are Quaternary alluvial fan deposits (Qaf). These soils are the same as found in our Upper Vineyard except that they don't include the additional amount of clay found there. The Qaf soils, the youngest in the Valley, are fan-shaped deposits of poorly sorted sand, silt, and gravel at the mouths of torrential-flood channels.

LOWER VINEYARD STATISTICS