Lower Long Tom is an
American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in
Oregon's southern
Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, ...
in
Lane and
Benton Benton may refer to:
Places
Canada
*Benton, a local service district south of Woodstock, New Brunswick
*Benton, Newfoundland and Labrador
United Kingdom
* Benton, Devon, near Bratton Fleming
* Benton, Tyne and Wear
United States
*Benton, Alabam ...
Counties, near the towns of
Junction City and
Monroe. The district was established on December 10, 2021, by the
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, statutorily named the Tax and Trade Bureau and frequently shortened to TTB, is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury, which regulates and collects taxes on trade and imports of alcoho ...
.
Its coverage is approximately and contains 12 wineries and 24 commercially-producing vineyards that plant approximately . It lies entirely within the
Willamette Valley AVA. The region is primarily known for its
Pinot noir
Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...
and
Pinot gris.
Terroir
The AVA is located in the southwestern Willamette Valley, among Oregon's coastal foothills. The
Long Tom River
The Long Tom River is a tributary of the Willamette River in western Oregon in the United States. It drains an area at the south end of the Willamette Valley between Eugene and Corvallis.
It rises in the Central Oregon Coast Range in western ...
flows along the eastern boundary of the area.
The area is also warmer than surrounding regions, protected from cool marine air by a particularly high section of the
Central Oregon Coast Range.
The distinguishing feature of the Lower Long Tom AVA is the predominance of nutrient-poor, fast-draining Bellpine
soil
Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...
in the area, which forces vines to push deep in pursuit of food and water. The harder-working vines are believed to produce lighter leaf canopies and smaller grapes with more concentrated flavors and more powerful tannins.
Wine industry
As of 2022, the Lower Long Tom is the only nested appellation located in the southern Willamette Valley AVA, in contrast to nine nested appellations in the north.
The approval of the AVA enhanced the southern Willamette Valley's legitimacy as an Oregon wine region.
The petition to form the Lower Long Tom AVA was initially filed with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau by Dieter Boehm of High Pass Winery in 2017.
Wineries
* Antiquum Farm
* Bennett Wine Company
* Benton-Lane Winery
* Brigadoon Wine Co.
* Five Fourteen Vineyards
* Gelardi Vineyard/Poco Collina
* High Pass Winery
* Pfeiffer Winery
* Walnut Ridge Vineyards
References
External links
Lower Long Tom AVA TTB AVA Map
American Viticultural Areas
Oregon wine
Geography of Lane County, Oregon
Geography of Benton County, Oregon
2021 establishments in Oregon
{{wine-region-stub