So Many Reasons to Drink Local Wine
This month, we’re celebrating the rollout of our first two vintages in the Date Night stimulus Kit. The kit contains some of our favorite goods from local business such as Rogue Valley Roasting Co., Mix Bakeshop, Huizache Creamery, Jacklily Floral, Vintner’s Kitchen, Alchemy Restaurant, and Winchester Inn.
Local goodies are incredible, and we like to think that our wine embodies everything about what makes Ashland special:
The Rogue Valley produces truly premium wine, which should be reason enough to drink local. But if you need more reasons, noodle on these:
Keeping It Green
Transportation accounts for more than 10% of a bottle’s carbon footprint.
Yup! If you buy wine from your local area, you’ve reduced the carbon footprint of your wine consumption by up to 13% on average. Resistance Wine Co uses lightweight glass and foregoes decorative foil closures on our wine bottles, which cuts down on the carbon footprint of our wine even further.
Your purchase keeps money in our local economy
When you buy local wine, most of that money stays in the local economy. Resistance Wine Co buys grapes from vineyards in Ashland and Medford, pays for custom crush services in Medford, buys harvest supplies from Oregon businesses, and directly employs some extremely talented local folks, if we do say so ourselves.
Plus, we put that money right back into our community. Try hitting up [insert name of California mega-winery] next time your local charity/school/sports team has an auction and needs a donation. You won’t get much. But ask a local winery, and we’re more than happy to pitch in. Local businesses are part of what makes the Rogue Valley such an amazing place to live.
PSA: Not all “Oregon” wines are actually made in Oregon. Some California wineries buy Oregon grapes, truck them out of state, make the wine in California, and label their wine as Oregon wine. This is legal, but it increases the carbon footprint (see above). If you check the back label for the name and location of the producer, you can see where the wine was actually made.
Buying local wine keeps vineyards planted and thriving in your midst
Aren’t vineyards beautiful? You love driving past them, living next to them, spending Saturday afternoons wine tasting among them, right? They lack the signature odor of southern Oregon’s most recently popular agricultural product. (We’re talking about you, hemp!)
And grapevines need less water relative to many other agricultural crops, such as corn, rice, almonds, and pastureland. Emigrant Lake thanks you!
Local wine supports Oregon wine research, making Oregon wine even better
When Resistance buys grapes from local vineyards, we pay a grape tax, much of which goes to support Oregon’s investment in wine grape research. Our grape tax funds are currently supporting Oregon researchers who are conducting studies on how farming practices impact the microbiome of the vineyard, alternatives to herbicides for vineyard weed management, and understanding components of wildfire smoke that can impact wine, among other things. We are excited to be building the tools for Oregon wine to get better and more sustainable.
You live in an especially diverse wine region. So many choices in one AVA!
Ever wonder if Napa residents get tired of cabernet sauvignon? Luckily there’s little chance of varietal fatigue in the Rogue Valley—180+ vineyards grow more than 50 varieties of wine grapes. From sparkling to dessert wines and all courses in between, Southern Oregon’s got this.
Resistance Wine Co makes wines from four of our favorite local varieties, and we love drinking the many, many other great wines being made here!
Want to try a little taste of the Rogue Valley? Check out our wines here!