About Abacela Winery
Abacela is one of the most significant experimental successes in American wine history. When Earl and Hilda Jones retired to Southern Oregon in 1992, they came with a specific mission: to determine whether the Umpqua Valley's climate and soils could produce world-class Tempranillo, Spain's greatest red grape, which at the time was grown in almost no commercially serious American vineyard.
The answer was yes, with remarkable speed. The Abacela Tempranillo found an audience willing to reconsider Oregon wine beyond Pinot Noir, and the estate has since proved that Albariño, Garnacha, Syrah, Dolcetto, and other warm-climate varieties can also produce wines of real character in Southern Oregon's warmer, drier climate.
Abacela's success triggered a reconception of Southern Oregon wine country. The Umpqua Valley, Rogue Valley, and Applegate Valley AVAs, long overshadowed by the Willamette Valley's Pinot Noir fame, now host dozens of producers working with varieties impossible to ripen in the north. Abacela remains the pioneer and the most critically acclaimed producer in this zone.
