Notable Releases from Troon Vineyard
Notes on a Vermentino and two Syrahs, one with some bottle age
Troon Vineyard recently released their 2025 Vermentino and 2023 Syrah, grown and made in Oregon’s Applegate Valley. By chance I’d been aging one of their earlier Syrah releases, the 2021, so I had an excuse to A/B these vintages. I’m here to tell you that a little bottle age looks great on this wine.
The Applegate Valley lies entirely within the bounds of southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley AVA. The fifty-mile stretch of the Applegate River readily ripens the sun-loving grapes of the Mediterranean in its alluvial soils and fans. The region’s high latitude brings long days in midsummer with ample light and heat, but temperatures plummet overnight thanks to downslope winds from the nearby Siskiyou Mountains.
Troon Vineyard, located at the western end of the valley, in Grant’s Pass, farms following certified biodynamic and regenerative organic principles. They rely only on ambient cultures for primary fermentation and malolactic and use minimal sulfite at bottling. They also eschew new oak, aging instead in neutral barrels, concrete, qvevri, stainless, or a mix. They don’t call themselves natural winemakers, but some might.
