Rogue Valley Wine

Rogue Valley Wine
128 Pages
ISBN 978-0-7385-8136-1

Winemaking in Oregon began more than 150 years ago when Peter Britt of Jacksonville brought grapevine cuttings from California to create his Valley View Vineyard. By 1890, the Southern Oregon State Board of Agriculture forecast a vineyard-dotted Rogue Valley to rival the castled Rhine, the classical vales of Italy and the sunny slopes of France. But Prohibition, which became law in Oregon four years before the rest of the country, killed the nascent industry. Not until the 1970s, when Americans discovered a passion for wine, was winegrowing and winemaking in Southern Oregon's Rogue Valley reestablished. Pear orchards were converted to vineyards, and winemaking, not on a California scale, but rather in boutique wineries tucked away along scenic country roads, began anew and thrived.

M J Daspit

About M J Daspit (Ashland, Oregon Author)

M J Daspit

M J Daspit was born in Princeton, New Jersey in 1951. After graduation from Cornell University in 1973, she became managing editor for The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau in association with Princeton University Press. She subsequently joined the Navy and served in the anti-submarine SOSUS community and in the Navy Recruiting Command. Retired as a Commander in 1994, she taught English at Southwestern College in Chula Vista, California and later moved to Oregon to pursue a career in writing. She currently lives in the vibrant theater town of Ashland with her husband, Gary Greksouk.

Daspit is the wine columnist for the Medford Mail Tribune and a regular contributor to Oregon Wine Press, Southern Oregon Wine Scene, and other publications featuring articles on the Southern Oregon wine industry.

Her published books include a nonfiction history titled ROGUE VALLEY WINE, co-authored with winemaker Eric Weisinger, (Arcadia Publishing, 2011), a historical novel of Monterey in the 1870’s, LUCY LIED (Fireship Press, 2014), and THE LITTLE RED BOOK OF HOLIDAY HOMICIDES (Spoke Publishing, 2015).