Wine Explorations 2026: regions, wineries and varieties, featuring négrette and Applegate Valley AVA

I’m back after my preview post last Friday to present ‘New for 2026 Wine Explorations’ from our combined group of wine writers. This month we taste wine from regions we never explored, wineries from which we were eager to try wines, and trying new grape varieties. My focal point is the red négrette grape from an up-and-coming region in Oregon. Refer to this blog article for info and stats on vineyard areas around the world. 

Where did Lynn go and what did she taste? Surprisingly, Savor the Harvest didn’t go to a region or producer or taste an obscure grape from France or anywhere else in the EU (European Union) — even though it is usually easy with many options at our fingertips living in France. Instead, since we are stateside for a brief stay, I picked a wine from Oregon I recently tried that blew me away!

Was the region previously explored? Not really. We previously spent one day there eight years ago.

Was it a producer we were excited to revisit? Absolutely! We were eager to return, because they made impressive changes since our last visit eight years ago.

Was the grape variety new to me? No. I had never tasted a 100% varietal wine from this grape, let alone from Oregon. It’s fairly easy to source in the southwest of France where we usually live but mostly ends up in blends. It is said to come from there – the AOCs in the Occitanie department – where it must be at least 50% of any blend. Although producers can make 100% varietal wine from this grape, it is rare in France. So, for example if you see Fronton AOC on a red wine label, you know this grape is in the bottle.

I am delighted to introduce you to the first ever vintage of 100% négrette from Troon Vineyards, Applegate Valley AVA.

Mark and I were extremely lucky to taste this wine. When friends spontaneously called in early December asking us to join them that afternoon for a visit to just one Applegate Valley winery, we answered with two words: “Yes, Troon.”I knew the property and operation went through a transformation since we lasted visited spring of 2018. Troon is now Demeter Certified Biodynamic. And the first estate farm in Oregon and the second winery in the world to become Regenerative Organic Certified and the fourth farm worldwide to become Regenerative Organic Gold Certified. (source)

They are not just a winery with vineyards, they are a farm with vegetable and flower gardens, fruit trees, chickens, sheep and honeybees… and with a small block of négrette, a grape from the Southwest of France.

At that visit, I asked if there was any négrette hanging around that we could try, as they indicated it was sold out. And voilà ! Craig Camp, wine industry veteran and General Manager appeared with a bottle. As we would say in France, On a eu tellement de chance ! (We were so lucky!)

Nate Walls, Troon’s winemaker shares this about the négrette:

“2023 marked the first year of real production, and even then, it was a small crop – just 0.9 tons, or approximately 1,800 pounds, harvested on September 21, 2023. This was enough to fill one small fermentor, so we were able to produce just two barrels (approximately fifty cases) of 100% négrette wine. Like all Troon Vineyard wines, the ferments started spontaneously from indigenous yeasts with no additives. The wine was handled gently during fermentation with just one punch-down or foot-treading per day, and the wine proceeded to ferment outside until it finished roughly three to four weeks later. The wine was then pressed off to age in two neutral French oak barrels for ten months prior to being bottled unfined and unfiltered with a small dose of sulfur added at bottling.” (source) 

And I share this about it: This deeply colored wine (négrette is known for its high anthocyanin levels) smelled of darker berries, wet soil, subtle old leather and delicate violet floral. A sip revealed unexpected lively acidity that kept it fresh and bright. Négrette tends to be a lower acid and tannin grape so this was a nice surprise, as were the tannins. One of the most nuanced wines I tasted in a while … one you could sip without food or enjoy with a meal. Lovely all around! You can bet our calendar is marked to follow-up with the Troon team this autumn to taste the next vintage of this wine!

Applegate Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA)

The Applegate Valley sub-AVA is within the larger Rogue Valley AVA in Southern Oregon 50-miles north of the California border. The first vines were planted there in the mid-1850s by Swiss emigrant Peter Britt, followed by a few others including Savoie, France emigrant Joseph Ginet. Gold, prohibition, and area occurrences created a downturn lasting until the early 1970s when Frank Wisnovsky and Dick Troon planted grapes and established wineries. Today the AVA has about 300 hectares (750 acres) of grapevines at elevations between 1,000 and 1,500 feet in elevation in the foothills of the Siskiyou Mountains. Find more information about this AVA here.

See what fellow wine writers share to kick off your 2026 wine explorations: 

David from Cooking Chat shares “Something New: Visiting Wineries in Five States You Might Not Expect“
Deanna from Wineivore shares “The Slovakian Princess Grape: Pesecká Leánka“
Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm shares “Exploring Garda Bianco from Poggio delle Grazie as we enter 2026“
Cathie at Side Hustle Wino shares “The Mystery of Korean Ginseng Wine Explored“
Jeff at Food Wine Click! shares “Explore the Wilds of Spain in Priorat“
Jennifer at Vino Travels shares “Where Italy’s Largest Lake Meets the Vineyards: Discovering Garda DOC”
Camilla at Culinary Cam shares “Armenia: A Wine Story Spanning Six Thousand Years“
Here at Savor the Harvest I share Wine Explorations 2026: regions, wineries and varieties, featuring négrette and Applegate Valley AVA

Links to:

Troon Vineyards

Areas growing négrette