Rock Point Wines Affair!

We are excited to announce the first annual celebration of our second wine label, Rock Point Wines. On July 30th 2011 we will host a complimentary public event; the first annual Rock Point Wines Affair. The celebration will include live music from TJ & The Country Spurs, Vineyard Hayrides, Pulled pork sandwiches available for purchase from Jeff’s Street Bistro, and complimentary wine tasting of all four Rock Point Wines for those 21 years of age and older. The festivities will be located our five acre park in the heart of the 200 acre vineyard. Stop in anytime between 1PM and 4PM.


The Rock Point Wines Affair will be the only day throughout the year to taste and purchase Rock Point Wines. We are offering tastes of all four wines: 2009 Rock Point Pinot Noir, 2009 Rock Point Pinot Grigio, River Rock Red, & River Rock White. In addition to the complimentary festivities Rock Point Wines will be available for purchase by the glass, bottle, and case. Event special pricing will be offered.

A bit of history on the label

Rock Point Wines is named after Del Rio Vineyards’ historic location just north of Gold Hill. The distinguishing Rock Point formation in the Rogue River became the name of a small community founded by J.B. White in the early 1850s. Rock Point has a colorful history consisting of the Rogue Indian Wars, gold mining, floods, the railroad, and orchards. Today, the only remaining reminder of the community’s history is the still standing Stage Coach Stop, the location of the Rock Point Hotel, a major stop on the California-Oregon Stage line.

Rock Point Wines was established in 2008 and has been steadily growing in distribution around the country. It is currently available to Oregon customers through our online store, select Costco locations and on tap at a few local restaurants. For more information on our second label please visit the website at www.rockpointwines.com.

Rock Point Case Club

Curious about the new case club? Check out our Rock Point Wines website for details and how to join.

http://rockpointwines.com/case_club.php

A New Del Rio Adventure . . .

Dear Del Rio Wine Club Members;

2011 is here and we are ready for a great and exciting new year at Del Rio. Since establishing the winery in 2004, our grape production and sales have been diversified with the growth of our own Del Rio brand. This year marks our seventh year of producing premium Del Rio wines and the expansion of the brand has taken Del Rio across the nation in distribution. Del Rio wine can now be found in restaurants and wine shops in fifteen different states from Washington to New York.

In addition to our estate label, we have established a second label: Rock Point Wines. The name comes from Del Rio’s historical location, once known as Rock Point, a thriving community in the late 1800’s with a hotel, post office, and general store. People would come from all over the valley to attend balls and functions at the Rock Point Hotel. All that remains is the newly renovated Rock Point Bridge and the hotel, now home to the Del Rio Tasting Room.

The Rock Point Wines’ label was created in order to diversify our production levels in the vineyard and winery. These wines are of excellent quality, designed as drink now wines at a more affordable price. Their purpose is to complement our signature label highlighting the level of quality we produce in our Del Rio brand and generating a stable, less complex, yet very consumable wine. First bottled in 2008, Rock Point was intended to be sold through distribution outside of Oregon, and just as Del Rio has experienced growth, so has Rock Point Wines. We now produce four wines under the label: River Rock Red, River Rock White, Pinot Grigio, and Pinot Noir. Rock Point Wines can now be found in three Oregon Costco locations, and it is also available through our new online store.

The upcoming March Del Rio Wine Club order is marking a new adventure for both Del Rio and Rock Point; we are launching the Rock Point Case Club! The Case Club will be a new avenue for consumers to acquire Rock Point Wines. As Del Rio Wine Club members, we would like to give you a first look at the new Rock Point Case Club and provide you with a great offer. The Rock Point Case Club will include twelve bottles of wine shipped biannually in April and October. Each shipment will include three of each of the Rock Point Wines. As dual members of both clubs you will receive each order for only $75. Shipping costs are $25 for West of the Rockies and $35 for East of the Rockies. For AK and HI shipping please contact us. All orders will be shipped. We are striving to keep our tasting room solely for Del Rio wines.

We look forward to another great year and the initiation of the Rock Point Case Club. We hope that you will enjoy your extra special gift of River Rock Red.

~ Cheers!
Jolee & Rob Wallace

Rock Point Bridge - Celebration

As the Rock Point Bridge celebration draws closer I find it fitting we learn a little bit more about the history of the bridge.

Bridge History

The Rock Point Bridge was unveiled in 1920, a time when Oregon's paved roads totaled only 620 miles and its designer, Conde B. McCullough, had barely settled in as Oregon's state bridge engineer. McCullough would later go on to leave a legacy of beautiful bridges along Oregon's coast. Both his trademark aesthetics and efficient, custom-designed spans are present in the Rock Point Bridge.

McCullough illustrated how form could complement function and the nearby landscape. Using a reinforced concrete deck arch, he designed a 505-foot span bridge over one of the rockiest sections of the Rogue River, hence the name Rock Point.
According to Historic Highway Bridges of Oregon, construction was a challenge: "Because of the great depth of water at the bridge location, it was impossible to build falsework under the main arch span. Thecontractor (Parker and Banfield, Portland) solved the problem by building a temporary wood truss span over the bridge to give support to the forms."

The bridge's south approach was replaced in 1953. In 2000, the Rock Point Bridge underwent expedited repair work to strengthen the crossbeams, which lifted a 10,000-pound weight restriction on the span.
For more information ab

out the rehabilitation work, visit the project
web site: http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/REGION3/234_rock_point_bridge.shtml

Conde B. McCullough

McCullough arrived in Oregon in 1916 to teach engineering at Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University). A pioneer of the movement to create a well-planned American highway system, McCullough argued that bridges should be built efficiently, economically, and aesthetically. He became Oregon's state bridge engineer in 1919. His legacy of beautiful bridges lives today and most of his bridges are considered significant landmarks. Historical photographs of Oregon bridges are available online at the ODOT History Center:
http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/CS/BSS/historycenter.shtml

SOURCE: Oregon Department of Transportation.

History of Rock Point

As the Rock Point bridge renovation project is underway, I thought it would be fitting to share a little bit of history on Del Rio's historic location.

Del Rio History 101

Del Rio began its existence as the small community of Rock Point, founded by J.B. White in the early 1850's. John fought in the Rogue Indian Wars from 1855-1856, serving under Captain William A. Wilkinson. In exchange for his services, he received land. He was appointed as a judge in the Dardanelles precinct in 1857 and two years later established the post office in Rock Point.

J.B. White developed a homestead on the north side of the stage road after the flood of 1861-1862 destroyed the bridge over the Rogue River and his home on the south side of the river. In

1863, John decided to open a store and sold his homestead to L.J. White. The cost of the property and improvements was $2,000. Soon after, L.J. decided to establish his own hotel at the edge of his property. He immediately began work on a new bridge, and in 1864 construction began on the Rock Point Hotel. On February 8, 1865, the hotel opened to the public with a grand ball. L.J. simultaneously established one of the first telegraph stations in the area when the hotel opened.

During the rest of the decade the small community of Rock Point began to flourish. Joining the hotel, and the post office, were homes, Abram Schuly's blacksmith shop, Hoymond and White's store, a saloon and a school. The record books from the Stage Company verify the regular use of the Rock Point Hotel as a stage stop. But with the passage of time, things changed. The Railroad prepared a right of way through the property. Lytte White died on October 28, 1878, and his sons and wife continued to run the stage stop at Rock Point. His son Henry bought out his mother and brothers and renovated the old hotel in 1887. But, by the turn of the century, the hotel had closed and Henry had returned to farming.

The future seemed bleak for the Rock Point Hotel. But, in 1907, it began a new period in its life. F.K. Deuel and others purchased the hotel and surrounding land. The property grew from a one-acre family orchard to an eight hundred acre valley orchard yielding leading varieties of pears, apples, cherries, peaches, apricots, walnuts and filberts. Del Rio Orchards were planted during a rapid period of growth in the Rogue Valley known as the "pear boom". During the 1920's the Rogue Valley Orchards flourished but struggled to stay afloat during the Great Depression. The Orchards revived at the end of World War II.

The Orchard and hotel remained in the Deuel family until 1997 when Lee and Margaret Traynham of California purchased the land. With the change of ownership, thus began a period of resurrection for the property. The Traynhams, realizing the historical significance of the structures, began restoration. This included the Rock Point Hotel, which is one of the oldest structures in Southern Oregon. They also began the transformation of a third generation pear orchard into one of Southern Oregon's premium wine grape vineyards.

Here are a few more fun pictures to look at:

The barn was originally the home of the fruit packing plant. Today is is home to the winery.

Here you can see both the old wooden covered bridge being replaced by the new bridge being built in 1919.

For more information on the bridge renovations please visit the ODOT website. www.oregon.gov/ODOT