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Landscape
The topography of the Umpqua Valley is extremely diverse, being derived from the joining of three mountain ranges of varying ages and structure: the Klamath Mountains, the Coastal Range, and the Cascades. The resulting tumult may appear without any order and often adjacent valleys look nothing alike which has lead to the locals to think not of a single valley, rather the "Hundred Valleys of the Umpqua". The region is drained by the North and South Umpqua rivers and its tributaries, which join near the center of the region and empty into the Pacific Ocean at Reedsport. The landscape of the main grape growing regions of the Umpqua Valley is mostly valley lowlands including stream terraces or benches, and footslopes of alluvial fans plus scattered hills and isolated hilltops and ridges.
Abacela lies near the southern end of the Umpqua Valley and is situated on bench and gently to steeply and sloping hillsides above Lookingglass Creek. The elevation of Fault Line Vineyards varies from 526 to 761 ft with a mean of 616 ft. The vineyard slopes average 13% and range from a few locations that are nearly flat to steep slopes over 42%. The orientation of the vineyard blocks (slope direction) range from northeast to west, but are predominantly southeast to southwest (south on average).
Cox's Rock Parcel is a predominantly south sloping bench (12% average), which ranges of 526-640 ft. in elevation with an average of 590 ft.
Cobblestone Hill Parcel has a varied topography with south, west and north facing slopes. However the most dramatic feature is the steeply sloped rise to the top of Cobblestone Hill (over 760 ft) that comprises South Face block. The vineyard blocks average 660 ft in elevation and the slopes range from nearly flat to 42% on the South Face block and average 18%.
Chaotic Ridge Parcel has the most gradual slopes, averaging 5% with a southwest to west exposure. The vineyard is 577 ft on average and ranges from 557 to 635 ft.
Designed by 4 the Grapes