LongSword Vineyard

Located eight miles west of Jacksonville, right off Highway 238, LongSword Vineyard is one winery where visitors might end up with a stiff neck. At this remarkable winery, the “tasting room” is an outdoor patio, complete with deck furniture, nestled against the 22-acre LongSword vineyard. While drinking a glass of LongSword signature non-oaked chardonnay and noshing on the boxed-lunch special, I couldn’t help but notice colorful objects gliding through the sky. As the objects came into focus, Maria Largaespada (co-owner and vintner of LongSword Vineyard, along with her husband, Matthew Sorensen) noted that they were paragliders coming off nearby Woodrat Mountain.

Maria and Matthew came from Indianapolis in 1999 to pursue a dream. They had both worked in the pharmaceutical business most of their adult lives. One day Maria turned to Matthew and asked him what he would rather be doing. His response: growing grapes and making fine wine. After that, it was “goodbye, cubicle” and “hello, Applegate Valley.”

While a guitarist played in the background I listened to Maria and sensed a lively energy emanating from her smiling face. I concluded that the move to Applegate Valley must have rekindled her spirit and body. When you work 22 acres of vineyards, “you don’t need a gym membership or a psychologist,” she explained.

I asked about the origin of her last name, “Largaespada,” and she replied that it is Spanish for “long” (larga) and “sword” (espada). Hence the name LongSword Vineyard. As I was finishing my crisp chardonnay, Matthew walked over with a sample of their Touché Rosé. Like Maria, he enjoys a very youthful appearance, yet both had punched the clock for more than 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry before relocating to Oregon. Perhaps Applegate has a fountain of youth… Whatever the reason for their youthfulness, it’s clear that Maria and Matthew live by the motto “Life is too short to drink bad wine.”

Both of them believe that fine wine is made in the vineyard. They and the other winery owners have plans to break ground soon on a new tasting room and to plant tempranillo to go along with the existing chardonnay, dolcetto, and syrah. However, I didn’t get the sense that they wished to grow too big. They still want to take time to work the farm, greet visitors, and enjoy their hobbies — perhaps a parasailing flight or two off Woodrat Mountain?

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  LongSword Vineyard was featured in WineTrails of Oregon as part of the Applegate Valley WineTrail on page !