We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Craig Camp. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Craig below.

Craig, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

Troon Vineyard is Oregon’s only Biodynamic® and Regenerative Organic Certified® farm. We are one of thirteen Demeter Biodynamic® Certified wineries in Oregon and were the second winery in the world to achieve Regenerative Organic Certification. In 2022 we were nominated as “American Winery of the Year” by The Wine Enthusiast Magazine. We are dedicated to natural, chemical-free farming and winemaking.

The slogan of the Regenerative Organic Association is, “farm like the world depends on it.” It does and we do. However, no matter how regenerative the farming is on our one-hundred-acre farm, our few acres alone will not change the world. It is our mission to prove that regenerative agriculture and winegrowing can not only save the environment but be profitable.

We believe our vision combines environmental responsibility, with farming methods that will also allow us to craft the finest quality wines that speak clearly of their birth in our vineyard in Oregon’s Applegate Valley.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Today I am a biodynamic winegrower in Oregon’s Applegate Valley, but I was born and raised in Harvard, Illinois, a land of Manhattans, Pabst beer and Friday-night fish fries — wine was unknown. However, during a college semester spent studying in Europe I discovered fine wine and food.

After graduating from college, I worked as a photojournalist and food and wine writer for four years before my passion for food and wine overwhelmed my sense of reality. In 1980, I joined Direct Import Wine Company where I assembled the most elite portfolio of estate wines in the Chicago market. In 1996 the company was devoured by Paterno Imports (who later fed it to Southern Wine and Spirits), but I remained at Direct as president until 1999, when I left in a fit of sanity, prompted by an outburst of ethics.

In 2000 I left to pursue an education in wine production and spent the next three years happily working in Italy, where I studied winemaking and worked in the cellars of some of Italy’s most elite wine estates in Barolo and Barbaresco. Upon return to the United States in 2004, I took over as President of Anne Amie Vineyards, previously known as Chateau Benoit. Over the next several years I totally revolutionized the winemaking and marketing. In 2009 I moved to the Napa Valley and did the same thing for Cornerstone Cellars.

Now, I am general manager of Troon Vineyard fomenting another revolution in the beautiful Applegate Valley of southern Oregon. Surrounded by the Siskiyou Mountains we are making natural wines and are now Demeter Biodynamic® and Regenerative Organic Certified™ both in the vineyard and the cellar. I am currently president of the Applegate Valley Vintners Association and serve on the Board of Directors of the Oregon Winegrowers Association, Rogue Valley Vintners and the Rhône Rangers. I have served on the Board of Directors of the Howell Mountain Growers Association, and on the Napa Valley Vintners Association Marketing Committee, of which I also served as chairman.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Being honest and maintaining a deep commitment to fighting climate change will produce wines of exceptional quality that are an expression of Oregon’s Applegate Valley. We are a niche producer reaching out to a dedicated niche of consumers concerned about what they consume. The consumers buying our wines are concerned not only about health but also the quality of flavors that biodynamic produce can deliver. For example, we include ingredient labeling on our wines as these consumers are concerned with quality and purity. It is important to understand that a significant number of consumers care equally about quality and clean, healthful products. It is our mission to provide all of these qualities.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

We discovered that all of our vines were infected with a virus that would kill them. This forced us to completely replant our vineyard and redevelop our entire farm. We completed this transformation in just five years. Now we are in our last year of that replant and with each vintage be able to harvest more and more fruit from these newly replanted vines. As we reevaluated our farm during this process, we were dramatically able to expand biodiversity on our farm — a key element of biodynamic regenerative agriculture. Today we are a biodiverse farm of almost 100 acres. Life on our farm includes cider apples, a vegetable garden, re-wilded honeybees, sheep, chickens, wildlife, dogs, humans, and, of course, grapevines

Contact Info:

• Website: www.troonvineyard.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/troonwines
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/troonwines
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/craigcamp
• Twitter: @CraigCamp

Image Credits
All photos by Troon Vineyard