“Tempranillo and Grenache are great blenders together,” says Scott Steingraber in his barrel room at Kriselle Cellars over a taste of his Grenache he just put into barrel.

He ventures off to find another taste of another wine, disappearing into the walls of barrels that fill this room.

He wasn't always surrounded by barrels and vines. This Oregon State University graduate says his first career was in civil engineering. He spent more than 20 years managing construction projects throughout the west, mostly associated with technical bridges.

“I had a blast doing it, but along the way, I kind of picked up a hobby of making some wine, it was a home hobby at the time and it grew and grew. It grew very much out of control, and now, here’s my hobby,” he says as he looks around his barrel room.

It's safe to say and he admits, he was a little obsessed with this new hobby.

“Very much so and it was always for quality. And I can tell you, that first year of wine that I made, it was absolutely undrinkable, it was just the worst. Over the years, you pick up something from each vintage, and certainly I had a lot to learn from those early vintages," Scott says, "after a while, it kind of got to the point where I needed to pick one of these two things. I love making wine. I love making bridges, but I picked wine.”

One day in the early 2000's and unknown to him, he also picked Southern Oregon as his new home. Living in Washington with his wife Kriselle, and still making wine, he purchased some Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley.

“We came down to pick up the fruit, at the same time, same day, there was also some Cabernet Sauvignon that was coming in from the Rogue Valley and I tasted it and it was just incredible, it was awesome fruit," Scott says.

He made a trade on the spot, the pinot for the cab, a moment he calls pivotal.

“Ever since that day, we made that discovery of the Rogue Valley and we’ve been making Rogue Valley wine ever since. It really changed my attitude and my thinking about this part of Oregon and what it really is and can be," Scott says.

He loves the diversity of the Rogue Valley and he can't talk about his wine, or wine in general, without talking about the food that can go with it.

“Large differentials between the cool temperatures in the morning and the heat in the afternoon. It creates this natural acidity in the wines. If you’re looking for wines that pair and go really well with food, Rogue Valley wines are the perfect thing for that, because of that natural acidity," Scott says.

“The Rogue Valley is an interesting place. We can grow Cab Sauv and Malbec and all these big Bordeaux varieties. We’re successful at growing them because of the heat and the sun we have, as well as the soil we’ve got. Very rocky, the sun hit the rocks, the rocks retain that heat and the heat is brought up into the plants," he explains.

Thanks to those Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, Scott now calls the Rogue Valley Wine Country his home. And it's a place where he can share his talent.

“And it goes really great with the toothpaste I had," he jokes as he finishes his taste of grenache.