From the Cellar
Winery Stories
What Does “Small-Lot” Wine Actually Mean?
No legal definition exists. We explain what small-lot really means, why it costs more, and how to tell the real thing from a word on a label.
Is Rosé Just a Summer Wine?
Rosé gets treated like a seasonal hire, let go every fall. Here's why dry rosé actually pairs with roast chicken, pizza, and cold-weather meals too.
Syrah vs. Malbec: What’s the Difference?
Same dark color, completely different personalities. Here's how Syrah and Malbec differ in taste, origin, tannin, and what to order with dinner.
What Is a Wine Tasting Flight, and How Does It Work?
What a wine flight actually is, what order to taste in, whether you're supposed to spit, and how it differs from just ordering four glasses.
What Does “Tannic” Actually Mean in a Wine?
Tannic is a texture, not a flavor. Here's where tannins come from, why they dry out your mouth, and how that's different from bitterness or intensity.
Old World vs. New World Wine: What’s Actually Different?
Geography, climate, and appellation rules explained, with Syrah, Cab Sauv, Malbec, and Tempranillo from Southern Oregon's Rogue Valley as examples.
Oregon Malbec vs. Argentine Malbec: What’s Actually Different?
Argentine Malbec is the one you know. Southern Oregon Malbec is the one you haven't tried. Climate, style, price, and which bottle to open — compared honestly by a Rogue Valley winery.
Rogue Valley vs. Willamette Valley: Which Oregon Wine Region Should You Actually Visit?
An honest comparison of Oregon's Rogue Valley and Willamette Valley — climate, grapes, crowds, cost, and drive time — so you can pick the right trip instead of the famous one.
How Much Does Wine Tasting Cost in Ashland, Oregon?
A flight here runs $20, waived on two bottles. Here's how that compares to Napa and the rest of Oregon, and what you actually get for the money.
What to Drink With Every Allium Pizza: A Resistance Wine Pairing Guide
A pie-by-pie wine pairing guide for The Allium's wood-fired menu, from Margherita to the meat-loaded Pizza Della Carne, no swirling required.
A Local’s Guide to Wine Tasting in Ashland This Fall
What grows in the Rogue Valley, what to put on the calendar, and how to taste without the swirl-sniff-frown routine, from a tasting room in downtown Ashland.
A guide to sports tournaments in the Rogue Valley
Where to find Rogue Valley youth sports tournaments in Medford, Ashland, and Grants Pass, plus where sports parents can unwind in Ashland between games.
Top 100 Boutique Wineries in Oregon
A list of 100 small Oregon wineries under 1,000 cases a year, with production size, address, and website for each, including Resistance Wine Company in Ashland.
Top 100 Wineries in Oregon by Case Production
A list of Oregon's top 100 wineries by case production, from the largest producers like A to Z Wineworks and King Estate down to the smaller names on the list.
Date Night, But Make It Wine: A Secret Tasting in Ashland, Oregon
An off-menu 45-minute date night tasting at Resistance Wine Company in downtown Ashland, minutes from OSF and Lithia Park. Just whisper the password.
Corkblocked: What to Do When Someone Gives You Terrible Wine
A guide to the gift bottle you'll never open: cooking uses, a blind tasting prank, and other ways to break up with unwanted wine gracefully.
Vintage Vino & Vinyl: When Wine, Style, and Spin Collide
Chris McKean and Kelly Ross ran the music while Collab, Wingman, and Resistance Rosé poured at a 1960s night that turned into a pop-up fashion show.
Wine Club Subscriptions: What to Look for in a Wine Club
What to look for in a wine club, from discount structure and shipment frequency to flexibility and no-fuss skip policies, before you join one.
10 Wine Flaws That Went Off the Rails—and How to Sniff, Sip, and Survive Them
From oxidation to cork taint to rotten-egg sulfur notes, here's what causes the ten most common wine flaws and how to spot them by smell and taste.
Introducing Wingman Wine
Why we made Wingman, a no-frills everyday red from young-picked grapes, and the nights it's actually meant for -- not the ones you're showing off for.
From the archive · Dec 2024 ·
Just the Tip: A Guide to Tipping at Wineries
A plain guide to tipping at tasting rooms, private tours, events, and wineries around Ashland, with actual dollar and percentage amounts for each situation.
From the archive · Dec 2024 ·
OSF Pre-Show Activities and Shenanigans
Downtown Ashland before curtain: a walk, a wine tasting, Lithia Park, cryo, or tea, with ideas for filling the hours before an Oregon Shakespeare Festival show.
From the archive · Dec 2024 ·
Rogue Valley Holiday Gift Ideas for Wine Lovers
Gift ideas for the wine lover who has everything, from a Coravin to a Resistance Wine Club membership, built for Ashland and Rogue Valley life.
From the archive · Nov 2024 ·
A Rebel’s Guide to Thanksgiving Wine Pairings:
Sauvignon Blanc, Malbec, Syrah, and our Collab blend, paired with turkey, stuffing, and the rest of the Thanksgiving table, including the family drama.
From the archive · Nov 2024 ·
How to Build Your Own Wine Cellar at Home: A Rebel’s Guide to Wine Preservation
What it actually takes to store wine at home: the right spot, 55-65°F, 50-70% humidity, horizontal racks, and a way to track what you've got.
From the archive · Sep 2024 ·
The Art of Choosing Wine When You Don’t Know What You’re Doing
A step-by-step guide to choosing wine for a dinner party without knowing much about wine, from price range to red vs. white to reading the label.
From the archive · Aug 2024 ·
What are the different types of Wine Corks?
Traditional cork, composite cork, screwcap, plastic cork, and bottle caps compared, plus why we skip foil and which closures we actually use on our wines.
From the archive · Aug 2024 ·
Impact of Age on Wine Tasting?
What actually happens to flavor, tannins, acidity, and aroma as a bottle ages, from fresh fruit to dried fruit, leather, and a smoother, silkier mouthfeel.
From the archive · Aug 2024 ·
How do Barrels Impact Wine Tasting?
What American oak, French oak, and acacia barrels do to flavor, tannins, and texture, and why a new barrel tastes so different from an old one.
From the archive · Aug 2024 ·
How does Soil Impact Wine Tasting ?
Minerality, water retention, soil temperature and nutrients: four ways the dirt under the vines shapes what ends up in your glass, explained plainly.
From the archive · Aug 2024 ·
Where Do Wine Tasting Flavors Come From?
Grape variety, terroir, fermentation, oak aging and oxygen all shape what you taste in a glass. Here is how each one plays its part, explained plainly.
From the archive · Aug 2024 ·
Five Ways to Elevate your Wine Tasting
Vertical, horizontal, blind, themed, and sensory tastings explained, with how each one works and who it's best for at our Ashland tasting room.
From the archive · Jun 2024 ·
Family-Friendly Winery Fun: Things for Teens to Do While You Enjoy a Glass at Resistance Wine Company
A walking guide to Ashland spots near our tasting room, from the skatepark to Lithia Park, so teens have somewhere to go while you have a glass.
From the archive · May 2024 ·
Ashland Oregon Biker Guide to Wineries
Three Ashland bike routes to local wineries, with mileage and elevation for a flat vineyard tour, a challenging loop, and a downhill cruise on Bear Creek Trail.
From the archive · Apr 2024 ·
Pairing Rogue Valley Wines with Hiking Trails in Medford, Ashland, Grants Pass, and the Applegate
Hikes near Medford, Ashland, Grants Pass, and the Applegate, each paired with a Resistance Wine Company wine to drink once you're off the trail.
From the archive · Aug 2023 ·
Defying Convention: The Story of Our Urban Winery
How a planned low-capital virtual winery turned into buying an Ashland building, one with a bakery tenant and a past as a glass-blowing studio.
From the archive · Jun 2023 ·
Farming Fun with Jerk Deer
Deer fences, drought, undersized grape orders and a sprayer that leaked sulfur: five years of real vineyard mistakes from our Ashland, Oregon winery.
From the archive · Sep 2020 ·
So Many Reasons to Drink Local Wine
Why buying Rogue Valley wine cuts the carbon footprint of a bottle, keeps money in the local economy, saves vineyard land, and funds Oregon wine research.
From the archive · Jul 2020 ·
Best Ways to Drink with Friends During Quarantine
Six ways to share a drink with friends during social distancing, from Zoom calls to masked porch sessions, plus why you should just call your mom.
From the archive · Mar 2020 ·
What’s so special about Resistance Wine?
Hand-harvested fruit, hand-sorted berries, and barrel aging instead of tanks and oak chips. What actually separates small-batch wine from big-box bottles.
