My name is Hal Wing, and I am currently a teacher at a college prep high school in southern Oregon. Prior to that, I was in the wine industry working, at various times as a retailer and an importer/wholesaler for a dozen years. I continue to teach wine classes whose central theme is to demystify wine and make it more approachable and less intimidating.
While in the industry, my focus was on French, German, and Italian wines, plus the big name wineries from Napa and Sonoma. Since moving to southern Oregon and becoming a teacher, I have increasingly become a promoter of the wines of this region; watching it develop has been both challenging and exciting because (as its geographic position between northern California and Oregon's Willamette Valley might imply), it is an area that has much of the potential for the same levels of quality enjoyed by these famous regions, but it is still in the process of sorting out what works best here. This is further compounded by the numerous mountain ranges in the region, some volcanic and some not, some running north and south and others running east and west. Consequently, there may be one of the highest concentrations of distinct microclimates here per square kilometer found in any region in the world. Again, is extraordinarily challenging, but that challenge is also what makes it so exciting.
This is in no way a denegration of the other regions of the world. Good wine is good wine, period. Of course, as a college prep high school teacher and with the almost absurd levels of inflation in some regions, I find myself having to change my purchasing habits. No more Pomerols or St. Juliens unless I get them as gifts!