Craig Camp is the winegrower at Troon Vineyard in Applegate Valley, Oregon. He is a veteran fine wine professional with over three decades of experience in every facet of the industry, including importing, exporting, distribution, marketing, sales, viticulture, and fine wine production. He has extensive hands-on experience in wineries in Italy, Napa Valley, the Willamette Valley, and now the Applegate Valley.
Camp is an industry leader and has been recognized for his work by The New York Times, Washington Post, The Wine Enthusiast, Decanter, Food and Wine Magazine and Saveur Magazine. He was named one of “Wine’s Most Inspiring People of 2020” by the Wine Industry Network. He is currently president of the Oregon Winegrowers Association and past-president of the Rhône Rangers and the Applegate Valley Vintners Association.
He came to the Applegate Valley to work in a region on the cutting edge of fine winemaking and is passionate about biodynamic winegrowing and winemaking in Oregon. Under his leadership, Troon Vineyard & Farm became the only Demeter Biodynamic® and Regenerative Organic Gold Certified® farm and winery in the world, and Troon was nominated to be an American Winery of the Year in 2022. Troon has also been awarded the Slow Food Slow Wine Snail Award in seven consecutive vintages.
Media Inquiries: craig@troonvineyard.com | https://www.troonvineyard.com/
What’s the ONE THING most unique, authentic, & memorable about your brand?
The Troon story is a unique confluence of place, time, and people with a shared vision. Each member of the team is equally committed to quality and to the health of the Earth—values we see as inseparable. Winemakers Nate Wall and Micah Wagner practice minimalist winemaking to express the character of our vineyard, while farmers Garett Long and Jennifer Teisl nurture everything growing on our farm to maximize flavor and nutrition. Owners Dr. Bryan and Denise White have made the investments that fuel all we’ve accomplished at Troon.
Our certifications are a foundation of this work. We are proud to hold both Demeter Biodynamic® and Regenerative Organic Gold certifications—currently the only winery in the world to do so. These designations signal to consumers who share our values that we farm with them in mind, and we hope they also inspire other farms to follow this path.
At Troon Vineyard & Farm, our mission goes beyond crafting wines and growing produce. We are dedicated to leaving the Earth better for future generations. Just as we plant vines whose grapes will be made into wines by people we will never meet, we want our work to preserve the climate that will allow our grandchildren to make and enjoy wines for generations to come.
Describe how and what you’d do with your winemaking career or winery business if you were not constrained.
With unlimited resources (and no, I didn’t win the billion-dollar lottery), my dream would be to transform Troon into both a working farm and a center for learning and research in regenerative Biodynamic winegrowing. There is still so much to discover, and sharing what we learn is key to making real change.
Following the model of the Rodale Institute, I envision a program that offers hands-on experience for winemaking and winegrowing interns, filling a major gap in practical Biodynamic training. Expanding research and establishing fellowships to study what works—and what doesn’t—would improve our farming practices while helping bring Biodynamics into the mainstream of agriculture.
Of course, the infrastructure for such a project would be enormously expensive—so I may need to keep buying lottery tickets. But the potential of this kind of nonprofit remains a dream worth holding onto.
What is the One Wine most emblematic of your brand and/or winemaking style? Tell us its story.
My heart would choose our Syrah. For me, this variety offers the same nuance and transparency as Pinot Noir—yet with its own personality. Late to budbreak and early to ripen, it thrives in the shorter growing season of the Siskiyou Mountains. Like Pinot, once it overripens, it loses the very nuance that makes it compelling. At its best, Syrah is lifted, bright, and firmly tied to the soil, and too much new oak or high alcohol can dull its edge.
Our 2023 Troon Vineyard Syrah, crafted by winemaker Nate Wall, blends diverse blocks and clones from our estate to express the Applegate Valley’s unique character. Moderate alcohol, fresh acidity, whole-cluster spice, and gentle aging in neutral French oak highlight the vibrancy that Biodynamic farming brings to all our wines. We came to the Applegate Valley to make wines in this style, and while the journey is ongoing, this Syrah captures the story we are striving to tell. Read my review of the 2022 Troon Syrah here.
Bonus Question: What are your wholehearted convictions related to the wine business?
I believe winemaking has held a unique place in human history. For thousands of years, it has been part of countless cultures, and it’s our privilege to continue adding to that story. In the wine business, we all face a choice: are we simply creating and selling another alcoholic beverage, or are we part of something deeper—something connected as much to our past as to our future? Humans don’t need wine to survive, but having wine in our lives has made us happier and more creative. That, to me, makes making and sharing wine profoundly meaningful.