Skip to main content

Willamette Valley Wineries

We just returned from a trip to Oregon that included visits to wineries in the Willamette Valley which stretches from Portland to Eugene, Oregon.  The hillsides rising from the fertile valley are uniquely suited in climate and soils to the growing of Pinot Noir grapes.  Many of the Pinot Noir wines are world class and the highest rated in North America.  We were amazed at the diversity of Pinot Noir flavors found in these wines.

Readers of this blog may have noticed that we enjoyed and reviewed several Oregon wines prior to our trip and should not be surprised with posts about more Oregon wines in the near future.  The following is a summary of the wineries we visited:

REX HILL

The first vines were planted at the Estate Vineyard in 1982 which along with their Jacob-Hart Vineyard is located in the Chehalem Mountain sub-AVA within the Willamette Valley AVA.  In 2007, Rex Hill was sold to the founders of A to Z Wineworks.   Today, A to Z produces large production, widely distributed wines and Rex Hill produces premium wines.

We were disappointed in our $15 tastings due to the server's lack of knowledge about the wines.  Part way through the tasting he was relieved by a more knowledgeable server, but he was occupied with customers who were purchasing wine and was not attentive to our tasting.  We did think the wines were very good and we especially enjoyed the 2016 Rex Hill Chehalem Mountains Pinot Noir ($45).  Rex Hill and A to Z have a compelling story about their socially responsible business practices but it was not mentioned on our visit.



ERATH WINERY

Erath Winery was the first winery in the Dundee Hills sub-AVA.  Dick Erath was a pioneer in the Willamette Valley wine industry with the first commercial wine produced in 1972.  In 2006, Mr. Erath sold the winery to Chateau St. Michelle and Mr. Erath's original house is now the tasting room.

We had a terrific tasting experience at Erath.  Our server Patt, was very knowledgeable and attentive.  Even though the tasting room was crowded and noisy, Patt served us at a table and thoroughly explained the wines.  The $10 tasting included limited production, high quality wines.  The Pinot Noir wines were spectacular, especially the 2014 Prince Hill Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills ($55).




WILLAMETTE VALLEY VINEYARDS

I recently posted about the Willamette Valley Vineyards Whole Cluster Pinot Noir which I found to be delicious.  In that post, I told about being a very minor stockholder in this winery.  Even though our ownership is extremely small, we were treated at the winery as though we were VIP's.  We were given a personal guided tour of the winery, accompanied by a tasting of  assorted wines and cheeses.  We had access to the beautiful Club Room which is reserved for wine club members and stockholders.   Jose' was a gracious host and knowledgeable guide.  This was absolutely the highlight of our trip.

Willamette Valley Vineyards specializes in premium Pinot Noir.  We tasted several low production and single vineyard wines and they were fantastic.  We ordered a case of the wines and it will be shipped to us later in the fall.  The Willamette Valley Vineyards Estate Pinot Noir is available throughout the country ($25 to $30) and it is outstanding.  My neighbors can find this wine at Wine Xpress in Simpsonville SC.






KING ESTATE

King Estate, near Eugene, was the most disappointing wine tasting of our trip.  We have been drinking King Estate Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir for years and were anticipating a great experience.  We arrived on Sunday after lunch to find that almost all of their beautiful facility was being used as their restaurant.  The tasting bar was not very large and the only place available for drinking a glass of wine was on the patio which was in the hot summer sun and swarming with bees.  We each had a tasting flight ($15) and half of the wines presented were the everyday wines we already buy.  I would not recommend this as a wine tasting destination.






IRIS VINEYARDS 

After our experience at King Estate, we stopped at the next closest winery to finish out our day.  We had not anticipated a stop at Iris Vineyards but it worked out well.  We opted for the mixed flight tasting ($9 each) and we enjoyed all of the wines.  We especially liked Iris Willamette Valley Pinot Noir ($24 at the winery) which has 30% of the grapes sourced from the Dundee Hills region.  The soils of Dundee Hills impart cherry flavors to the wine and this wine is a very good value.





EOLA HILLS WINERY

The Eola Hills Estate Vineyard tasting room was opened in May 2018.  Eola Hills was also a highlight of our trip.  We each had a Classic and Reserve tasting ($10).  Our server, Jack, is a nephew and grandson of the founders of the winery and was knowledgeable about all aspects of the Eola Hills story.  The wines were outstanding and not as highly priced as some offered elsewhere.  Jack even poured a few tastings of wines not  part of our wine flight.  We especially enjoyed the 2014 Barrel Select Pinot Noir ($36).

 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ken Wright Cellars Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2018

 I was aware of the reputation of Ken Wright Cellars for Willamette Valley Pinot Noir but had never tried one of their wines.  The winery is most known for single vineyard Pinot Noirs but their entry level wine is a blend from several vineyards.  When I have looked for wine from Ken Wright, I have either found the single vineyard wines costing more than $60 or I have found the entry level Willamette Valley blend priced significantly higher than the $22 price on the winery website.  One well known wine shop in downtown Greenville actually sells it for $34.  I guess that the wine must be really good to command higher than retail prices. Two things have recently happened.  Costco has a Ken Wright premium Pinot Noir for around $40 and Whole Foods Market has the entry level Willamette Valley Pinot Noir on sale for $22 rather than their usual price of $27.  I chose the entry level Willamette Valley Pinot Noir and I am sure glad that I did. Ken Wright Willame...

Dragon Vine, a novel by Steven Laine

It has been a year since I have posted to the South Carolina Wine Blog.  However, I was provided with an advance copy of the latest novel by Steven Laine entitled Dragon Vine   for my review.  Mr. Laine writes novels with a wine focused theme and I reviewed Mr. Laine's previous novel Root Cause  in 2019, which I greatly enjoyed. The synopsis of Dragon Vine is as follows: When his father dies in a wildfire, Carmine Cooper takes over the family winery in the middle of harvest, putting his dreams of becoming an architect on hold. He soon finds himself fighting with a vengeful neighbor, blackmailed by a local gang, harassed by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities, and the target of an ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives) investigation. Carmine’s only hope to solve his problems and finish his first solo vintage successfully rests in identifying an unknown grape variety his father grew and made into wine for a quarter century wit...

Parcelica Grande 2018

 It has been a little over 3 months since I last posted on this blog.  I have taken that time to enjoy old favorites as well as wines bought directly from wineries.   I needed a break from trying a lot of unfamiliar wines so that I might have something new to write about.   However, now I am planning a live video post for the OlliLife newsletter at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Furman University about value wines from lesser known wine regions and this will require Wine Jane and I to do a lot of research.  Well, someone has to do it! There are few places that have as much affordable quality wine as Spain.  The best known wines from Spain come from areas like Rioja in the northern part of Spain.  However, even greater values can be found further south in the areas bordering the Mediterranean Sea.  One such area is Yecla, about 50 miles inland from the sea.  In the past seven years, I have posted about four wines from Yeccl...