My husband and I prefer to save our vacation days for family holidays with our children, so we’ve perfected the art of romantic weekend getaways to satisfy our desire for just-us time. One of our favorite destinations is the Oregon Willamette Valley wine region. Despite indulgent food and wine trips to Napa, Sonoma and Walla Walla, there is just something very special about Willamette Valley to us.
Willamette Valley feels a bit like we imagine Napa did twenty-five years ago before it became a Mecca for foodies and wine aficionados. The dirt roads meander through old hazelnut orchards and rolling vineyards. A plank of wood balanced over a couple of barrels in the wine making area frequently serves as the tasting rooms. It feels like we’re discovering it. Pretension is minimal, and prices are still approachable while the quality of wine, food and hotels is second to none. Here are some of our favorites and some tips and tricks to help you put together your own Oregon date weekend.
Planning Ahead
You might want to consider a mix of structure and flexibility for your weekend. For us, Saturday is scheduled with lunch and dinner reservations, a wine tour and a couple of wine tasting booked. We leave Sunday open to follow up on a great tip or to do with as we feel before we drive home.
In the last three to five years, over 150 new wineries have opened in Oregon Wine Country. It’s almost impossible to stay up to date or track wine makers. Likewise, new restaurants and hotels are opening all the time. I’d highly recommend two little (and fun) pre-trip research tricks we stumbled across.
1. Taste test four to six bottles of Oregon wine prior to booking your weekend. Any local wine shop or good grocery store wine buyer will have recommendations at both ends of the price spectrum from $10 per bottle to$60 – $80 per bottle. It’s a great way to ready your palette, learn about some of the wineries, and understand how to articulate your preferences (I’ll explain the value of this shortly). It’s best if you can do this a couple of times so you can explain what you enjoyed of the last sampling to help guide your next recommendations.
2. Ask locals where to go. When you call down to book your hotel, make dinner reservations or schedule tasting, ask whoever answers the phone for their ‘top 3’ restaurants and wineries. It’s one of the joys of the area still being small; everyone knows everyone and they’re in the Oregon wine and food industry out of passion. With a little insight from your tastings above, you’ll be able to offer clues on your wine preferences. You’ll quickly develop a list of local gems, and find a few of the same spots bubbling to the top of your list.
Where to Wine Taste
I’d highly recommend selecting a handful of wineries before you go. Three wine tastings a day is plenty, especially if you want a relaxed pace. While the rapid growth of new wineries is exciting, it also means there is a lot of bad wine out there. Wineries are typically too small to staff open tasting rooms, so most require appointments.
Willamette Valley is Oregon’s leading wine region with more than 200 wineries (as compared to Eastern Oregon with twelve wineries and Southern Oregon with seventeen wineries). With six sub-appellations (Chehalem Mountains, Dundee Hills, Eola-Amity Hills, McMinnville, Ribbon Ridge, and Yamhill Carlton), Willamette Valley has been recognized as producing some of the best Pinot Noir worldwide.
According to Robert Wolfe (owner of The Oregon Pinot Noir Club, www.oregonpinotnoir.com , the nation’s most significant national retailer of Oregon Pinot Noir and other high-end Northwest wines), there are 2 broad classes of Oregon Pinot Noirs; Burgundian and “fruit bombs”. Burgundian wines are characterized by less ripe fruit and more tannin, which add structure and balance. These wines tend to be more age-worthy, which means their flavor tends to improve with age, and are more typical of European style. Fruit bombs have more ripe fruit (or fruit forward) flavors with higher alcohol content, which makes these wines taste richer, despite less structure, and are typical of “new world wine”. Try wines from both classes. It’s both fun and it will help you better communicate your preferences.
We like to mix things up by including a couple of our reliable favorite wineries with a couple of new ones from our pre- trip tasting and recommendations. Here are our top three we try to include on every trip.
Archery Summit’s wine www.archerysummit.com (503) 864-4300) is spectacular. If you’re up for a tour, they will walk you through the vines, explain their approach, and offer barrel tasting in their caves. You can drop by their tasting room or book at tour. They have a relentless attention to detail and perfection in their wine making without taking themselves too seriously. (Tastings are $15 per person. Tours with tasting are $25 per person and require a reservation)
Patricia Green Cellar www.patriciagreencellars.com (503)554-0821) is one of our top three Oregon Pinot Noirs. Patty has developed a reputation for being one of Oregon’s top Pinot Noir winemakers. Her passion and attention to detail are obvious in every sip. Their understated atmosphere reinforces everything we love about the area. The tasting room is in their wine production area, and tastings are conducted by either Patty or Jim. Tastings are free but require reservations. They typically don’t do tastings on the weekend, although, on occasion we’ve been able to join a group so it’s worth calling them. I’d suggest a tasting on a Friday afternoon or ordering one of her bottles with dinner.
Carlton Winemakers Studio www.winemakersstudio.com offers tasting for a number of local small wine makers, and typically older, hard to find vintages. You can choose between two to four flights of wine (which are two to four glasses of different wines served in a sequential order) for anywhere from $5 – $18. They also offer a light menu of seasonal foods and local cheeses. Carlton is a great little town. While there, you might want to try HorseradishStore for lunch. According to a local I spoke to recently it’s the new hot spot wine bar right on Main Street.
Where to Stay
There are many wonderful options, especially if you stay in Portland just 40 minutes away by car. We prefer to stay among the vineyards, either in the Dundee Hills area, Yamhill Country or near the town of McMinnville. Here are our top 3.
Red Ridge Farms www.redridgefarms.com (503) 864 -8502). Situated right in Dundee wine country, it’s a luxuriously appointed country 1 bedroom apartment (with a full kitchen) on top of a beautiful herb garden nursery. With balconies and floor to ceiling windows on both sides facing symmetrical rows of the vineyards on rolling hills, it’s our wine country home away from home. Rates are $200 – $225 per night.
Black Walnut Inn www.blackwalnut-inn.com (503) 429 4114). Newly constructed in an old Tuscan villa style set amid vineyards and orchards, the Black Walnut Inn offers eight luxurious rooms, each with soaking tubs, European linens and many other thoughtful details. Its décor mixes the best of old with the best of new, and its location in the Red Hills of Dundee makes it minutes from many wineries. Prices ranging from $295 – $495 per night and include a gourmet breakfast and afternoon refreshment for two.
Abbey Road Farm Bed and Breakfast www.AbbeyRoadFarm.com (503)-852-6278). Situated on an 82 acre working farm in Yamhill County’s wine country, Abbey Road offers 5 luxurious rooms in converted old grain silos. Each room offers spectacular views of the valley, pastures and gardens, and is lavishly appointed with Jacuzzi tub and heated towel racks. You are invited to bring your bikes or take a hike to enjoy the miles of country roads. A hearty breakfast using ingredients from the farm is included in the room rate, and served in the old farmhouse. Prices range from $175 – $225 per night for two.
If you are looking for more affordable lodging, the Best Western Vineyard Inn www.bestwesternoregon.com/hotels/best-western-vineyard-inn-motel is located in McMinnville, and offers rooms for $90 per night.
Where to Eat
Food tastes are personal. Willamette Valley is sure to have something to please every palette and price point. We love restaurants that feel like you can come as you are, and serve food that wow all senses. We gravitate toward menus that serve local, seasonal menus with dishes that are simple yet sophisticated and elegant. And if a restaurant is located in some sort of historic building or converted house, it offers all the more charm from our pespective. The Oregon food scene offers many great options that meet those criteria. Most offer extensive wine lists featuring difficult to find local vintages, so we tend to look upon our dinner as an additional opportunity to try yet another local wine gem. Here are our top 3 favorite places to eat. Prices are per person and based on enjoying a three course meal. Wine prices excluded.
The Painted Lady (www.thepaintedladyrestaurant.com 503-538-3850) is considered one of the hottest new restaurants in the area. Situated in an old converted Victorian house, the menu changes to reflect local seasonal ingredients prepared in a way that “blends old school culinary technique with innovative color and a contemporary flair” according to their website. A three course Prefixe Menu is $45 per person.
Joel Palmer House (www.joelpalmerhouse.com 503-864-2995). If you like mushrooms, this is a little slice of heaven. Renowned mushroom expert and James Beard Award-Winning cookbook author Jack Czarnecki’s menu revolves around wild mushrooms that he personally gathers from the surrounding forests. Named after historic pioneer Joel Palmer (1810 – 1881), the restaurant is located in the old house, considered one of Oregon’s finest historic homes. The food is delicious. Jack lovingly fuses local seasonal organic ingredients with influences from multiple cuisines, such as Indian and Mexico, resulting in sophisticated dishes at are both typically northwest yet other worldly. $55 or for a five course extravaganza, Jack’s Mushroom madness is $75.
Dundee Bistro (www.dundeebistro.com 503-554-1650) is the perfect lunch spot. It’s a great combination of casual and upscale, with pizza, sandwiches and large salads, all with a twist to make them interesting, such as the Shitake mushroom and ricotta pizza with basil pesto, capers, spinach and provolone. I don’t eat French fries as a rule, but there hasn’t been a trip yet where I haven’t devoured a whole plate of their truffle fries. Attached to the restaurant is also a wine tasting room and store. $30.
Where to go for more information
http://www.willamettewines.com
I toast you and your special someone on your perfect romantic weekend getaway to Oregon wine country!
