Taking a trip to Willamette over Labor Day weekend and will be there for 2-3 days. I’ve had limited exposure to Willamette Pinots- most of my exposure has been to California. I tend to like a ‘less heavy’ expression of Pinot. More balanced or even somewhat lean.
Oregon producers I’ve got experience with, and greatly enjoyed, are Patricia Green, Belle Pente, and
Chehalem. Producers I suspect I’d like based on comments here and tasting notes on Cellartracker include Martello/Goodfellow, Biggio Hamina, Vincent, Cameron and Eyrie. Also planned on checking out Teutonic.
I hope you enjoy yourself here, weather should be wonderful. Cody posted a nice list and he had a WV thread several months back and there is a great list of places in his threads.
If you really like delicate/light wines then:
Do these:
Goodfellow
Vincent
Crowley
Brick House
Trisaetum (for beautiful rieslings)
White Rose
Arterberry Maresh
Kelly Fox (hard to schedule though, she’s a small operation)
Walter Scott (incredible Chardonnay)
Cristom (on the bigger side but still really nice)
This may be in bad taste but…
Don’t visit Domaine Serene or Domaine Roy. They don’t need your money and in my opinion, they don’t represent Oregon pinot like some of the other producers.
I personally love this writer, her books and blogs have fantastic content. I wouldn’t necessarily suggest all of these spots she visited but she does a really nice job covering the areas.
Bill focuses on Riesling, so not Pinot or Chard focused like most other WV wineries. But he does make a nice Pinot Blanc, and his Pinot Noir is worth trying.
As other noted, I would add Brick House to my list for Pinots and whites.
As for Kelley Fox, it used to be harder to visit when she was running things solo, but she has someone working for her now who handles appts so should not be hard to schedule something at her new space at Maysara. You may not get to taste with her, but if you do that will be a treat.
Thanks all for the recommendations thus far. Lots of producers I’ve either not heard of or have heard very little… will check them out!
Agree on Domaine Serene not being a good fit. That style of operation isn’t my cup of tea, and just seems really out of character with the rest of Willamette.
Jason, let me know if you want to set up an appointment. I’m always happy to meet Berserkers. Sounds like you have a lot of good people and places on your radar, enjoy!
Please take my advice and go see Vincent! A wonderful spot, cool outdoor picnic table to taste at if the weather is good while you play some cornhole. Vincent’s wines are just incredible and are maybe the best value in the valley IMHO. While the Pinots are incredible, do not miss the chards!!! We have been blowing through them like crazy. Oh, and he’s about the nicest guy you will ever meet and a true pleasure to taste with!
Yep, I’ll be in Portland for a couple of days as well too, so if there’s any other wineries there other than Teutonic I should check out, I’m all ears.
Jason,
You might want to stop by Longplay in Newberg (disclosure - I’m closely affiliated). I’m pretty flexible regarding hours (just call or text) and what wines I can open (I have about 30 different wines from 7 vintages in the tasting room). We probably can find a wine you’ll like.
