Willamette Valley Trip Day 3

On day 3 (Sunday) we made 3 stops.

Belle Pente
Always a pleasure to stop by and see Brian. He makes some of our favorite Pinots in the Valley. Tried the following wines:
2018 Chardonnay Willamette Valley
2018 Gamay Belle Pente Vineyard
2019 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley
2018 Pinot Noir Murto
2018 Pinot Belle Pente
2014 Pinot Estate Reserve

They were all excellent. My favorite as usual was the Murto. His Murto wines have always performed year in and year out. They never disappoint. Sorry to hear that Brian lost access to this vineyard as the previous owner sold the vineyard.

Bjornson (Thanksgiving Weekend Event)
They had 6 wineries pouring here, SchöneTal Cellars, Arabilis Wines, Sunbreak Wines, Denison Cellars, Falcon Stoop, and Björnson Vineyard. We previously have tasted with Dave at SchoneTal and Tim at Denison. Was good to see them again. They are always happy to see us. Also met and chatted with David from Sunbreak. We enjoyed the wines here but as our car was filling up, I only bought a bottle from Dave.

Willakenzie
We have been wine club members here for years. I keep talking about dumping it as I have way too many wine clubs but everytime I go there we get treated like royalty. I enjoyed the 2018 Triple Black Slopes and the 2018 Terres Basses. The Chardonnays here have been on a big upswing since Jackson Family and Erik Kramer took over.

Another fun day and some great weather.

So Brian lost Murto? Had not heard that one. My first Belle Pentes were Murto and Wahle back in the day.

Great to meet you and your family, Brian! Wish we could have shown you all of our wines…. I’ll have some great deals on Berserker Day so stay tuned.

Yep, sad to hear that. We saw Brian in June and still have some older Murto. it was always one of my favorites.

No more Murto is very disappointing! Lots of love for that wine. It was Bob Wood’s favorite WV bottling.

Brian and Jill are just plain wonderful.

RT

I got recommended a bottle of WillaKenzie at a wine store - ended up buying both the gamay and Pinot. Wasn’t expecting much but was pleasantly surprised. Good stuff.

Keep the report coming!

Brian thanks for the note on the BP ‘18’s. They aren’t available on the website yet but Brian told me if I gave him a call he could work it out.

Yeah, I’m heart-broken that there’s no more Murto. In addition to it being a fantastic wine it was not only my first Belle Pente it was the first Oregon Pinot I remember. I will always have a soft spot for it.

Jill and Brian are such nice people I just deal .

Thanks Brian for making another trip to The Wine Collective at Bjornson for the 2022 Memorial Day event. Thanks for the Chard review. We can’t wait until you try the 2021 single vineyard Chards next Spring

Could you please share some restaurant / hotel recommendations? We’re contemplating a trip for the first time to the Willamette Valley this summer and looking for some tips. Thanks!

Our favorite places to eat are Earth and Sea (Carlton), Horse Radish (Carlton), Cuvee (Carlton), La Rambla (Mac), Pizza Capo (Mac), Pura Vida (Mac), Community Plate (Mac, Nicks (Mac), and Thistle (Mac).

We always stay at Hotel Oregon in Mac. It isn’t for everyone though. It is an old (100+ years old) funky hotel that is noisy and not all of rooms have private bathrooms. We love it though and always make a point to stay at McMenamins hotels. We also love the Harry Potter style rooms at their property in Forest Grove.