We quite enjoyed our stop at Beaux Freres. And the tasting at Antica Terra (where they pour wines beyond their own) is also fun (good ham too).
Mandy,
You have some great places on your list. Iâve tasted at Grochau, Matello/Goodfellow, Vincent, Brooks and Trisaetum and will give them all enthusiastic thumbs up.
Here are a few others McMinnville and south:
Love & Squalor - Matt Berson makes his wine at Matello. If you like acid driven rieslings, definitely stop
Cristom - Great pinots
Helioterra - Anne makes her wines at Bjornson. Her pinots are great but she does stuff on the edges as well as anyone in the business. Try her Mourvédre, Pinot Blanc, Arneis, Melon de Bourgogne and Starthistle Blend that includes Huxelrebe.
Thanks for the additional suggestions, Monte. Acid driven rieslings are great, and the Helioterra âon the edgesâ varietal wines sounds right up my alley. For some reason I thought her wines were made at SE Wine Collective in Portland and would get to taste them there.
That is where she was. John Grochau, Vincent Fritzsche and Anne Hubatch all work together at Guild Wines. Anne is taking the space John is leaving at Bjornson. We opened a bottle of her Arneis a few days ago and it was quite impressive. That was my first taste of a finished version of the wine as we tasted the 2015 out of the bin it was fermenting in. She has an impressive touch with those non-standard grape varieties. Her Mourvedre is really unique and the Syrah almost tastes like a different grape if you havenât had a cool climate bottling.
Brooks is a great place to end the day tasting.
Good to know about Helioterra. I would have been sad to miss her!
Do you have any favorite non-appointment required tasting rooms in McMinnville or north of 99W (Carlton, Ribbon Ridge, Dundee Hills)? Iâm trying not to overload us with appointments. If I were traveling alone, that wouldnât be a problem, but my husband would rather not be speeding from one winery to the next the whole trip. ![[thankyou.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/d/df165fe9c1593d19166ae7e1ffe5e272089cc07b.gif "thankyou"){kind=small}
Dundee Hills suggestion with no appointment needed- Winderlea. Modern facility with some great wine.
In McM - Eyrie. On 99w - Archery Summit, Drouhin. And if bubbles would keep hubby happy - stop at Argyle.
As my wine interests have evolved, Iâve moved away from trying to hit several wineries in a day. Focusing on 3, maybe 4 quality visits in a day is more than enough. If you want to get a crash course, then bigger events (like IPNC or Pinot Days) are the way to go. Generic tasting room visits are fine but have their limitations. If you want to get a solid feel for a place or particular producer, make appointments and spend quality time with smaller, experienced growers/winemakers. They can offer fascinating perspectives and a much richer wine tasting experience.
Things in the Willamette are spread out and travel at certain times can be a hassle. Try to cluster your tastings on a given day.
Most of all, enjoy the trip.
RT
Thanks, Richard. This is how I feel, too. About 10 years ago we went to Sonoma and hit up an average of 7 wineries per day. Way too much! Iâm thinking no more than 3 appointments per day on this trip, and we can fill in with tasting rooms as time allows. Iâd much rather chat with someone intimately familiar with the wines and their production while tasting if given the opportunity.
I hope the OP of this thread is getting something out of this discussion! ![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
As someone mentioned, Eyrie (near Matello and literally next door to Heater Allen). Also in/near McMinville, Biggio-Hamina and Brittan.
In Dundee, the Maresh Red Barn. Likely wonât have any of the Maresh Vineyard SVDs available from Arterberry Maresh, but can taste the other Arterberry wines and the Powell Hill wines, also made by Jim Maresh.
Well to the OP and/or MandyâŠHereâs my advice: (some of this is already echoing whatâs been said)
I try to do 3 wineries per day tops, maybe 4. In my humble opinion, I wouldnât even visit tasting rooms in McMinnville, Yamhill or Newberg UNLESS you can connect with a winemaker here. Thereâs obviously incredible wine at some of the tasting rooms but I think youâd have a better experience with appointment tastings and/or vineyards.
Salem trip
Cristom, Vincent, Evesham Wood, Bethel Heights and St. Innocent.
My top 3 would be Cristom, Vincent and Evesham due to their more informative and/or intimate setting.
Bryn Mawr, Bethel and St. Innocent would be quicker and less intimate but also good wine.
Newberg trip
J. Christopher, North Valley, Trisaetum, Beaux Freres (other options, Shea and Patty Green)
J. Christopher is appointment only, itâs in their cellar, you get a profuse amount of wine knowledge and their wine is spectacular.
North Valley has a beautiful tasting room. Theyâre an extension of Soter and Tony Soter makes their wines. The wines are good, extremely well made but almost a bit too refined/clean for me but the tasting room is really fun. Itâs a seated tasting and a great experience. Their Chardonnay is top notch.
Trisaetum makes good pinot and incredible Riesling.
Dundee Trip
Be sure to eat lunch at Red Hills Market!
Cameron winery, White Rose, Soter, Winderlea
Quite different wines but all very fun and worth while experiences.
I would agree with Winderlea. I tasted there this fall and was pretty impressed.
For whatever reason, my forays into Oregon ended up with me being connected to wineries located in McMinnville and south. The one exception would be the Carlton area. In Carlton, definitely visit Seven of Hearts/ Luminous Hills. Byron does lots of things and all of them well. He likes Rhone varietals too.
On two trips this fall - one for three days and one day airline miles run - I spent more time exploring Ribbon Ridge and Dundee Hills. Our drop ins were Domaine Divio, Alexana, Penner-Ash, Durant, Bergstrom, White Rose and Winderlea. All of them have their positive attributes. In my opinion, White Rose stood out because their wines were distinctive. When we were tasting my wife said âwe havenât tasted anything exactly like these.â We bought six different ones to see how we like them over time. The tasting room staff at Alexana is as good as any we have seen.
To be honest, I canât remember a tasting experience in Oregon I would relate below a B+ except for one and Iâll be nice and leave their name out as it may have simply been a bad day.