+1 Memaloose.
Adding to others recommendations and suggestions:
Elk Cove - has produced a Syrah bottling (from Southern Oregon fruit?) and a Bordeaux blend from Washington fruit in previous years. If I remember correctly a portion of proceeds from the red blend go or have gone to a non profit organization.
Gamay Noir - Chehalem, Evening Land, and Belle Pente are additional producers for consideration.
I thought that Teutonic did some other red varietals besides Pinot, but I didn’t see anything on their website.
Trisaetum completed a fruit swap with Leonetti a year or so ago. The red blend bottlings are available thru the wine club. Likewise, Archery Summit and Andrew Will exchanged fruit a few years ago. Probably a number of others only available via wine clubs.
I would recommend a trip to the SE Wine Collective in Portland. They have a nice selection of red wines other than Pinot available via wine flights or small pours from their resident producers and a few other local producers.
James
Holloran makes very good Tempranillo from Eola-Amity Hills.
I’ll toot our horn here I guess. If you’re into Zinfandel, Primitivo, Petite Sirah, Sangiovese, Cab Sauv, Cab Franc, Temp and some Pinot too, check out Urban Crush in close in SE PDX. The 2015 wines of Angel Vine, D’Anu, Willful/Jezebel will be made at the former location of House Spirits. The tasting room features wines from each label as well.
Cheers, Ed
ITB
Angel Vine
Lots of great recs above including personal favorites Biggio Hamina and Memloose in the Gorge but surprised no one has mentioned Owen Roe in Newberg. Also, I know you asked for reds, but don’t sleep on the whites.
Thanks everyone. I’m really after grapes that are grown in Willamette so I appreciate those who pointed it out.
I’m definitely attracted to Riesling/Pinot Gris/Chardonnay more than Pinot Noir, so finding white options will not be a problem!
I am a decided Owen Roe fan, I didn’t realize they had a facility in the area so I’ll absolutely visit them.
I haven’t visited too many Gorge wineries, but there are a couple I can recommend.
As has been previously mentioned, Memaloose is great. We just had a Memaloose wine the other night and it had me thinking I need to go order another case from them. Their winery is on the Oregon side, but their tasting room is on the Washington side. It is right on the river so the location is lovely, but the tasting room experience itself is only average. Still, the fantastic QPR more then makes up for it.
For a fabulous tasting room experience try AniChe. It is a small operation so you’ll probably be tasting with the winemaker in their gorgeous (no pun intended) location. Highly recommended.
You should hit Sineann in the process. Approx 5 miles down the road. They have a wide selection of the non-Pinot Reds you’re asking for.
RT
From that I conclude that Biggio Hamina and Matello are mandatory stops.
P Hickner
+1 for Matello.
Any ideas for transportation from Portland to Willamette and back for the day? Is there a bus/train down south and we can use Uber/Lyft when we get there?
If anyone has any direct connections for drivers I’d love to get in touch.
seems basically impossible, but where are you trying to go? Maybe a bus could get you near a winery then you could hike.
Call my friend Ron at Oregon Wine Tours. He could drive you, that’s what he does.
I did a bit of thinking today and it looks like it might be easiest to get an Uber to McMinnville, explore the city via foot and Uber, then get an Uber back to Portland when we’re ready to go back.
McMinnville looks to have a lot to offer.
Third street in Mac is charming, I am unsure about Uber existing in my town.
IF you can get an Uber to/from McMinnville, it is going to be crazy expensive. I would guess somewhere around $70-90 each way.
I would suggest renting a car for the day. Even if not from a major rental car company, maybe try the Getaround app (people who share their cars like AirBnB).
As for the question in the thread, I tasted Syrah from both Cristom and Goodfellow while I was in the valley, and they were both quite good. Also, was luck enough to try Eyrie’s Meunier in the tasting room. Evening Land’s old vine Gamay is going to be great - the new team is splitting up their Gamay holdings into bottlings of old and young vines, so keep an eye out.
There is Car2Go in Portland. Also, there is a Hertz right downtown. I use it several times a year when the use of my own car is not practical. In general, car rentals out here are not that much especially weekdays. If your own insurance covers you in a rental it would be downright cheap.