I haven’t seen anyone mention the Black Walnut Inn. I haven’t personally stayed there, but several friends have and loved it. In Dundee, so close proximity to Arterberry (5 min), Morgen Long and Patty Green (15 min), and Ayoub (5 min).
If you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you can sometimes book the Antica Terra pairing with points, as well as tastings at some other wineries. Also, Alaska Airlines and the Oregon Wine Board have a program some wineries participate in by providing complimentary tastings if you show an Alaska Airlines boarding pass showing that you have flown into Oregon on Alaska Air within the previous 10 days.
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And if you fly business class you still get 3 checked bags + the case of wine. That is how I flew home 7 cases of wine for $100. I booked the 2 flight on points…My wife and I each had 1 checked bag, so we each checked 2 more cases of wine each as “luggage” then got our free case of wine shipped. Took a supervisor to figure it out, but it worked. We were 1 case over, so it was $100 for a “4th checked bag” for a business class passenger.
BHaley - with all of the above excellent recommendations, I have two questions: 1.) what style of wine do you typically like (specifically Pinot Noir), and 2.) what type of tasting experiences to you prefer? This can narrow things down a bit given the 20-30 different ideas above. TIA!
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I see a lot of people recommending the Atticus. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you want to look at it), they were all booked up so my wife and I stayed at the Tributary. Absolutely PHENOMENAL service. I think it’s a bit pricier but honestly, one of the best hotels I’ve ever stayed in. I wish we would have dined at ōkta one night, but the daily complimentary breakfast assortment is something else. I also agree with HiFi bar consensus on this thread. Additionally, Bergstrom was super down to earth but world class. We ended up joining as members.
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During the dates we’ll be there this spring, the rates at Tributary vary between $600 and $800 per night plus tax. I’d rather spend it on wine!
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Another shout-out for the Atticus—the concierge desk helped me organize all my tastings and transportation for my time in WV. For tastings, in addition to high praise for Antica Terra, Kelley Fox, and Patricia Green, I also recommend Abbott Claim. Tasting was intimate and different. Dinner at Thistle was also a great experience.
I dont blame you. its nothing fancy, and we used points, but we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Newberg. even on a cash rate its fairly cheap, and you get a free breakfast. save your money for the wine, drivers, nice dinners, etc. The location is right on a main local highway and easy to pick up any thing you may have forgotten to pack, a few local coffee places, etc all within driving distance.
later when we left OR and went to CA, we also stayed in Napa at the Embassy Suites versus high end boutique hotels and went to French Laundry so my mind is always on a hotel is just a bed, unless I am doing something like Miraval or some spa retreat where you’ll be in the room a lot, my wife and I rarely see the value in spending big on hotels.
Of course everyone’s budgets are different…
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Haha more power to you, everyone should budget their trip as they see fit! As I said, it’s pricier but the quality of the hotel and service is a direct reflection of that so if you’re looking for that kind of stay, it’s worth it (in my personal opinion of course). If someone on this thread has stayed at both hotels, I’d be extremely interested to hear their comparison, otherwise, I’d be very hesitant to stay somewhere different while visiting McMinnville.
I find it interesting that there doesn’t seem to seem a top-notch hotel in McMinnville for less than $350/night, yet we stayed at a Board favorite in Beaune for less than 200 euros/night. Even with the proliferation of hotels in town at the high end, a lot of the rental properties got switched to VRBOs, which has worsened a long standing housing shortage. The city now has a moratorium on new vacation rentals until they figure out how many is too many.
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We liked the Black Walnut Inn B&B for our visit to the valley as part of a wine themed wedding after ceremony trip. It’s right in a lovely vineyard and has spectacular views of the valley heading north. There is a view of Mt Hood on a clear day. The property is small and intimate. Lunch and dinner service was only on the weekend. There is also a large house for rent at the top of the property if you are part of a large group.
Friends stayed at the Allison Inn and liked it a lot. More of a spa and fine dining destination with a resort atmosphere.
We had a really nice splurge meal at the Joel Palmer House. They do a mushroom tasting menu that was really good. They also have Thomas Pinot by the bottle. Excellent match for the tasting menu. Since I’m not on the mail list, I had to try it. We purchased one off the menu (you may have to ask), 10 years old and perfectly aged. I was told John Thomas keeps them supplied as he dines there periodically.
Some great wineries have been mentioned above. I would add Atterberry Maersh to the list of visits. I was not able to visit on this trip, but its on my list for the next trip. Some of Kelly Fox’s best grapes come from AM. It’s right off Worden Hill Road, down the street from the Black Walnut Inn.
Have a great trip.
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Cheap place in Mac is Best Western. Clean and a few yrs ago renovated (pre COVID). Not in a walkable area but not far either.
We stayed there when visiting with our daughter and son-in-law 5 years ago. We managed to get Uber to Newberg for dinner a couple nights.
You were able to find a top-notch hotel in Europe for 200 euros/night because Europeans will not pay more than that for the place you stayed. We stayed at a couple of hotels on the small luxury hotels of the world list while we were in the Italian wine country and they were both under 300/night. I asked the guy that ran the hotel why it was so cheap and his exact response was that Europeans see those type places as a weekend getaway and won’t pay over 350/night typically. Just a different point of view over there.
We went in 2019 and had very nice experiences at Lingua Franca, Colene Clemens, Resonance and Purple Hands. I would also recommend The Carlton Wine Makers Studio. Nice place as incubator for newer winemakers and home to great established winemakers who prefer to remain small and share the space, like Lavinea, OO Wines.
We tried that last year. Location matters. Our room was above a stoplight intersection and truck traffic noise kept us awake all night.
Can anyone speak a little bit more to the wine and tasting experiences at Rodeo Hills and Abbott Claim? They look like they both have the “vibes,” but I haven’t been able to glean much more than that.
In the cooler months, I typically drink Italian reds (mostly brunello) and Syrah. During the summer, when it’s hotter than hell in the southeast (Atlanta), I drink a lot of rose, chardonnay, savignon blanc. I have also been on a grower champagne kick lately.
Tasting wise, I typically go for a couple higher end tastings with a few laid back relaxed tastings thrown in for a good mix. For reference, I did Corison, Promontory, and Matthiasson (in that order) one of the days I was out in Napa this past September. Hope this is the response you were looking for.
I did the Abbott Claim tasting. It was “vibey.” Tasting took place in their underground cellar by candlelight. It was intimate and quiet (in a good way)—would be wonderful for a couple, but I did it solo and enjoyed. Would recommend.
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Thanks. That’s helpful, and I think (given your response), many of the above recommendations would be good. If you had said you were big into Cali Cabs and bigger Bordeaux for most of your wine consumption, I might have disagreed with quite a few of the above. Cheers.
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