Willamette Valley Wine Reviews
As alluded to in our planning post, the decision was extraordinarily difficult. At the end of the day, we knew we would enjoy ourselves, but we had to find the right balance!
DIY versus Tour versus Designated Driver
Similar to other wine regions, Williamette offers an assortment of guided car tours, designated driver guides, or you can do it yourself! Obviously as a travel planner, I chose to do it yourself!
There are many good options for guided tours and we saw quite a few vans around town. However, these come at a steep cost especially during COVID times as we would have had to hire a private guide. A tour costs upwards of $300 per person and usually excluded tasting fees and tip. Rather than pay someone, we opted to spend the money on fantastic wine!
Our Recommended Wineries:
Tasting Fee: $25pp
Reservations: Yes
Location: Towards the north section of our assigned triangle, Domaine Drouhin was one of the most highly recommended wineries primarily because it is a large outfit and they
Why: When we asked around for our friend's favorite winery, everyone mentioned Domaine! With a heavy French influence since they are owned by a French company now, I figured we would like most of the wine.
2018 Chardonnay Arthur: 50% stain, more acidic, not as buttery. Summer bbq
2018 Roserock Chardonnay: day at the beach, acid, fruity,
2018 Roserock Pinot Noir: tannins, fruit forward, simple
2018 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir: don’t press the wine, let the juice naturally pop. 20% new oak, aged 12-14m, complex and older wine. A classic Pinot.
2017 Roserock Zephirine Reserve: more tannin and acidic, smooth finish
2017 Laurene: lighter, less tannin, complex cause older vines
Our Thoughts:
For our first tasting, we started with a bang! Although the weather was not cooperating, we huddled underneath the outside tent and dove into our first Oregon Pinot experience. Our fantastic guide, George, helped us along and told us about the wonderful world of Oregon wine. Each wine here surprised us as we enjoyed it more than we thought! We really liked the Zephirine and Laurene as they had a bold taste compared to the lighter Pinot Noirs but we liked those just as much. We ended up buying the wine club membership because it was slightly more cost effective than buying 6 bottles.
Anne Amie
Tasting Fee: $20pp
Reservations: Yes
Location: In the center of our triangle, Anne Aime is very easy to find just outside Dundee and McMinnville.
Why: When we asked our wine guy, he recommended Anne Amie for the outstanding views. And he was right - by far the best views as the winery sits on one of the tallest hills.
2014 Estate Marilyn Brut Rose: too sweet
2013 Prisme Pinot Noir Blanc: aged in French oak, sweet, yet a little like Pinot
2012 Twelve Oaks Estate Boisseau Vineyard Pinot Noir
2012 Twelve Oaks Estate Louise Vineyard Pinot Noir
2012 L'Iris Estate Pinot Noir
2016 Pamplin Cabernet Sauvignon
Thoughts:
While we were amazed with the views, we were not amazed by the wine. Perhaps we got off a bad foot when we had rose and blanc that were not our favorite. The pinot noir bottles that we had also were not our favorite and just seemed to be an odd pairing compared to the view. Thankfully, we ended on a high note when we tasted the cab sav!
Lingua Franca
Location: For our last tasting in the Willamette Valley, we went back south towards Eola Amity Hills. In an ideal world, we would have started here, but there were no tasting available!
Why: Similar to Domaine Drouhin, this winery has high ratings from our friends! Plus, it is almost exclusively pinot noir so a perfect way to explore this region!
Tasting Fee: $40pp
Reservations: Yes
2018 Estate Chardonnay
2018 Sisters Chardonnay
2018 Estate Pinot Noir
2018 Plow Pinot Noir
2018 Mimi's Mind Pinot Noir
Thoughts:
Although we were starving and pairing this delicious wine with Dominos pizza, we loved our visit. Our guide was very passionate about the wine, area, and industry. As for the tastings, each wine was fantastic and I would handily do it again! We purchased 2 bottles of each pinot noir and even debated joining the wine club!
The UnChartered Summary
Wandering through beautiful Oregon wine country is a hidden gem in the USA. Because of its close proximity to the same latitude as the famous Old World wine regions. If you plan appropriately, you can have a fantastic day tasting some of the best wine in the world!
Try and find the off-the-beaten track wineries like Lingua Franc. The smaller the shop, more interaction with passionate winemakers!
As I mentioned in the beginning, settle for three wineries a day. All wineries are accommodating to a single tasting if you also want to share!
Try the different areas as the soil composition, different micro-climates, and other factors make their way into the wine and provide a wonderful difference to the wine!
Finally, to rank our favorite ones and hopefully they are a source of inspiriation!
Domaine Drouhin (won by default as we are 2021 wine club members)
Lingua Franc (Andrew's personal favorite from the day)
Honorable Mention through word of mouth
Soter Vineyards: Sadly, we were not able to visit because they were sold out but we have only heard amazing things. Book WELL in advance!
Patton Valley: This winery is smaller so it does not have the prestige as the others but the locals raved about it and we heard it from a few folks!
