Winetasting in Oregon’s Willamette Valley

Last weekend a friend and I decided to use the good weather as an excuse to get out of the city and taste some Willamette Valley wines (not that we really needed an excuse).The following is brief a travelogue of our experience, red teeth and all.

11:30 am. Traffic coming out of Portland is brutal, but the sun is shining and the temperature is warmer than itís been since summer. Weíre already thirsty for wine. Our iPod plays the Kinks.

12:45 pm. Weíre sitting at a small park in Lafayette, eating spicy pollo tamales from the local Mexican grocery while local teenagers play shirtless basketball and blast gangster rap from a boombox. Weíre lost, but not panicking. Not exactly what you picture when you think of the pastoral Willamette Valley wine tour, but hey, the tamales are great.

1:10 pm. After procuring directions off a local convenience store owner, we’re once again back on track, just 8 miles from Dundee and the heart of Oregon wine country!

1:25 pm. Following a recommendation we got prior to the trip, we didnít stop in the actual town of Dundee (which is quite tiny) but instead turned up Warden Hill Road for a spectacular drive to Carlton. Weíve stopped at the Maresh Red Barn tasting room. Maresh Red Hills has an extremely large vineyard, much of it rented out to other growers. Itís a beautiful destination, but the flight offered is lackluster, under-poured, and the service is far from personable. We move on. So much to see, so little time.

2:00 pm. Warden Hill Road is a winding, up and down, at times gravel road that takes you past Erath, Argyle and some of the other major players in the large-scale winemaking world. It also takes you right into Carlton, Oregon, our main destination for the day. We start off at The Winemakers Studio, Oregonís first sustainable, multi-winery facility. Weíre told there are as many as ten vintners who have their wineries within the walls of this place. The tasting room is warmly modern. The staff is knowledgeable and professional. We sit outside on their lovely shaded patio to enjoy our flights. The wine is good! We end up picking up a bottle of 2005 Andrew Rich Wines Tabula Rasa Red (a bargain at $18).

2:45 pm. Tyrus Evan Winery, a small venture from famed single-vineyard Pinot Noir producer Ken Wright. This winery, however, is dedicated to producing all things non-pinot: Claret, Syrah, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, etc. The Tyrus Evan tasting room is located in an old train depot. With all its history and memorabilia, the depot/tasting room makes for a pretty charming experience. The woman pouring our wine has a timeless quality and we feel at times that weíre in a Norman Rockwell drawing. The wines are young tasting but solid, especially the Del Rio Syrah. We leave feeling heady, giddy and anxious for more.

3:30 pm. After a short break for some water and public displays of ìyeah weíre drunk and we know itî we end up at a tiny place just kiddy corner from Tyrus Evan (thatís the great thing about Cartonóthere must be about 8 tastings rooms all within a few blocks of each other). This is by far the most unassuming tasting room weíve stepped into all day. Itís also the best. The humbly named Tasting Room (operating since 1995) offers fine wines from select Oregon producers generally closed to the public. We pony up for a flight of í06 Pinot Noirs from different producers. Standouts: an unfiltered J. Christopher and a very acidic but wonderful entry from EIEIO (the proverbial bottle you really want but canít afford). We get along well with the girl pouring and I begin making embarrassingly inept remarks about wines. We buy our final bottle for the day, the í06 J. Christopher, and walk back out into the sunlight.

4:45 pm. Wilco on the iPod as we cruise back to Portland via Gaston and Yamhill with our now fully-realized farmers tans. We didnít even scratch the surface of wine drinking in the Willamette Valley. There are so many great wineries, great people and great histories here. Weíll be back, and maybe next time weíll remember to eat more than just a tamale for lunch. Good times.