Portland Area Wine Tour

My boyfriend and I will be staying in McMinnville for 3 days. We%26#39;re hugely into wines and often take wine tasting vacations but we don%26#39;t know anything about Portland wines! Can anyone recommend the best wineries to visit - probably 3 per day for 3 days? We%26#39;re much more into red than white, and would love to focus on the mom-and-pop wineries. We%26#39;ve been to Napa and seen the mass producers and we%26#39;re now looking for a different take on things.

Thank you!!!

Portland Area Wine Tour

I don%26#39;t have any personal experience, but this looks like a great website:

www.yamhillvalley.org and click on wine country

Portland Area Wine Tour

I know of a few wineries that are literally ';mom-and-pop'; type places, but I don%26#39;t know that I%26#39;d recommend any of those as ';best'; to visit. And none of the wineries around here are mass producers, at least by comparison to Napa Valley. So, what is the ';different take'; you%26#39;re looking for? Nice facilities? Scenic settings? Great wines? And are you open to taste-by-appointment-only wineries?

Good that you%26#39;re ';into red'; because pinot noir is what the Willamette Valley does best. With 3 days, you%26#39;ll have time to taste a lot of them - maybe too much time, in fact. You could easily visit 8 wineries in 2 days, then throw in a day trip to the beach, or somewhere.

Oh so many wineries to visit near McMinnville.

In addition to the link above, you can check out the Oregon Wine Board%26#39;s site:

oregonwine.org/Explore_Wine_Regions/鈥?/a>

Many of the smaller wineries are not open to the public on a regular basis. So, were you looking to make some private appointments, or did you want to simply head out of your hotel in the morning and visit those that are open?

You did not mention when you will be visiting.

Thank you for all the advice! Yes, we are absolutely looking for the wineries that are by appointment only. That%26#39;s the different take I was speaking about - more personalized service and not being on a tour with 20 other people (a la Napa). Of course, great wines are a must - that%26#39;s more important than the overall appearance and ambiance of the winery itself.

Thanks again!

Most wineries don%26#39;t typically do tours here unless requested by a group, or for special occasions (we%26#39;re more into drinking the wine than learning about it!). So, you would never be herded into a tour situation unless you chose to be. And if you stay a little off the beaten path, you can generally get very personalized service. You obviously also get personalized service at by-appointment-only wineries, but that generally comes with a purchase expectation (you shouldn%26#39;t expect that personalized service to come at no cost).

That said, some of my fave taste-by-appointment-only wineries are Bergstrom, Brick House, Patricia Green, Beaux Freres, J. Albin, Ken Wright, Westrey.... Of off-the-beaten-path wineries that have regular tasting hours, I think you%26#39;d enjoy Adelsheim, Penner-Ash, Willakenzie, Seven of Hearts %26amp; Barbara Thomas, Carlton Winemaker Studio, DePonte, Torii Mor, Stoller.... Most of these are in the Newberg, Dundee, or Carlton area. It take a lot of discipline for me to get all the way to McMinnville when I%26#39;m wine tasting. ;-)

Its a guarantee that your wine tasting experience here will be very different than in Napa. The wine region here is more spead out and less commercial. Also, you will find that ';pours'; are measured here, and are less likely to be so in California.

I don%26#39;t see that you%26#39;ve said when you are coming, but there are several wine-related events coming up in the next few weeks- you could check area events calendars to see if anything coincides with your visit.

Yea, what mistletoe said. LOL! I was going to suggest several of those wineries, with the exception of one, due to the way they locked out their winemaker, assistant winemaker and vineyard manager (who are all close friends.) Hmph. ;-)

As mentioned, we do not have wineries here that have large (nor really small) tour groups going though them on a daily basis. Most do not even have a place to take a tour group as the tasting rooms, in several, are literally right in the winery itself.

Wineries here are small, for the most part. Most producing less than 10,000 cases a year. Our largest wineries (and there are only four or so) produce around 100,000 cases. So, by California standards, we are small.

You will also not find restaurants at wineries. So, plan to pick up a picnic lunch or seek out one of the local restaurants. Harvest Fresh, in downtown McMinnville, has great foods to pack for a picnic. When I worked for Patty Green, they prepared all of our harvest and bottling day lunches. They are at 251 NE Third Street; McMinnville, OR 97128

(503) 472-5740

Whoops, forgot to post the link to the Harvest Fresh site

http://harvestfresh.com/HFGDindex.htm

Thank you PDX - this is all really helpful information. I%26#39;m THRILLED to hear about the relative smallness of Portland wineries - exactly what we%26#39;re looking for. We prefer picnics to fancy expensive winery lunches so I%26#39;ll definitely follow up on that tip.

Thanks again to everyone!

You will have a great time. Just to clarify, the wineries are not in Portland (well, there are a couple that have their facilities in Portland). The area you are staying in is about 45-60 minutes from downtown Portland.

There are also wineries stretching from Yamhill County, south through Salem, Eugene, Roseburg and on to the California border. We also have wineries on the east side of the Cascades.