We simply loved Willamette. The area is fairly rural, has rolling hills, and is dominated by agriculture. They grow fruit, vegetables, nut trees, shrubs, and grapes. It’s just a great area to sit back, stare at the landscape, and sip some of the world’s best Pinot Noir. The locals said that the weather has been relatively hot and dry for the last few years and 2022 was no exception. We hardly saw a cloud during our five days there. However, there was smoke from the Cedar Creek fire that resulted in a persistent haze that clouded the horizon.
It had been 15 years since the last time we were in Oregon Willamette Valley and tasting wine. Being proper wine snobs, it was a must-do as we traveled through the region. The biggest change was that there are wineries everywhere. Apparently, there are over 700 now. We visited eight, several of which were in their infancy or didn’t exist in 2007. We heard the same origin story a few times that we heard in Walla Walla:
- Educated wine-loving couple make a lot of money and become quite wealthy
- By the time they are 50ish they decide they are tired of the “success pressure”
- Decide to buy land in a beautiful, but affordable area and plant grapes
- Sell the grapes, but conclude “we can make wine too”
- Hire a good wine maker and/or educate themselves on viniculture and wine making
- In some cases one of them makes the wine, the other manages the vines/business
- They make increasing good wine, make the business work, and bring their kids in
There were many variations of the story, but clearly there is a lot of opportunity for enterprising, passionate people. The Willamette region is perfect for great Pinot Noir wines and it is still growing in popularity.
As always, the wineries were carefully chosen based on quality of the wine and to a lesser degree the tasting experience. This year we have been particularly focused on value. We are in search of up-and-coming wineries with reasonable prices. Some of the wineries on our list were disappointing, but generally had outstanding Pinots. The scores on our wrap-up are “curved” to get a better idea which are the best, but even the lower scoring wineries are good.
We took a day and visited Portland for some errands and sightseeing. We visited the Rose Garden and Japanese Garden in Washington Park. Both were awesome, particularly if you love gardening. Washington Park is one of the largest urban parks in the country.
The details of our tastings can be found in the Willamette Valley Tasting wrap-up
