Willamette Valley

We have been pronouncing Willamette the wrong way for so long that we have to use the following saying to remember the correct way. It is "Will-am-it - Damn It!" (note the accent on 'am').

Now that we have that straightened out, on to the wines. The Willamette Valley is well known for its Pinot Noir wines. We have been told by several sommeliers that it is due partly to the soil but mostly its the cool weather that favors the pinot grape. When it does get warm, like now, the cool winds from the ocean are channeled into the valley at night to cool things down again. When it gets hot, the pinot grapes shut down and don't grow but as it cools off, they come alive again. There are 7 AVA's (American Viticultural Areas) each one having different soil properties and weather so that a Pinot Noir from one area will taste different than those from another area. Even vineyards next door to each other can have distinct differences to the experienced palate.   Our inexperienced palates can't tell the difference in the AVA's but we can differentiate between wineries and even some wines. We have also tasted Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Riesling.

We arrived in the Willamette Valley and our RV park outside of McMinnville about noon on Wednesday after shopping at Costco, Safeway and Walgreens in Salem. We struggled setting up as the first site they gave us was too narrow and close to our neighbor so when when we reset the slides, I didn't see the slide roll into John's captain chair and tilt it over. Now he sits at an angle and not sure he'll be able to drive that way. The trials of RV ownership.

Our first stop was in the town of Carlton where we tasted wine at the Troon Tasting Room, Ken Wright Cellars and Carlton Cellars. We had a nice visit with the lady at Scott Paul tasting room but they were not having a tasting. She directed us to a local meat shop which was closed by the time we got there. But we intend to shop there as they grow their own bacon! We stopped in McMinnville for dinner at LaRambla after having a beer at The Golden Valley Brew Pub. Both of these places were recommend by almost everyone we asked.

Today we tasted at Ponzi Wine Bar before having lunch at the adjacent Dundee Bistro. Then Argyle Winery that features lots of bubbly wines, Lange Estate Winery, Carlton Winemaker Studio where 12 individual vintners come to make their wines and Alexana Estate Vineyards. This last had the best Pinot Noir that we have tasted so far. In two days we have bought 4 bottles of wine to take with us and are having 2 cases shipped home. So far. . .

As we were driving into Dundee today we saw snow-capped Mt. Hood in the distance and took the picture from the Lange Vineyard patio. What a beautiful site!