Wine Travel
Yamhill Valley: Oregon’s Penultimate Wine Country...
Rustic scenery and lots of vineyards in Oregon’s Yamhill Valley...
We travel to the Yamhill Valley, located roughly in the northwest corner of the expansive Willamette Valley. While Oregon produces many wines, in the Yamhill Valley, Pinot Noir takes the crown as king of wines, with Pinot Gris and Chardonnay as popular but secondary varietals. The Yamhill Valley arguably produces the best Pinot Noir in the state, and that varietal’s popularity among growers demonstrates just how predominant the grape has become in the area. Of the just over 12,000 of acres of Pinot Noir planted in the entire state, over 5,000 acres are planted within Yamhill Valley. This when the county’s vineyards make up well less than twenty percent of the state’s total vineyard acreage. Almost all of Oregon’s top Pinot Noir producers are here.
The Yamhill Valley contains six sub-regions that have their own AVA (American Viticultural Area) designation within the vastly larger Willamette Valley AVA. All these sub-regions have attained individual AVA status within the past decade. For an area to achieve its own AVA designation, it must have something that sets it distinctly apart, usually in terms of soil and microclimate. The entire state of Oregon has sixteen AVAs. The six AVAs in the Yamhill Valley include Dundee Hills, Chehalem Mountains, Ribbon Ridge, McMinnville,Yamhill-Carlton and Eola-Amity Hills.
If choosing McMinnville to explore this compelling area, consider staying at the Oregon Hotel at 310 Evans Street, or at the Red Lion McMinnville at 2535 Three Mile Lane. The Hotel Oregon represents old fashioned, classic accommodation and offers a most convenient location within easy walking distance of many of the attractions mentioned above on the charming, tree-lined Third Street. The four story building features a nice display of art, a rooftop bar that in good weather affords views of the town and surrounding valley, and a decent restaurant. The more modern Red Lion provides excellent basic accommodation that includes breakfast, lots of free parking, spacious rooms and a very helpful staff. It’s located less than two miles from Third Street. Both establishments have reasonable room pricing. History and nostalgia bluffs may prefer the somewhat funky Hotel Oregon. For example, some of the less expensive rooms don’t have private bathrooms. I stayed at the Red Lion, and came away completely satisfied with the experience.
For more photos of the area, go to the next page of the site...
A combination of factors makes this area so conducive to successful Pinot Noir production. First of all, it has favorable geography. On the west, the Coast Range protects the entire Willamette Valley from the direct harshness of the frequent storms from the Pacific Ocean. To the east, the much higher Cascade Mountains afford further protection. And a series of hills acts to specifically protect the Yamhill Valley area. This affords a milder climate, giving the area wet winters and relatively dry, warm summers when the grapes are on the vine. Soil provides another positive influence. Most of the area has a volcanic and/or sedimentary seabed, that at lower elevations is overlaid with silt, gravel and rocks deposited by floods occurring more than 10,000 years ago. The soils provide excellent nutrients and drainage for cultivation. An expert can discern where the wine comes from just by tasting the different flavors imparted to the wine from the soil.
The fog shrouded vineyards of the Dundee Hills AVA...
Due to the northern climate and somewhat unpredictable weather, even with the natural protection afforded by the surrounding hills and mountains, the success of each growing season becomes largely dependent upon the timing and amount of rain falling on the vineyards. Thus, when considering purchasing a bottle of Oregon wine, one should pay attention to the vintage. It generally plays a much greater role in quality here than it normally would in the more predictable weather affecting wine from California. When heavy rains come late in the growing year (September and October), it can prove quite detrimental to the overall quality of the vintage. Some of the finer more recent vintages include the stellar 2008, and to a somewhat lessor extent, the 2010, 2006, 2005 and 2004.
McMinnville, a small town located about 50 miles southwest of Portland, makes for a great place to use as a base for exploring the Yamhill Valley. It has the quintessential feeling of a charming American small town. When I visited in mid-November, Third Street, the de facto main street, was lined with trees adorned with autumn colors and decorated with sparkling lights in anticipation of the upcoming holiday season. Third Street sports a plethora of restaurants, small shops, coffee cafes, and banks. Several wineries and tasting rooms are within walking distance. Bon Appetit Magazine described McMinnville as one of America’s “foodiest” small towns, noting its first rate restaurants that rely on fresh, locally grown products for culinary fare.
Some of the McMinnville restaurants often receiving kudos from customers include Orchids Bistro, La Rambla Restaurant & Bar, Nick’s Italian Cafe, Crescent Cafe, Bistro Maison, Olive You and Golden Valley Brewery, all on Third Street, and Thistle, Cafe Uncorked, Wild Wood Cafe and Fino in Fondo. All the restaurants along Third Street are within easy walking distance of one another, making it easy for visitors to check them out firsthand before deciding where to dine. Menu prices generally run less than comparable restaurants here in Las Vegas.
Penner-Ash Winery tasting room...
Regarding those restaurants, everyone seems to love La Rambla, which specializes in Spanish tapas, has a great wine selection, and a reasonable corkage fee (as do most Oregon restaurants). I dined at another popular place, Orchids Bistro, and found the place charming and quiet, with a small menu that the owner takes tremendous pride in. The food was delicious and reasonable. You might consider bringing your own bottle here, as the wine list was modest, albeit inexpensive. Nick’s gets mixed reviews, but I enjoyed my two dinners here. It features a formal dining room up front, and in the rear a nice, cozy bar with a pool table, that serves many of the same items as the more formal dining room. This room serves as one of the “nightspots” in McMinnville. Note: if you’re looking for a wild night life, McMinnville will disappoint. Crescent Cafe serves breakfast and lunch only, but patrons rave about it. The Bistro Maison has an old world feel and specializes in French fare, and its ambience, good food and service have made it popular with locals and tourists alike. The Golden Valley Brewery is a brew pub with a fine selection of in-house freshly brewed beers and food prepared with ingredients from the owners’ ranch and garden.
McMinnville also offers several interesting wine tasting options. Third Street has several tasting rooms, including the large Willamette Valley Vineyards Wine Center, which features complimentary, $5.00 and $10.00 tastings, and Taste, which doubles as a coffee house. Panther Creek and Eyrie Wineries have tasting rooms located close by and within walking distance of each other. You will find Panther Creek at 455 N. Irvine. It has a large open tasting room that doubles as storage for barrels of racked wine. The Eyrie Vineyards, with its tasting room located at 935 E. 10th Street, represents one of the most venerable producers of Oregon Pinot Noir. Its founder, David Lett, was one of the early pioneers of Oregon winemaking, and planted some of the first Pinot Noir in the Willamette Valley in 1965. Now run by his son, Jason, Eyrie still turns out wines of the highest quality, including some excellent Pinot Gris and Chardonnay to complement their excellent array of Pinot Noirs. Eyrie helped bring Oregon international acclaim in 1979 and 1980, when its wines competed successfully in France by winning tasting competitions while matched with famous French Burgundy wines and judged by French critics.
For a small town, McMinnville has lots going on for wine lovers. A recurring event that might prove compelling to visitors is the Wine & Food Walk. On the third Saturday of each month, McMinnville plays host to a number of different vintners and chefs who offer samples of their products from 4-8 p.m. in the various shops along Third Street. The town stages a couple of compelling, wine related festivals each year. In March, the McMinnville Wine & Food classic goes on for three days, and features local wines, food and art. It takes place in the Evergreen Space Museum, which has several interesting exhibits relating to space exploration and aviation in general. The museum itself proves worth a visit, and currently houses the original Spruce Goose, the creation of billionaire Howard Hughes and at one time the largest airplane ever built. The International Pinot Noir Celebration runs for three days each July, at McMinnville’s own Linfield College. It offers the opportunity for Pinot aficionados the world over to sample some of the finest Pinot Noir in the world, while meeting and sampling the culinary works of some of Oregon’s finest chefs.
Perhaps best of all, McMinnville’s location provides a very convenient place to visit the many nearby wineries of the Yamhill Valley. I had an opportunity to visit some of the better ones during my four day stay. Some of my favorites included the following:
McMinnville’s Third Street lit up by fall colors in early November...
In the Dundee Hills AVA, the White Rose, Domaine Serene and Domaine Drouhin wineries all produce excellent wines. The hills rise less than 900 feet above sea level, but still provide a volcanic soil base unique to the other AVAs of the Yamhill Valley. Even this modest rise usually provides a dramatic landscape, but on the day I visited a heavy fog blanketed the hills, spoiling what would otherwise made for a panoramic view. Still, the trip proved more than worthwhile.
White Rose has turned out some exquisite Pinot Noirs in 2008 and 2009, as reflected by the high praise from renown wine critics. This small, boutique winery makes for an interesting visit. Greg Sanders, the owner, often works on site and will enthusiastically banter with guests about his wines and Oregon Pinot Noir in general. Greg is passionate about his wines and remains a firm believer in whole cluster fermentation, old vines and low yields as some of the salient factors in producing fine Pinots. Sanders makes most of his wines from the 14 acres of vineyards that surround the tasting room, which is open to the public daily from 11 am until 5 pm. The White Rose vineyard, planted in 1980, represents one of the oldest in Oregon. The concepts of low yields and quality over quantity carry weight here, as the winery only produces about 3,500 cases per vintage. The Wine Advocate awarded 96 points to the 2009 White Rose Vineyard Pinot Noir, one of the highest scores ever garnered by an Oregon winery.
Domaine Serene also crafts premium Pinot Noir while farming about 150 acres of vines. They also produce small amounts of Chardonnay and Syrah. Between different cuvées and vineyard specific wines, they produce about five different Pinot Noirs annually. The winery has a beautiful tasting room, that serves as a banquet room for special events. It appears quite formal compared to most other Oregon wineries. But the staff is friendly, helpful and generous with their pours. They claim to have triumphed over the most famous Burgundy producer of all, Domaine de la Romanee Conti, in blind tastings. Their wines have won kudos from a number of well-respected critics, such as Robert Parker, Anthony Dias Blue and the Wall Street Journal. Domaine Serene has a number of tasting options, including the basic for $15.00, a private tasting for $30.00, a tasting and tour for $45.00, and even a food and wine pairing for $75.00. All options but the basic one require a reservation.
Operated by the same family so famous for making fine Burgundy wines in France, Domaine Drouhin produced its first vintage here in 1988. The estate has an interesting history. While on tour to promote his French Burgundies here in the Untied States in the early 1960s, Robert Drouhin recognized the tremendous potential of the Oregon terroir early on for growing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. His presage proved accurate when in 1979, in a blind tasting held in Paris, an Oregon wine won first place while competing with the finest wines of Burgundy. The Drouhin family began its quest to acquire a suitable vineyard in Oregon, and eventually decided on the current site in the Dundee Hills AVA. Managed by Philippe Drouhin and with Veronique Drouhin acting as winemaker since its opening here in the new world, the estate relies upon four generations of experience in France to craft delicious Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wine. In fact, their Chardonnay recently won high praise from the esteemed Decanter Magazine as “Best New World White Wine.” Tired of the over-oaked and buttery flavors that come with many California Chardonnays? Try a glass of that same varietal from Domaine Drouhin. Despite the wonderful Chardonnay, Domaine Drouhin remains best known for a plethora of excellent Pinot Noir wines.
Bergstrom Wines, located in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA of the Yamhill Valley, represents another producer of top notch Oregon Pinot Noir wines. Winemaker/owner John Bergstrom focuses his efforts on achieving his goal of producing Pinot Noir wines solely from estate grown grapes. He currently buys some quality fruit from outside sources, including the renown Shea vineyard, but more and more he grows his own grapes. Besides making great Pinot Noir, he also believes that the area has the perfect terroir for producing excellent Chardonnay, and has created a nice one in his “Old Stones Chardonnay.” His 2008 Bergstrom Shea Vineyard garnered a 94 point score from the Wine Advocate, one of the highest scoring Pinot Noirs from that stellar vintage. The winery location at 18215 NE Calkins Lane, Newburg, makes for a very scenic drive that takes the visitor past a myriad of vineyards and wineries.
Also located along NE Calkins Lane and just a stone’s throw from Bergstrom, Adelsheim Vineyards has a stylish, modern facility that produces wine from 11 different vineyards encompassing about 190 acres. The new tasting room just opened its doors to the public in 2009, and in terms of an elegant setting that provides views of the vineyards, it rivals anything in the Oregon wine country. It represents the culmination of a lifelong dream for David Adelsheim, who with his wife Ginny, founded the winery from humble beginnings way back in 1971 by planting vines, and turned out their first vintage in 1978. Today, the winery focuses largely on high quality Pinot Noir, although they also produce some fine Chardonnay and Pinot Gris. The tasting room is open daily from 11 am until 4 pm.
A visit to the lovely and somewhat remote Soter Vineyards will make most visitors feel like they have truly bonded with nature. The winery, located in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA on a gravel road at the top of a hill, proves somewhat challenging to find. Although the chic, modern tasting room certainly blends in with its natural hilltop setting, it seems somewhat other-worldly, surrounded by a pristine rural beauty. But Soter makes some wonderful Pinot Noir, and that wine certainly makes the trip worthwhile. The owner/winemaker, Tony Soter, certainly has the credentials to produce excellent wines. He founded Etude Wines in 1982, and worked as consulting winemaker to such Napa Valley heavyweights as Araujo, Shafer, Spottswoode and Dalla Valle. No small wonder that he has attained the status as one of the most respected vintners in the state. Tony’a stated goals include producing wines that blend the tradition of the great wines Burgundy with an exotic flair where fruit and acidity work in harmony to create perfect balance. A visit does require an advance appointment, so if you plan on going there, call them first at (503)662-5600.
Lenne represents another great winery in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA. The owner/winemaker Steve Lutz founded this winery in 2001, and his wines seem to improve each year. He only produces about 1,500 cases of wine each year, and maintains a modest 15 acres of vineyards. His 2008 Lenne Estate Pinot Noir Karen’s Pommard garnered a 94 point score from Robert Parker. He is meticulous in his winemaking, and strives to produce complex, age-worthy wines. In a good vintage, his wines have flavors of blackberry, mocha, sandalwood and leather. While the 2008 amounted to a fabulous vintage throughout the area, he believes the 2010 vintage will rival it. Steve ages his wines in French oak, with only about 25-30 percent of it in new oak. Lenne’s little house-like tasting room at the top of a very steep hill has a great ambience and affords a terrific view of the vineyards below. It also affords good exposure to the sun, helping the grapes in their maturation process. If you want to pay Steve a visit call first, because Lenne requires an appointment for tastings.
The Trisaetum Winery makes for another interesting destination. A relative new-comer on the Oregon wine scene, husband and wife Andrea and James Frey founded this winery in 2003. They now produce award winning Pinot Noir and Riesling from two estate vineyards; one located in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA and the other in the Ribbon Ridge AVA. The winery doubles as an art gallery, as James has a solid reputation as an artist, and displays some of his paintings in the tastefully appointed tasting room. It stays open from 11 am until 4 pm, everyday except Tuesday. The wines are not widely distributed, and so a trip to the winery offers guests an opportunity to purchase a unique and high quality bottle.
The town of Dundee, just about four miles from McMinnville, has two stops side-by-side that make it a worthwhile stop for those out wine trekking; the Ponzi Wine Bar and the Dundee Bistro. The wine bar serves as the tasting room for the Ponzi Winery. Nancy and Dick Ponzi founded this winery in 1970, and today the family carries on this proud tradition. Daughter Luisa Ponzi assumed the role of winemaker in 1993, and produces her wines in classic Burgundian style. Ponzi now owns 120 acres of vineyards and maintains the highest standards of sustainable viticulture. They produce a large array of wines, including Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Riesling, and some classic Italian varietals, Dolcetto and Arneis. Their wines, and especially their Pinot Noir, have consistently received good scores and reviews from noted critics. The tasting room, located right on Highway 99 as it runs through Dundee, offers a lovely, open space to sample Ponzi wines. Moreover, once you have tasted the wines, the Dundee Bistro right next door, provides a great place to have a meal. It has a creative menu with tasty food, and a charming ambience.
In concluding I should mention a few of the other very notable wineries in the amazing Yamhill Valley that produce excellent wines, a few of which I did not have time to visit on my abbreviated four day trip: Shea Vineyards probably represents on the very best wineries in the area. Besides producing fantastic Pinot Noir in its own name, the owner sells grapes from his premier Shea vineyard to many other wineries in the region. Those grapes usually end up as being the penultimate wines from those respective wineries. A visit there requires an appointment. Archery Summit makes great wine but if planning a visit realize that it makes for a common destination for tourist groups. The day I tried to visit, the tasting room was so crowded that it became difficult to open the door. Alexana is a small, boutique winery that has a very friendly, low-key staff in the town of Carlton. Well worth a look-see, with reasonably priced wines, considering the quality. Penner-Ash, Ken Wright and Tori Mor all make great wine and if time permitted, would make for good stops for anyone touring this lovely area. Ken Wright is generally not open to the public, but you may sample his wines at the Tyrus Even Tasting Room in the little town of Carlton (503)852-7010.
