With a month off in between jobs, my girlfriend and I decided we would go on vacation... but where? We were originally considering an all inclusive type tropical stay, but wanted to do something a bit more "involved", and "adventure packed". Plus, I knew that I would probably spend the whole time at the swim up bar, which sounded dangerous. So, we decided that a road trip vacation would be the perfect way to stretch our dollars and vacation days.
Our trip took us up to Seattle first, where we enjoyed great food, friends, wine and scenery. While in Seattle, we spent a day tasting some great Columbia Valley wines in the "neighboring" town of Woodinville. Next stop was the Olympic Peninsula, Lake Crescent to be exact, where we camped a couple of nights... in the rain. We made the best of it and did some very fun things like visit the local hot springs (Sol Duc). Then on to Lake Quinault in the rain forest, where we had a chance to get dry, eat some amazing food, and yes, drink great wine. Last stop, Willamette Valley.
We spent 3 nights in the town of McMinnville at the Hotel Oregon, a very eclectic, funky and affordable place to stay. Oh yeah, they have a great rooftop bar too. On our first day we spent some time up around the very tiny AVA of Ruby Hill (Penner-Ash and Aramenta Cellars) , and also in Yamhill-Carlton AVA (Laurel Ridge). For day-2 we focused our interest in the Dundee Hills and Carlton (Argyle, Domaine Drouhin, Erath, Archery Summit and the Carlton Winemakers Studio) and for day 3 we did Eola-Amity Hills (Cristom, Witness Tree and Amity Cellars), in addition to a couple of tasting rooms in town (Eyrie and Panther Creek).
The time we spent in Willamette was great; we of course had a lot of fun, but we got a lot more than just a good time out of it. I had tasted some Oregon Pinots before, but I was able to try many great wines from all areas of Willamette. Honestly, I cannot tell the subtle differences in the AVA's... Someday maybe. But, I did leave having enjoyed the Dundee Hills the best out of what we tried, and was able to see the tremendous difference in the 06 vs 07 vintage (not excited about the latter), which was most noticeable with the wine from a non-irrigated vineyard. And, of course, we were in beautiful wine country, but different from any area that we have visited thus far.... Small Vineyards in rolling hills, tasting rooms and wineries accessible via dirt roads (the Ruby Hills Area is all dirt roads!), pine trees and forest up to the edge of the vineyards (we are used to the oaks down here in CA), and beautiful views of the valleys. I cannot wait to go back again, but meanwile I have some inventory from the trip to tide me over.
It's a tough job but somebody's gotta do it. I hope you learn enough to help me get some grapes off my vines next year. I think this is my third year with these vines and still no fruit. I think I need to do some chopping none of the commercial grapes look like mine. they all have like one stalk going up four feet and then vines running across the sides, mine are like 5 or 6 vines out of the ground. Each going their own way.
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