Yamhill County...The Heart of Oregon's Wine Country

So many wineries and wines, so little time. When we moved to Yamhill County, Oregon in January of 2008, I thought I had just moved from a tropical paradise to a viticultural and evergreen paradise. Wineries were everywhere, literally a couple of hundred of them up and down the Willamette Valley.  While living in San Jose, CA in the '90's we toured Napa, Sonoma, Alexander and Russian River Valleys, plus the Mendocino and Paso Robles viticultural regions.  After touring just a few of the many wineries here, we were very surprised that the quality of both the tasting experience and the wines held it's own against any of the areas and wineries we toured in California.  And, for a guy who never could gain an appreciation for Pinot Noir, I have become a convert and ambassador for Oregon, more specifically, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.  Now, one has to appreciate Pinots here because they are the predominate varietal, and I mean PREDOMINATE.

There are literally a wealth of wineries, vineyards, tasting room, many are termed boutique wineries since they are smaller, family owned, labors of love.  Small or large, every winery we have visited has first class pinots (noir/gris/blanc), chardonneys, and reds in the Italian tradition.  Here are a few of the Yamhill County wineries we've tasted, all with daily tasting room hours.  First is Erath Winery, sits on the slopes of the Dundee Hills in Yamhill County, with a spacious tasting room, picnic tables, and great view.   Next is Anne Amie Winery.  Perched on top of a ridge in the Dundee Hills, the setting, with it's vista view, is one of the most magnificent in the area.  It has earned a reputation for producing some of the finest Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc in the US.    Another Dundee Hills notable winery, Archery Summit, also boasts a very nice tasting room and fine Pinot Noir.  Nearby, is Lange Estates Winery, with a recently remodeled tasting room, it offers the opportunity to taste several fine Pinot Noirs.  Still in the Dundee Hills (hope you are not getting bored yet, but this is what my military friends call a 'target-rich environment'), the next is Torii Mor Winery, which has a quaint, Janpanese-influenced tasting room and surrounding garden, offers another opportunity to taste some world class Pinot Noir.  It's probably time that I should warn you that, if you are like us, your enthusiasm for the tremendous and consistant quality of the wines at each winery will leave you realizing in a couple of months, when you receive the credit card statements, that you sure did join a boat-load of wine clubs.

Venturing up Hilltop Lane in the Dundee Hills, we reach a conclave of boutique wineries, nestled at the end of the lane.  We found all the wines elegant, measuring up to the larger, longer established wineries in the area.  The first is Winter's Hill Vineyard, which produces, almost exclusively, pinot noir, with some pinot gris.  They also offer several great dessert wines to finish off the evening with.  Next door is, another producer of estate-grown pinot noir and pinot gris varietals that have received high scores from The Wine Spectator and other wine publicatons.   Vista Hills Vineyard has two distinct Pinot Gris, one being their first release barrel-fermented reserve, which is receiving high acclaim.  It's worth noting that Vista Hills just opened it's new Treehouse Tasting Room and Winery (see picture above).  It is a beautilful, spacious facility featuring panoramic vista views.  Across the road is White Rose Wines which produces Pinot Noir exclusively.  Finally, back down Hilltop Road, is a new comer, Winderlea Vineyard and Winery. Winderlea new owners are already producing a limited production of finely crafted, age-worthy, pinot noirs.  They also have built an elegant new tasting room along Hilltop Road, which, together with the wines, makes for a great tasting experience.

These area just a few of the many first class wineries that proliferate the northern Willamette Valley.  To see a more complete list of wineries and information, go to the Willamette Vallery Wineries web site.  Please email me if you have any comments, suggestions, questions, opinions, or evaluations of this website or a winery.