If Pinot and Chard are what you are after, I’d say your best bet are the following, which all are mostly on the AFWE side. I’d skip Serene for sure. Drouhin too, unless you want a fancy tasting room experience with nice views.
Dundee/Newberg
Arterberry Maresh - great Chard, and the Pinots are really good too
Crowley - the Chards are the star, but the pinots are very nice too
J Christopher - no Chards, but Pinots from Dundee Hills and Eola Hills definitely more on AFWE side
Patricia Green - Pinot, but I believe now making Chard again?
Brick House - Great Pinot and Chard, but don’t sleep on the Gamay
McMinnville
Matello/Goodfellow - awesome Pinot and Chard, but definitely try his other whites and reds
Eyrie - no explanation needed If you go to Goodfellow and/or Eyrie, visit Heater Allen Brewery. A short walk from either.
Brittan - the Chards are the draw
Biggio-Hamina - no Chard, but def try the Syrah
Kelley Fox - no Chard, but Great Pinot (I assume tasting would be at new space at Maysara)
Eola/Salem
Walter Scott - the Chards are the star, but the pinots are very nice too
Vincent - the one winery in this list I’m not personally familiar with, but lots of love on this board for his wines as noted above
Johan - nice Pinot and Chard
Cristom - as Brandon notes, if you like whole cluster Pinot
If you are staying at The Allison (super-nice by the way) I believe they have vehicles you can just use. Seriously. Pretty sure but I would check. There are oodles of wineries within 10 miles of The Allison (we are about 8 miles). If you still wanted a driver I would check with the concierge at the hotel about the car availability and if they work with any designated drivers (beyond tour groups) as it is quite possible they do and will make the arrangements for you. If not you could work with taskrabbit about having someone pick you up daily there.
We attempt to be accommodating as possible with visits. This obviously has lots of lead time. I am not as directly involved with the tastings as I used to be but I do make an effort to show up at all WB tastings. That being said 10/26-ish could be in considerable harvest mode still this year. In any case, hope that you have a great trip out here and there are so many excellent options at this point that it is both impossible to see all the truly excellent, dedicated producers and to actually go wrong really at all regardless of where you choose to visit.
For a car and driver, try Cellar Door Tours. Mark and Helen are local and knowledgeable about wines in the area. They also work with guests of the Allison regularly.
In addition to Red Hills Market in Dundee, I also recommend Valley Comissary in McMinnville. If you look through the WV threads there’s plenty of rave reviews. They’re next door to our winery, so if you decide to visit us(or Eyrie, Brittan, and Westrey) it’s very convenient.
October is a great time to visit, harvest and the fermentation process just add to the visit but things are more chaotic as well. (And I tend to be a bit more sleep deprived so guests have to bear with me).
Seems like there are plenty of good suggestions for visits, so I won’t add much other than to say I think Brickhouse does a fair amount of whole cluster and restraint is something Doug prizes in his wines. J. Christopher wines are generally focused on precise expression of fruit with great restraint in the wines, occasional reductive notes that for me add layers to the wines. One of my top 5 people to visit as the wines are very authentic, reds and whites are very good, and terroir is definitely more of a focus than extraction.
The Drouhin Roserock wines are worth tasting. They vineyard is in the Eola-Amity Hills area. The Roserock wines are pretty elegant and minerally. Lingua Franca is also in the Eola-Amity Hills area. Their vineyards are across the road from Evening Land’s vineyards. Larry Stone is the CEO at Lingua Franca. The wines are outstanding.
All of the wineries I mentioned are low oak/ higher acid driven producers with maybe the exception of Trisaetum but their wines are beautifully balanced. Don’t hesitate about Arterberry, trust me.
J. Christopher does have some nice wines. I don’t know exactly what your budget is or what you’re trying to achieve but if you call ahead and tell them what you’re looking for, they most likely can open some cooler vintage wines for you. Jay is a solid producer but his wines need time.
If you like Mr. Kutch’s wines, you must go to Cristom. PGC as mentioned is great but not as accessible early on, the wines need time.
Kelley Fox - I never list her because she’s hard to pin down. She makes some of the most beautifully expressive wines in Oregon (in my humble opinion). I’d highly recommend trying to visit her if you can.
Crowley is also a solid producer. He makes some amazing chard and pinot and it’s AFWE style. You can visit him first or last on your Dundee trip.
If you have four days for wine. I have to steer you towards a producer off the beaten path:
Beckham Estate Winery - Andrew the winemaker is a pottery teacher for a local high school and a few years ago started making amphora out of terracotta. He does a lot of pinot and even pinot gris out of amphora aged vessels. His wines are really REALLY cool and the couple that owns/runs the place are fantastic people. Please reach out to me via PM if you want to visit, I will contact the owners and try to set something up for you.
Great timing for this thread! I know there are lots of old ones, but something with up-to-date info is always appreciated.
Looks like I’m going to be able to visit in late September and I’ve just started early planning. Lots of good info here. One thing I am worried about is not being able to get appointments with some of the smaller producers due to conflicts with harvest. Not something I really have control over, however, so I will take what I can get with no complaints. There are still lots of tasting rooms.
One thing missing in this thread… what about restaurants? We’ll have 3 nights - what are your top 3 recommendations for dinner?
Restaurants in wine country or Portland? It’s a big difference. There are maybe 15 or so “dining” restaurants in wine country so the list is short. Portland’s a WAY different discussion.
So they are difficult to get into because they can’t commit during harvest or have certain minimums? Under that logic, I’d guess there are many other wineries that are difficult to get reservations.
When I said “difficult to get into” I wasn’t implying there’s any sort of prestige about the wineries, or them only accepting mailing lists but simply…it’s harvest season, they don’t typically staff and you have to make it worth their while or couple up with other groups.
If you’re interested in coming by Brittan shoot me a message. The TR is generally pouring the Chardonnay. I think our Syrah is also something special and while not on the TR menu usually, I’m sure we can get one opened for you.
I was going to give you my recommendations, but instead I will just second the lists above from Brandon J. And Scott Tallman. Their lists are spot on imho. I would only add That Evesham Wood is another good stop around Salem, and that Thistle is a great place for dinner in McMinnville. You will have a great time in the Willamette Valley!
“I do enjoy the whole cluster wines (Jamie Kutch makes my favorite in Cali) so Cristom sounds like a must do.”
If you “enjoy the whole cluster wines” and love the AFWE flavor profile in pinot noir, I would say that visiting Marcus at Goodfellow Family Cellars is a “must do!” Not only does he do a fair amount of whole cluster in his pinots, but his wines’ flavor profile fall in the AFWE camp. They are more elegant and restrained/balanced with a good acid spine which make his wines food friendly and balanced to age. In fact, his wines really need some aging to really show their best. Now would be a good time visit because I think Marcus “hit it out of the park” with his 2015 pinot noirs especially his Heritage wine #4-6. I would give Marcus a call to set up a tasting date! Following Brandon & Scott’s itirnerary, I would plan on spending a day in McMinnville.
Being a small producer, harvest visits were challenging for me, but a few years ago I decided that the opportunity for visitors to see the process was too important to not have them by the winery. We take most appointments during harvest, but with the caveat that they may be in the tasting room or it may be by the sorting line. There may be hoses, forklifts, picking bins, fermenters, and a reasonable amount of profanity included in the tasting(no charge for any of these additions of course).
I have held a deep love of wine for a long time now, but harvest is magic and I encourage people to come then if you can. Dress…casually.
For restaurants, the Valley is more limited: Valley Commissary, Horseradish, and Red Hills Market for lunch. Pura Vida, Thistle, Nick’s, Bistro Maison, Recipe, Jory, Ruddick-Wood for dinner.