Oregon – Willamette Valley 8.23.21

The Willamette Valley stretches 150 miles north-south with Portland on the northern end and Eugene on the southern end. Located between the Cascade Mountain Range to the east and the Oregon Coast Range to the west, as a fertile floodplain Willamette Valley has some of the richest soil in the country.  As the end of the Oregon Trail, it was widely publicized as the “promised land of flowing milk and honey” during the 1820’s. It is now synonymous with Oregon Wine Country, and more specifically, world class Pinot Noir, with more than 500 wineries covering almost 20,000 acres.

My destination as I left the Northern Coast of Oregon would be McMinnville, the gateway to northern Willamette wine country. Every region in the world worth visiting has at least one “gateway city or town” that is the cultural center or gateway to the region. I prefer the smaller cities or towns. So, for the Provence region of France it might be Avignon. For Northeast Italy it might be Verona.  For California and Texas wine country, it might be Napa and Fredericksburg respectively. Such is McMinnville. Home to the liberal arts college of Linfield University, it is a jewell of a town.

On the way, I paid a visit to Yamhill Valley Winery and had an excellent wine tasting of Pinot Noirs and enjoyed a delightful conversation with a couple from Wisconsin. Afterwards, I motored to McMinnville and strolled 3rd street before enjoying a wonderful meal at the bar at La Rambla, one of the many fine restaurants in town. 

The next morning, I breakfasted at Morning Thunder, a local hole-in-the-wall recommended by my hotel – Douglas On Third – which, by the way, provided a useful list of recommendations. They had also recommended La Rambla.

After checking out I headed to Patricia Green Vineyard, near the hamlet of Carlton. Luckily, PGV allowed me in. Due to COVID, many wineries are requiring reservations due to a shortage of staff. And some have cut back hours, and as would find out later to my chagrin, some have even closed for tastings. But I did get in and spent a hour and a half sampling 8 different wines. While there I met two couples from Tuscon, Arizona and may have convinced one couple to stay at Poor Creek Farm when they come to Virginia!

I then motored to southern Willamette Valley via highway 99 to Benton-Lane Vineyards.  Located halfway between Eugene and Corvallis, home to Oregon and Oregon State respectively, BL holds a special place in my heart, not only because I love their wines, but also because it was here that I discovered Willamette Valley Pinot Noirs in 2008 while attending the U.S.A. Track and Field Olympic trials with our oldest son Davis. 

However, it was not to be. They were closed due to COVID. I did go to their website, but when I visited the website the second time, I realized their closure was buried under another link. Not deterred, I visited another winery and then headed to Eugene, where I would spend the night.