Probably the most popular place to go wine tasting in the area is the Willamette Valley, and for good reason. No place makes better Pinot Noir, other than France (maybe). Usually we hit up the Dundee hills area, but since we have been to these vineyards many times before, we decided to venture into new territory. We stayed in the Willamette Valley, but went a little farther south, into the Dayton/Salem area.
Even though we went a little farther south, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to stop by Argyle Winery. Nabil and I picked this place to be wine club members because it has the best sparkling wine. EVER!
The next place that we hit up was Methven vineyard. Our friends Aaron and Emily actually got married at this vineyard this summer. I sort of forgot about it until we got there, but you definitely can't forget that view. It is a spectacularly gorgeous vineyard with great wine. Even Greg thought so! I couldn't stop taking pictures.
Some of the grapes had not been harvested yet.
The bunghole. (giggle)
They also sold locally farmed honey. We tried the samples more than a few times and I would highly recommend it.
Gorgeous fall colors in the valley.
The empty barrels ready to be filled again.
We found out these are pinot noir grapes. So dark in color, they are almost black.
Our next stop on the tour was a place I had never visited before, but will definitely go back. I knew that a local dairy farm was located close to Salem and have even passed it a couple times, but they recently opened a tasting room. That's correct, you read it right, wine and cheese tasting. These samplees were not stingy either. We were able to try all the cheese samples we wanted. I have to say, places like this are the sole reason that I could never be a vegan. Pure, unprocessed cheese is probably one of the best foods!
Willamette Valley Cheese Co.
Cristom Vineyard was the next stop. At this point, all the wine starts to taste the same for me. You can blame it on the tipsiness, but somehow I stop being able to taste the “distinctness” of each glass. Don’t get me wrong, I won’t turn down the tasting, but it transforms to social drinking rather than sophisticated drinking. As I mentioned before, Uncle Greg is the closest person I will know to a professional wine taster, so if I get asked any questions I just agree with him. “…yes, there is a characteristic earthiness to this pinot…” Sure that sounds good. Nora (Nabil’s sister) is another “wino” in the fam. They talk and discuss the wine, and I occasionally chime in with tidbits that I make up as I go (mostly).
This is the view from the Cristom Vineyard porch.
I would be lying if I said that this bowl had as many corks in it when I left as when I found it...
Not pinot noir, and not pinot gris. I can't remember what these were. They tasted good though.
Nabil with the pinot gris grapes. That's a framer.
One of the really cool things about this vineyard was that since they are at a little higher elevation than most of the other, they haven’t picked too many of their grapes. There were still quite a bit on the vine. I’m pretty sure you are not supposed to pick the grapes for yourself, but after tasting number three, it only made sense that I should in fact try all the varieties of grapes. Thank goodness I have such a good husband who just laughs along with me while I take a picture and take a grape, take a picture and take a grape…
The last stop was a very quaint, small family vineyard right next to Cristom called Witness Tree Vineyard. Nabil and I had to split this tasting...
The tree on the glass is actually based from a tree on the property. This is where the vineyard originated, and is located in the lower area, I think I remember her saying it was next to the riesling grapes.
Nabil and Nora with Uncle Greg. I love this one. Miss Nora is so freakin' gorgeous! Right?!
A pic with the whole crew.
This is Witness Tree's pinot gris grapes. They were located right in front when you drive in. It's pretty cool to think that their juice could wind up anywhere in the country.
All in all it was another great fall day in the Pacific Northwest. You can’t go wrong with great fall weather, family, cheese and wine.
Until next time…
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