A Short Tour of Yamhill Wine Country
author: merriwether lewis
Activists need breaks to prevent burnout. My friend and I took a short jaunt to the countryside...
Little did we know, that the area between the towns of Newberg, McMinnville, and Yamhill is ripe with world-class vineyards offering some of the most delectable wines I've ever experienced. As a supporter of local agriculture in general, my intent here is not to trumpet particular wine purveyors, but rather to offer a glimpse of what was a sublime experience, and to suggest that you try a similar one.
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A Short Tour of Yamhill Wine Country
As city dwellers it's often easy to forget the existence or the experience of a calm and serene countryside. As a brief respite from the urban oasis, a beautiful friend of mine spirited us away to the country in an automobile. This kind of excursion, I should point out, was a somewhat regular past-time among folks for a lazy Sunday afternoon. We had the good fortune to take our trip on a weekday when most people are at work.
When asked about our destination, I thought to explore the southwest Metro region of Yamhill county, well known for its vineyards and nurseries. Little did we know, that the area between the towns of Newberg, McMinnville, and Yamhill is ripe with world-class vineyards offering some of the most delectable wines I've ever experienced. As a supporter of local agriculture in general, my intent here is not to trumpet particular wine purveyors, but rather to offer a glimpse of what was a sublime experience, and to suggest that you try a similar one.
We traveled west on the 99W from I-5 where soon enough, blue vineyard and wine tasting signs started cropping up. We passed many signs (as well as the drive-in movie theater in Newberg, a living relic of the oil age) seeking to further ourselves from the "developed" world. Beyond Newburg we came across the Duck Pond vineyard. A large building with beautiful grounds and a koi pond greeted us. The service was very friendly and they had five complimentary wines available for tasting. I asked about organic vintners but Jackie told us that the certification was difficult for some growers and because most vintners like to choose from many different grapes for their blends, it was often difficult to do. She did stress that most growers try very hard to use as little chemicals as possible. We tried them all and our favorite was clear - a wonderfully light bodied pinot noir. I was even tempted to buy the $20 bottle but we decided to press onward.
Before leaving our first tasting, we picked up a great complimentary map of the Willamette Valley Vineyards. We later noticed that we were passing vineyards that were not on the map (then we found out that the map publisher charges nearly $1000 to be included on the map). The map does however offer very valuable information for the wineries such as tasting hours (some are only open on the weekends and some are by appointment only) and a brief description of the featured wines.
We turned down another road, 9th St. just beyond Duck Pond, and this road soon became Worden Hill Rd. As we drove along the ridge with grapes on either side we took in great views of Mt. Hood and her sister to the south, Mt. Jefferson before stopping at Maresh Red Barn. There we discovered the unfortunate reality of tasting fees (the map does not include this information). At $3 per person we decided to pass and head over to the next hill. If you don't mind the fees, this location was very nice with vistas overlooking the Willamette Valley.
We turned onto a gravel road that wound up the hillside to the Erath tasting room. There was a large group of noisy middle-aged tipsy folk who were, thankfully, clearing out. The winner at Erath was the Gewürztraminer (a variety I don't think I've ever tried before). Fortunately, these tasting rooms offered crackers which were helpful in appeasing a growing appetite. I perused their offering of cheeses and other victuals but the selection was not as appealing as the wider assortment at Duck Pond - both on the pricier side. We did have the foresight to pick up a pint of fresh strawberries from the Peoples' Coop Farmers' Market before heading out of town, which, as our good luck would have it, turned out to be the best strawberries I've ever known. It's best to pack one's favorite fruit/cheese/cracker combo ahead of time.
After enjoying a second taste of our favorites at Erath, we took in the fresh air and birdsong outside the parking area overlooking the Dundee Hills. The weather was perfection and we basked in our shared bliss of peaceful abandon under dappled sunlight.
After some time, we were on to our third and final winery as we continued north on Worden Hills Rd to Rt. 240 where we found Laurel Ridge (roughly halfway between Yamhill and Newberg). As the hour was near closing, we found ourselves to be the only patrons in a large showroom-like hall. Disappointed in the $3/person tasting fee, I decided to cough it up because this would be our last tasting and we wouldn't have time to make another location. They also featured a wide range of wines including an expensive dessert wine. Here as my appetite was coming to the fore, we discovered they had no foodstuffs for sale but the friendly sommelier dug out some snack mix for us. With our wine and snacks, she offered excellent stories about the local industry, tasting secrets and hidden gems, and funny anecdotes about wine tours and land ownership just barely outside the nearby prime vine hills of Ribbon Ridge.
Almost every aspect of the industry is closely monitored and scrutinized by OLCC and the federal government, including the delineated regions of hills based on soil chemistry and rainfall. At some point in these stories my partner and I were blown away by an incredible white wine.
What is this?! She hadn't told us it was a Chardonnay before pouring it. It was not like a Chardonnay that I had ever experienced before. It's actually somewhat hard to describe how good this was. My companion took the initiative in asking for a second round. Our hostess told us the story of the hand made labels and explained that it was their most popular and they always ran out. I can't recall if she said it was only available at Laurel Ridge. Well, this wine was on par (if not above) with the Pinot Noir from Duck Pond and the decision to buy the $16 bottle here was a no-brainer. The dessert wine was a nice touch as we continued to scarf the complimentary snack mix (um, $3 tasting fee thank you) . Well, our new friend was certainly gracious about hosting us and we left with our treasure feeling quite excited and completely fulfilled. Our day of relaxing in Wine Country was a beautiful success and we hope others will take a short retreat and tell us about it!
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At the Alberta Coop this weekend they were tasting Klickitat wines. This is a small female owned winery in Lyle, WA. They add no sugar or sulfites to their wines and buy all their grapes from local, bio-dynamic farms. The wines that I tasted were really nice and the prices seemed fair.