Willamette Valley Wineries: A Green Getaway

Jake and I were originally supposed to go backpacking this weekend, but Jake injured himself while running this week, so we had to change our plans. A quick, last minute search on the Internet and Sunset.com led us to the Willamette Valley in Oregon, about a half hour outside of Portland, for the perfect low-impact activity – wine tasting!

I've never visited any of the local wineries in our area, but it's something we've been talking about doing for awhile. Especially after traveling to Mendoza, Argentina for Malbec tasting. Granted, we didn't trek all the way to the southern hemisphere just to taste wine, but once we did, we had so much fun, we talked about checking out the wineries available in our own backyard (or hemisphere). Washington and Oregon have many to choose from. And what a fantastic discovery it was!

I had no idea how lovely our local wine country is! It is absolutely beautiful! We left Seattle early Friday morning, which put us in Dundee Hills, one of the large winery areas in the Willamette Valley, just after noon. Before we started our tour, we stopped in at the Newberg visitors' center for a winery map. They gave us several vouchers for free tastings at two different wineries and were also able to give us some good recommendations, which was nice since there are so many wineries to choose from. On our first day, we visited the following wineries: Four Graces, Winderlea, Lange, and Erath. This area is known for its Pinot Noir, which is one of Jake's favorites. We're normally partial to red, but were suprised to discover several whites that we really liked, especially the Chardonney from Lange.

After a hard day of wine tasting (wink), we had both worked up an appetite and I was delighted to find the most perfect restaurant for dinner, right in our hotel. First, I've got to say that the Inn at Red Hills, the boutique hotel in Dundee where we stayed, was lovely! I loved everything about it – the organic/farmhouse chic decor was right up my alley and the owner, Kendall, was super welcoming and cheerful.

Even the gifts they sold in the lobby were adorable! I loved everything – the ceramic farm kitchenware, the reusable bags, the "Who's your farmer?" bumper stickers, the hand carved, wooden pig bookends, and the turquoise bird salt and pepper shakers that I just couldn't resist.

And the restaurant! The lovely, little restaurant in the hotel called Farm to Fork focuses on creating delicious meals with locally sourced and super fresh ingredients. Our dinner and breakfast, which we ate at the restaurant, were amazing! Saying that Jake loved their delicious and uniquely crisp breakfast potatoes would be an understatement.

And it was all I could do to focus on the meal and stop making comments like, "Oh, Jake! Look at that picture of chard! Oh, I love those tables! Aahh, look at those wood pigs! Oh, I should put my lavender cuttings in vases like these!" There was no doubt that we had found the most perfect spot!

Our second day in the Willamette Valley was lovely as well. We started by taking a drive to Carlton, another little winery town in the valley. We didn't end up doing any tastings there since we weren't quite ready to start drinking wine before noon, but we decided we'd have to come back when we were. It was definitely worth the drive though – I was able to hit up some cute antique shops there, including a sale in a big red barn!

We actually ended up back in Dundee, where we stopped off at Red Ridge Farm for olive oil tasting and lavender smelling! The farm was amazing! Their beautifully fragrant lavender plot was teeming with bees! The buzzing sounds and lovely smells could have kept me entertained for hours.

I eventually lured myself away for our visit to Domaine Drouhin, Bella Vida, Crumbled Rock, Torii Mor, and Penner-Ash. The pinots were delicious, the views were incredible – the whole trip was so worth the short drive from Seattle. We finished off our getaway with another delicious, localtarian delight – dinner at the Farm Cafe in Portland. I'm eating the other half of my Farmhouse Veggie Burger on ciabatta bread as I type this – it's unlike any burger I have ever had. Did I mention they posted the recipe for said burger on their website? Yes, I will most definitely be making it as soon as I see eggplant at the market this summer.

I didn't mean to write a novel today, I just had no idea this amazing place existed. And just a quick car ride away! The whole experience was so lovely. I can't wait to explore even more of our local treasures!