Oregon Wine Tasting Vacation (Sept)

(From September) My facebook friends were already subjected to my incessant check-ins and posts throughout the week of this trip back in September, taunting my current location as a winery, a beach on the coast, or other similar enviable locations. As a feeble attempt at a disclaimer, one purpose of all those check-ins is to remind myself of which restaurants and wineries I visited. This blog post will just summarize some of the highlights of that week's vacation, which was a road trip with my parents from San Francisco, up and through Oregon, and back down to SF in seven days. We covered a lot of ground, visited 12 wineries, stayed at four different hotels, and really got a feel for the sites and landscape of Oregon. I also came back with three cases of wine valuing nearly as much as one month's rent.

This was my first trip to the state, and the only previous connection I had to Oregon was that I did my 5th grade "state report" on Oregon, the selection of which was by lottery for all I can remember. I didn't retain much from that school project, except a vivid memory of outlining a drawing of the state bird on my poster board. In my adult years, my interest in the state grew as I learned through reading and experience at restaurants that a lot of fabulous Pinot Noirs come from Oregon (and Washington). Now that I am back living in the US and purposefully focusing on local trips, it was time for a visit.

The trip started over Labor Day weekend with my parents driving up from Orange County to San Francisco and staying with me for a few nights. They have been to the city before, so tourist attractions weren't necessarily on the agenda, but watching the first USC football game of the season was, which we did with a large group of other Trojans at Jillian's downtown. I also took them to the Tipsy Pig in the Marina and generally showed them around the Nob Hill and Russian Hill areas.

At Jillian's for USC game with alum

We stopped in Medford for one night, which gave us a chance to explore the quaint town of Ashland (home of the famous Shakespeare Festival) and happen upon an awesome micro-brewery and restaurant, Standing Stone.

Mmmm, beer

The bulk of the week was spent wine tasting in the Willamette Valley (pronounced Will-AM-ette) and a day trip to the coast before landing up in Portland for the night. We didn't want to retrace the same roads twice if we could help it, so to get out of the state we drove via Bend, Crater Lake, and Klamath Falls.

We visited a ton of great wineries over the course of a few days in Willamette Valley, and I've listed them below for purposes of recommendation. I bought at least one bottle at all wineries, so even when I say so-so, it doesn't mean it's terrible :)

1. King Estate (large, more corporate style, so-so wines, but excellent restaurant with a view)

2. Benton Lane (very good wines, small, delicious jams, beautiful location)

3. Sarver (tiny winery, can only buy wine here, great wines)

4. Flying Dutchman (beautiful location on the coast, so-so wines)

5. Domaine Drouhin (old world style to the new world)

6. Archery Summit (small, fantastic, expensive)

7. Sokol Blossor (organic, delicious, and good prices, with a great picnic area)

8. Rex Hill (larger winery, consistently good wines)

9. Daedalus (very small, but a wide range of wines, so-so)
10. Elk Cove (excellent wines, beautiful location)

11. Beaux Freres (co-owned by Robert Parker, fantastic Pinots, but very expensive)

12. Sineann (huge range of wines made, several were quite good)

For our one night in Portland, we stayed at the recently remodeled Westin, and we enjoyed a delicious meal at the Blue Hour.

Driving back down to California, we stopped in at Crater Lake, which really was quite beautiful and impressive.

Here is a final picture of our loot by the end of the trip!

I would definitely go back to Oregon if given the right opportunity. Good wine+food+weather! (My standard trifecta of criteria for a great trip).