Oregon 2022
Posts from our trip to Oregon wine country in September 2022, where we visited wineries throughout the northern Willamette Valley.
The most interesting thing about our Violin tasting, was that he’s still dealing with smoke taint from the forest fires in 2020 (which should be the current vintage). Many winemakers chose to not make wine in 2020, but as a small producer, Violin didn’t have that luxury.
Posted on September 27, 2022
Yesterday we stayed in McMinnville for our tastings. First stop: Violin Wine, run by Will Hamilton. Will hosted us for a tasting in his home. https://violinwine.com
Posted on September 27, 2022
So yesterday was a loop to the South of McMinnville. Today was a loop to the North. Tomorrow, all of our tastings are *in* McMinnville, which will be nice.
Posted on September 25, 2022
Final stop was Durant Vineyards. This one was a let down. It felt like a very corporate wine garden. The wine was only OK and our server wasn’t very knowledgeable. It felt like a restaurant, which isn’t what we were looking for. https://durantoregon.com (Dayton, OR)
Posted on September 25, 2022
The nice thing about Domaine Drouhin is that we were able to taste and compare their Oregon wines with a few of their French wines. As much as I like Oregon wine, we both preferred their French wine.
Posted on September 25, 2022
Domaine Drouhin was great, but it’s a huge operation. They make 10x the amount of wine of any of the other wineries we’ll visit on this trip. And that’s just their Oregon operations—it doesn’t count France. They have a lot more resources, and their tasting space showed it.
Posted on September 25, 2022
Second winery of the day was Domaine Drouhin. The Drouhin family has made wine in Burgundy for generations, so their purchase of 235 acres in Oregon 30 years ago was a real watershed moment, proving that Oregon wine was legit. https://domainedrouhin.com (Dundee, OR)
Posted on September 25, 2022
A lot of the staff at Patricia Green Cellars bring their dogs to work with them. This is Maggie who greeted us upon our arrival by flopping over and assuming the “belly rub” position. She was not disappointed. ?
