Oregon & Washington wines

[CtznCane]

When it comes to wines from Oregon and Washington I have to plead ignorance. I do know though that Oregon touts itself on its Pinot Noirs.

We are planning to take a driving vacation through Oregon and Washington this September hopefully and one of our main desires are to see the wine country and hopefully find some interesting wineries.

My preferences are for the reds while my SO likes the whites. We both enjoy the sparklers and especially late harvest wines.

Any particular regions and wineries worth visiting would be appreciated.

[Really Nice!]

Here are two posts on the subject in the Pacific Northwest forum...

Eastern Washington wine trip.

Oregon wine trip.

There are two Web sites that you can use as a reference for each region.

Washington Wine Country and Willamette Valley Wineries.

If you come to the Seattle area, you can visit Woodinville, about 20 miles east of Seattle, where you'll find Chateau St. Michelle, Columbia, Betz, Di Stephano, DeLille, Matthews, Silver Lake, Januik, Austin Robaire and a few others. Some might need an advanced appointment. I know DeLille only offers tastings on Fridays and you have to call to make an appointment. (It's worth it!) Here's a link with a few maps to help navigate the area.

Most WA and OR wineries make a late harvest wine of one type or another. Kiona makes a good one, but the day I went there it just didn't float my boat. Covey Run makes excellent dessert wines. Elk Cove in OR also makes a nice LH Gewürztraminer.

Good luck and enjoy!

[sumac]

We just returned from 3 days of tasting at the IPNC (International Pinot Noir Celebration) in Oregon, which featured lots of good wines from all over the world, but specially Oregon. One of our favorites has always been and continues to be Domaine Serene Domaine Serene. They make excellent Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays.