Rex Hill was my first stop on my Willamette Valley wine tasting adventures. There, they offered a Rex Hill tasting flight ($10) and family brands (William Hatcher and Francis Tannahill) tasting flight ($12); Ian and I shared both and tried everything, of course. In my minds, the Francis Tannahill wines were the standouts, the 2006 Hermit Pinot Noir, 2006 Mason Dixon Syrah, and 2007 Dragonfly Gewurztraminer being my favorites.
Next stop was the Chehalem Tasting Room, where a core flight ($5) and a reserve flight ($12) were offered. Alas, I wasn’t taking good notes here. I liked everything I tried, but there were no real standouts in my mind.
Duck Pond Cellars was next. Upon arriving here, I asked if there was an actual duck pond on the grounds. My answer: “No, but there’s a koi pond with a fake duck in it.” Apparently, the proprietors of the winery live on Duck Pond Road, hence the name. With that out of the way, I made my way through their complimentary tasting (wines offered in this tasting rotate) and also tried a lovely dessert semillion off the reserve list ($2 per tasting).
On to Domain Drouhin I went. I spent more time here walking around an taking pictures of the beautiful grounds than I did actually tasting the wine, but nevertheless, the wine impressed me too. I’m not normally a big rose drinker, but the Oregon Edition Rose, which was available for sale only in the tasting room was delicious, so a bottle of that came home with me–well, to the hotel anyway. We didn’t actually make it home before drinking it.
Last, but not least, was Eyrie Vineyards, producers of the first American Pinot Noir to successfully compete with Pinot Noirs from the Burgundy region, turning the attention of the wine world to Oregon. The $5 tasting was to include 4 wines, but as we chatted with the highly informative and entertaining Jacques, he pulled out a couple more for us to try, and he regaled us with the history of the vineyard. The Chardonnay was excellent (my favorite of all Chardonnays I tried on the trip), and of course, the pinots were divine. Thankfully, Eyrie wines are fairly widely distributed, so I didn’t have to worry about ditching my clothes and bringing home a suitcase full of wine.
The Redheaded Veghead 