Portland, Oregon Wine Country

Known chiefly for it's local Pinot Noir selection, Oregon's Willamette Valley is quickly becoming a favorite touring spot of wine lovers from all over. Because of the Willamette Valley's unique climate, the hillsides of the valley are now home to hundreds of wines and a great variety of vines and grapes.

Touring wine country is rather simple because of it's close proximity to Portland. So if you're from Portland, it's easy to get to - or if you are coming from another part of the country, Portland makes a great base camp with plenty of things to offer besides wine.

A short drive southwest of the city and you're in the heart of the Willamette valley. Once mainly farmland - in the last 30 years the wine industry has been flooding into the valley. Vineyards and tasting rooms now cover the terrain that cattle and farms used to struggle on.

Most popular of the Oregon wines is the Pinot Noir variety. Recently made more popular by the movie "Sideways" which features Pinot Noirs, the Pinot Noir grape thrives in the Willamette valley mainly because it is of the same latitude and climate as the Burgundy region in France where the grape originates.

On OregonWine.org - there is a tool that helps you plan a wine tasting trip into the heart of the Willamette Valley. The online tool is great because it lets you easily search wineries based on a number of factors like location and availability of tasting rooms.

During the summer in the Willamette Valley there is a virtual wine party each weekend in the Willamette Valley. There are all sorts of various wine related events, competitions, and tastings hosted by the numerous tasting rooms. There are even bike tours - though you'll probably want to make sure you use the spittoons while tasting so as not to get too wobbly on the bike.

There are plenty of places to stay in Oregon wine country as well. Many of the wineries host bed and breakfast's which are fantastic. There's nothing like waking up early on a vineyard and just enjoying the smells and scenery with a nice, full breakfast.

Besides the great tasting and fantastic scenery, you can even take part in grape stomps when the various wineries are preparing the grapes for their wines. Tours of the wineries are popular and will offer insights into how the various strains of wines are produced - and show you how each and every factor from the temperature the grape was raised in to the type of wood the wine is stored in all contribute to the varying tastes you get when you sip the wine.

So if you're heading to Portland or live in Portland, be sure to plan a weekend during the warmer days of spring and summer to head out into the Willamette Valley and Oregon Wine Country.