Wining & Dining in the Oregon Wine Country

If you find yourself in the Oregon wine country any time of year, you're in for a good time. With the plethora of wineries open for tasting within a stone's throw of one another, it's beyond easy to sample more than enough wines. But if you're there on the two special times of year: Memorial Day Weekend and Thanksgiving weekend, you're in for a special treat. Many wineries are open on those two occasions that aren't open other times of the year. Be sure to check the local paper to see what wine events may be occurring when you're there. Your hotel may have a copy of several Willamette Valley wine newspapers.

Gaston is a bit further than the main drag of wineries in Newberg and Dundee, but it was worth a special trip. The bonus was that this was a good excuse to also tour another nearby vineyard, Elk Cove. We tasted more wines than we can mention. But in addition to several whites and reds, we were also give the opportunity to do some barrel tasting, always an exciting event. Seeking out some of the out-of-the-way vineyards can pay off in a big way.

But Dundee is our favorite town for wine tasting, mainly because of Ponzi Vineyards and the attached Dundee Bistro. The last there we were there we sampled the Ponzi Wine Flight, which consisted of a taste of Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Rosé of Pinot Noir, and Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.

Then we moved on to lunch at the Dundee Bistro, one of our very favorite bistros anywhere and the favorite in the Oregon Wine Country. Our menu consisted of:

Alder Smoked Salmon & Calamarata Pasta
Oregon Cherry Cobbler with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
2000 Lange Three Hills Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley

Each wine in the flight got better and better. We brought home a bottle of the Rosé and the Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. The salmon pasta was a bit too rich for our liking, but it was delicious. The Lange Pinot Noir was full and rich. And the cobbler was unbelievable.

If you like what you taste you can join the wine club at some of the wineries. Our favorite is the Cellar Club at Sokol-Blosser. In fact, Susan Sokol-Blosser wrote about what it was like to be one of the founders of the world-famous Oregon wine country in the early days of Pinot Noir in her book, At Home in the Vineyard. She has since passed the reigns on to her children and you'll feel the sense of being at home in the vineyard, relaxing out on the back deck, being served glasses of wine by the friendly staff.

In addition to receiving the wine mailed directly to your home, you'll receive recipes for food pairing and invitations to special events and wine dinners. Being a member of the Cellar Club really is an Oregon wine treat.