The Oregon Wine Trail with Dave and Cathy
Dundee, Oregon
Tasted Monday, May 9, 2011 - Tuesday, May 10, 2011 by brigcampbell with 1,502 views
Introduction
When wine people hear me mention I lived in Oregon they'll say "Oh, great wine there". That remark always brings a smile to my face because after living in Oregon for nearly 10 years, I never saw a vineyard. Back then, in the '80s, Newberg, Dundee, and McMinnville were sleepy little towns surrounded by Christmas tree farms with dilapidated farmhouses and abandoned barns along highway 99. It was the alternate route between Portland and Corvallis during our college breaks at Oregon State University and I'm not sure we ever stopped except for maybe the Dairy Queen or a quick pit stop for more Rainer "Pounders". What an amazing change, now it's the mecca for Pinot Noir and a thriving wine tourism business with trendy California style restaurants, Bed & Breakfasts, and lots of tasting rooms all within a short drive.
Chris and I headed up to Oregon to surprise my mother in Sunriver for Mother's Day, all the kids showed up for the weekend which was great fun. Our return flight was Monday evening and Chris and I thought "wonder if Dave and Cathy would like to wine taste on Monday?" Good news, they could slip away from work and were up for the road trip. In fact, Dave did a little ground work and found a nice list of recommendations from his niece who has planned a few trips for people to this area.
What's amazing to me is the concentration of wineries in such a small area. While the wineries are spread out across the Willamette valley, 10 miles around the Dundee area contains a vast number. That's good news from my perspective because as beautiful as wine country can be, driving around all day becomes painful besides cutting down on the number of tasting rooms you can hit in a 6 hour window. I've always wanted to do a "Century Tasting" which is 100 wines in a day and I've come close without actually trying on previous trips but the Dundee area is probably the best area to organize such an effort with wineries and tasting rooms lined up on nearly every road.
This time of the year is still early for the crowds of tasters and the weather is not always ideal but there were people moving around and it did stop raining to let the sun actually poke through the clouds off and on throughout the day. The weather has been tough in Oregon this last year and even the locals are complaining so even though Chris' streak of 75F or better when visiting Oregon has been broken, we'll gladly take our day. Sadly, the grapevines have not enjoyed the spring so far either with very small buds looking frozen in time. A few in the business mentioned they are 4 weeks behind in the growing season already so fingers are crossed for an extended Indian summer in September and October.
We never had more than a couple of other people in a tasting room which is a great way to do it, it's not that much fun when they're lined up 3 deep in a cramped up little room. First of all, when it's not crowded the people working are able to spend time with you and they are bored so they're looking for a few happy faces to roll in and start asking all kinds of stupid questions. We found all the people we bummed into to be very helpful and generous with their time, much like Paso Robles in that way. Cathy and Chris starting asking people working in the tasting rooms where their favorite wineries are which is brilliant because there is nothing like "local knowledge". Chris has done this trick before which has led us to lesser known great wines and trips off the beaten path. I'm sure at some point in the future I'll claim it was my idea... In those conversations a number of them mentioned De Ponte as a favorite. OK then, De Ponte is on the list.
Flight 1 - Rex Hill (4 Notes)
Never had a Rex Hill until dinner 3 nights before when I was eye-balling it on the restaurant wine list in downtown Beaverton and Cathy said it was very good so we went with it. Yep, no doubt about it, the '08 WV was great and that just confirmed this winery on our short list of places to stop. And the fact that it's the first and most north tasting room along 99 made it an easy choice except we didn't really see the winery entrance until we blew by it requiring Dave whip a u-turn on the highway. The tasting room is an old filbert and fruit processing plant with a nice casual atmosphere. Filberts are what everyone calls hazelnuts unless you're from the place that actually grows them for the world, then they're Filberts. The winery had a bunch of wine glasses on a barrel with the various aromas you'll find in wine, there were fresh fruits, spices, etc. It was fun to try and guess the correct aroma which for the most part I did fairly unsuccessfully.
Front of the Tasting Room
10am Start!
Tasting Wheel
Flight 2 - Argyle (7 Notes)
The tasting room, and I'm assuming business operations, are based in a beautifully restored Victorian farm house right on 99 with an amazing garden which was in full bloom. The bar top is made from recycled barrel staves from Chateau Montelena which is a nice tribute. I've had a number of wines from Argyle already because it's so widely distributed here was a chance to check out the new vintages and try some wines that don't make it off the mailing list or club offers. The gal pouring was also very helpful with winery recommendations and restaurant options.
Dave and Cathy
If you like Japanese Maples, they're everywhere.
Flight 3 - Lunch at The Bistro in Dundee
The food was very good, I had the BBQ pork, Dave a burger, and the gals ordered a cobb and fruit salad. The truffle fries are excellent but what isn't great with truffle oil sloshed on it? You can see a glimpse of the wine list on the table, impressive, basically two columns both sides in 6 point font.
Fruit Salad
BBQ Pork with Truffle fries.
Flight 4 - Coelho (4 Notes)
We made the drive down to Amity for Coelho, this was a place Cathy wanted to try for a couple of good reasons. We had a bottle of their '09 WV the night before which was very good and her son went to college with one of the sons of the owner. The tasting room is very nice and we jumped on the chairs next to the fireplace to enjoy our tasting with was served with a nice aged cheddar and crackers. The other thing I really like was the tasting setup, the 4 wines were all poured at the same time into separate Riedel pinot glasses so you could bounce back and forth comparing and chatting. David Coelho, another son, was in the back room running tests on the '10 vintage when Chris and I came snooping around the place and we talked for a few minutes, very nice young man.
The one negative, and it's a nit, is Coelho only pours the premium wines in the tasting room which seems odd and even more odd that I would complain about it because how many times have you been to a winery with great single vineyard or high end wines only to be served the swill unless maybe you were a club member? But hey, we want to drink the swill. We like the swill! Even more amazing is they don't sell the regular wine in the tasting room and I thought my head was going to explode when the gal said "We don't sell it here but you can but it at Costco." Good to know...
The big tasting room with a comfortable place to sit and enjoy.
Flight 5 - Sokol Blosser (5 Notes)
This was on my list of places to try for a lot reasons, one being people like the wines which is usually the most important. Then it's in a nice location up on the hill with views but the weirdest reason is Sokol has pinot noir blend which is rare and I wanted to give it a try. Who in their right mind blends perfectly good pinot noir with syrah and zinfandel? They do so I had to try it. This was an expensive tasting, yes it was $15 for 5 wines, but Cathy saw an advertisement for a Mediterranean cruise in the winery and asked Dave if he's interested in something like that to which he responded "Looks interesting" at which point Cathy interpreted as "We're going on a Mediterranean cruise". A long discussion ensued between the guys and gals about what "interesting" really means and the various ways in which wives are capable of interpreting a husband's appeasing remarks and gestures. 
Looking out through the trees to the Willamette valley below.
Flight 6 - De Ponte - We have a winner! (4 Notes)
This is a must stop, period. Everything here was perfect, nobody in the tasting room except the wine maker Isabelle passing through, views out the window, big porch with chairs, friendly and knowledgeable staff, and what has to be the best picnic table in the valley to enjoy the entire picturesque beautiful of Oregon wine country. Oh, and I almost forgot, the wines are fantastic. Besides the superb pinot noir they are only one of two places in the US growing the melon de bourgogne varietal so I had to try that to check off the list.
Best views of the Valley and a great picnic spot.
Chris and Brig
Brig, Cathy, and Dave
2008 Rex Hill Pinot Gris
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
(5/9/2011)
One of the top 3 wines I tasted, really an excellent wine. Too bad they want $28... Had to pass.
Very light color as expected but even fainter than usual. Honeysuckle aromas with pear follow through to the palate with an explosive amount tree fruit. Crisp acidity and a very long finish.
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2007 Rex Hill Pinot Noir Reserve
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
(5/9/2011)
Light cherry notes and rounder tannins than the others but finished a little astringent and toasted oak. Just OK.
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2007 Rex Hill Pinot Noir Jacob-Hart Vineyard
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
(5/9/2011)
Dark color along the lines of a Santa Rita Hills pinot noir and an incredibly elegant nose with cola/fruit. Palate shows some light cherry, wood, and a vegetal combination. Finish was medium.
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2007 Rex Hill Pinot Noir Dundee Hills
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills
(5/9/2011)
This got the full oak treatment with tons of smoke on the nose. You can really taste the dark fruit, oak, and smoke. The finish shows some good structure but oak is still overpowering.
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