California’s wine country is on the list but I’m making my way south. I’ve been to several good wineries in Washington state and have just enjoyed a busy day in Willamette valley’s Dundee County drinking some awesome Pinots. To be honest I’m fairly sick of them but appreciate Oregon’s ability to produce them.

You would think that you would have to have a plan giochi gonfiabili when you decide to spend a day winery-hopping. The county’s blue info signs make things pretty easy. Not only that but where a late start might kill a day hiking, most places don’t open until 11am so you’re pretty safe.

I would suggest drinking responsibly so spit some out or get a designated driver. We made it to Lange, Torii Mor, Archery Summit, Argyle, Duck Pond, Sokol Blosser, Erath and Anne Amie. Considering we covered 8 wineries in 4 hours without planning a thing you can come to the simple conclusion that not only are the wines in the area great but it’s really easy to get to them all spur of the moment. 

I’m not really capable of dissecting all that I drank but in layman’s
terms the Duck Pond was friendly, they had plenty of different wines,
had a substantial free tasting and they were the first stop on the way
from Portland. We bought a riesling and a chardonnay.

Argyle was also fun but to be honest I haven’t really enjoyed any
sparklers from the states. Their 99 Blanc de Blanc was awfully good but
I’d rather have a bottle of Albert Le Brun… and that’s under $20
(granted I can’t find it anywhere in Chicago now that Sam’s doesn’t
carry it).

Torii Mor had some terrific wines. No free tasting but it ended on a
wonderful Port… (bought a bottle of the port). It was also the
snootiest of the tasting rooms.

Archery Summit by contrast was beautiful and expensive but very
approachable while being serious. The wines were awesome and while the
tasting was $15 they even bouncy castle broke out clones from the vineyards. They explained that clones were wines made from specific sections of certain vineyards and used to isolate qualities before blending. We were the
only people there at the time and they were very informative and
engaging.

Erath is a very local wine. We enjoyed their pinot gris at a friends
wedding reception a few nights before and the rest of their wines were
at least as good. They offer a Gewurtztraminer that would rock with
Indian food. It was a very flowery wine without the sweetness. Very
different. Their estate Pinots were also very good. Bought a couple of
bottles of Gewurtz and a bottle of their ’99Dundee Hills? Something
good.

Anne Amie was beautiful. The 1/4 mile dirt road up to the manor house
was the most picturesque of all the wineries. The outdoor seating
offered the best views. They also sold cheese, salmon and other cold
food options. We took the longest with the tasting here.

Sokol Blosser was the last place we hit, arriving after their 5pm
closing. At this point we were pinot-ed out. Their whites were good and
we landed on a goofy white blend of their Evolution it’s a
go-with-anything blend that can compete with anything from deviled eggs
to spicy Vietnamese (actually more of the latter). Their Pinot Noir
Rosé was the only thing aside from an Argyle sparkling red that didn’t
really work for me.

On the whole it was a great day activity. Block off some time and head
south of Portland on 99W to Dundee and the rest will all work out. Here’s the Map courtesy of Willamette Wines.com