Great notes Joe. I look forward to the individual tasting notes.

I’m surprised you didn’t like Peter’s wines better. The Resonance PN is a perennial favorite of mine and I’m curious which vintage you got to try. He also makes some great white wines.

Bethel Heights makes some great PN, but I have found way too much bottle variation for my personal tastes and have tended to stay away as of late.

The Oregon vintages
Everything that I’ve read has said the ‘04 vintage was the very low tonnage vintage, whereas ‘05 was spotty - very vineyard dependent and when you picked (avoiding the rain hopefully). The overall ‘05 yields were below avg., but not as severe as ‘04. An extreme example was Beaux Freres which went from an avg 8,500 cases down to 1,500 cases in ‘04

Alcohol and acidity levels aside, so far, I have had a preference for the red fruit found in the ‘04 vintage vs the black fruits found more common in the ‘05's.

Yep, I was a little surprised by Peter's wines as well. I'd like the opportunity to revisit them sometime in the future under better tasting conditions. Unfortunately we did not get the opportunity to taste the Resonance.

I guess our palates vary a little in that I more enjoyed most of the 2005 vintage wines I tasted versus the 2004 vintage wines. Then again, I'm splitting hairs. They were both good. Just different.

joe - awesome notes! makes we want to head back to OR soon. I have some Resonance from '01, '02, 03, 04 and '05, so when you are out for the magnum party I am sure I will find a way to open something for you

Wonderful notes, thanks!

I also enjoy the Resonance. I was happy to hear you enjoyed the J.K. Carriere visit so much.

Joe, while I do look forward to your notes, I really look forward to DRINKING the wines.

If the '05's are in the same league as '04, then oh my!

Joe -- Great notes and very intesting. I fully agree with your overall imprssions of Lemelson, Witness Tree, Cristom, Bethel Heights, Domaine Drouhin, Torii Mor and Lange. I have not been to any of the others that you visited except Sineann. That is the lone area of difference. I have really enjoyed many of Peter's wines.

Of particular note, I see that you mentioned the '05 Lemelson Meyer Vineyard Pinot Noir. I think that wine has the potential to be awesome when it grows up. I can't wait to try it again in another 5-6 years!

I forgot to post the dining portion of this post...

The dining…

The coastal areas seemed to be lacking any serious dining options for wine lovers and foodies alike. While we were in the Pacific City area the best dining option without a doubt was the Delicate Palate Bistro. This lovely little bistro located on the main street through the center of town in the Pacific City Inn. It is operated by forum member benchland who serves as the wine director for the restaurant and his lovely fiancée Jen who serves as the Executive Chef. Jen is an excellent chef who has spent the past several years honing her skills at various Napa area restaurants including working with the always demanding Philippe Jeanty. The menu selections are both interesting and varied and change on a regular basis for frequent diners. Prices are modest for such quality with most entrees coming in between $17.00 and $25.00 per diner. Sides are flavorful and plentiful comfort foods including my favorite the Herbed Pomme Frites (an excellent appetizer if I do say so myself) and the Very Adult Mac & Cheese. benchlands wine list has laser like focus on good selections geared to pair with your dinner and all are attractively priced. Corkage is allowed although I can’t tell you the charge since it was waived. Delicate Palate Bistro is highly recommended if in the Pacific City area. No other establishments even come close. Reservations are recommend on weekends and during high season but you can likely get a table mid-week with no trouble. Casual to business casual attire is recommended.

The Willamette Valley offers several choices for discriminating diners. The finest dining option we experienced was The Painted Lady on College Street in Newberg. This beautifully restored Victorian home offers high quality dining in an intimate setting. “The Painted Lady” derives its’ name from a style of architecture born in San Francisco where people who were restoring old Victorian homes would paint them in bright new colors giving way to the name “The Painted Lady”. Chef owner Allen Routt offers a reasonably priced three course prix fixe menu for $45.00 per diner. He also offers up an extended course tasting menu with optional wine pairings for the serious foodie with some time to kill. Selections are focused on simple and classical preparations with a bent towards some contemporary selections based on local fresh ingredients. Service is quick and unobtrusive, almost to the point of rushing without feeling rushed. The wine list has an extensive selection of Oregon wines at roughly release prices plus $20.00 plus several International selections as desired. Of note was the very good selection of wines in the 375ml format at very reasonable prices. This is a big plus when wanting to pair your own selections with the three course menu. Should you desire to bring your own wines corkage is allowed for $20.00 per bottle. Reservations are always recommended at this tiny restaurant. Business casual attire is recommended.

Nipping at the heels of The Painted Lady is the Joel Palmer House on Ferry Street in the tiny farming town of Dayton. Right up front you must know something. If you have any aversion to mushrooms, truffles or morels do not go to Joel Palmer House. Chef Jack Czarnecki has made all incarnations of the mighty shroom his personal mission in life. Virtually every dish on the menu contains some form on fungi including at least one dessert. Needless to say this somewhat of a novelty absolutely sings in the heartland of Oregon Pinot Noir. Prices are acceptable for the quality of the food with most entrees clocking in between $28.00 and $35.00 per diner. The wine list has a large selection or Oregon Pinot Noirs at ready for your mushroom dominated dish for roughly release price plus $20.00. Corkage is allowed at $20.00 per bottle and was waived with a purchase from the wine list. Reservations are recommended. Be sure and request a table in the main house unless you’re an al fresco kind of person because they do seat people outside on the grounds. Business casual attire is recommended.

Trailing a little behind the Joel Palmer House and the Delicate Palate Bistro comes Tina’s Restaurant on the main highway through Dundee. Situated in an old frame house with Christmas lights hanging outside you’ll enter this quirky little dwelling to be greeted by whoever happens to be running between the bustling dining room and the kitchen. The menu is focused on whatever locally grown fresh ingredients are available. Appetizers seem to be the strong suit here with entrees being although quite good falling just a bit behind. Prices are reasonable with most entrees in the range of $20.00 to $30.00 per diner. The wine list is good with most selections focused on Oregon Pinot Noir. Wine prices appeared to be release price plus $20.00 per bottle. Corkage is $20.00 a bottle and was waived with a purchase (actually two) from the wine list. Reservations were recommended by the restaurant but appeared not to be needed. Business casual attire is recommended but casual appeared to be the order of the day.

Falling even farther behind was the Dundee Bistro on the main highway through Dundee. Owned by the “Ponzis” this restaurant offers up the most readily available lunch and dinner options in the Dundee area. Chef de Cuisine and Partner Jason Stoller Smith has put together and interesting selection of appetizers and entrees that can appeal to just about any diner’s palate but seem to fail to execute at the upper levels of a fine dining establishment. Prices were certainly some of the most reasonable for the quality of food in the area. Service was definitely acceptable although not stellar. Even though the Dundee Bistro is not a “must see” venue in the area it is certainly worth stopping by for the attractively priced lunch or maybe as one of your fill-ins for dinner during an extended trip.

One thing to note is we did not dine at Red Hills Provincial Dining on the main highway in Dundee. It is my understanding it is on the level of The Painted Lady and look forward to dining here during our next visit.

The quality beyond the Dundee Bistro dropped off rapidly. While seeking out a dinner away from wine we opted for the Golden Valley Brewery one evening. You have to wonder to yourself when the hostess seats you and says “beware the service might be slow because we’re so busy”. Fortunately the service was actually quite quick including decent timing of the courses coming from the kitchen. Unfortunately the good news stops there. Considering this establishment bills itself as a brewery in arguably one of the best microbrew states in the greater union I must say the brews we tasted were average at best. Follow that up with appetizers that are passable and entrees that were downright bland and dry. Even though you can eat here for a song it’s not worth visiting in my opinion. Reservations are not needed. Attire is extremely casual.

Just a few quick notes…
Lunch in Pacific City was at the only other restaurant in town where you can actually choke down the food (certainly no disrespect intended for the excellent Delicate Palate Bistro; we’re talking light years of difference here). If you decide to eat here stick to the Clam Chowder as an appetizer and any burger as the entrée. Trust me on this one folks. Don’t waiver.

Lunch at the Vineyard Steak House was a pass. Prices were OK, service as well. Unfortunately the quality of the food was pedestrian at best. Too bad. It’s a nice venue. If a chef with good skills could take this place over it could do well.

Lunch at Burgerville was acceptable. The “In-N-Out” of the Pacific Northwest focuses on whatever is local and fresh. The day we were there they were serving strawberry shakes made with fresh Dayton grown strawberries. Worth a quick bite between wine tastings.

Lunch at the French Bear was a complete disaster. I didn’t realize I was such a patient person until I finally walked to the register at the 45 minute mark and asked “have you started on our lunch yet?”. Please bear (pun intended) in mind that this place only makes sandwiches, salads, soups and quiches. I don’t know about you but I can personally make about 100 sandwiches in 45 minutes. I’m thinking the newly hired graduate from the Pacific Northwest Whatever Culinary Institute needs to internship at Subway for a few weeks.

Lunch at The Filling Station on the main street in Carlton is a decent quick bite between tasting appointments. Mainly because it’s just about the only decent bite in Carlton when it comes to lunch (there are at least two good options for dinner including Cuvee). Enjoy your time hanging with the “interesting” locals as they pop in and out during lunch time.

Hey, Board-O: great and comprehensive re-cap of places to visit, eat and taste in the Willamette Valley, thanks!
One quick note regarding KWC: Dale is at the Tyrus Evan tasting room at The Depot; both the TE Clarets and Syrah are avaialble there, along with the KWC Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc. He's great to visit with, and can address just about any topic regarding wine and winemaking, or vineyards and site practices; there's a reason they call him the Professor! Appointments at KWC can be made for barrel tasting the Pinot noir, but only if the wines are suitable. According to the winery, they've been sulfured; something may be possible before bottling in mid-summer, but nothing currently.

RedWineRedhead, well first off, thanks for insulting me. You called me Board-O! He's 152 years older than me.

You are dead on about KWC. I called ahead for a Pinot tasting and they told me everything had just been sulfured and therefore we couldn't taste. Since I was primarily interested in the Pinots I took a pass on the TE tasting room this trip. Maybe next time.

For those of you still following along I just posted my final tasting note of the trip in the appropriate tasting note section. I managed to post a note on every single wine I tasted over the 8 days we were there...all 132 of them. Enjoy.

Well, my short vacation to Oregon is over and thank you for all your suggestions.

Wineismylife, thank you for the suggestions you just put up. And to all of you, thank you for your input. I am saving this thread so when I go back to Oregon again, I can hit these areas.

It was a great experience in Oregon. The people are warm, friendly and approachable. Respect for each other on the road, it was great to be in this environment since it has gone the way of the dinosaur in California.

The wineries we got to visit were: Domaine Serene, Domaine Drouhin, Archery Summit, Stoller, DePonte Cellars, Wine Country Farm, Tyrus and Scott Paul. Just not enough time to visit any others.

The ones that clearly stood out were: Domaine, Drouhin, Domaine Serene, Archery Summit and DePonte Cellars. Maybe the best Pinots I have ever had, and that includes Burgundies as well.
They make their wines Burgundian style and wow are they ever great wines.

Serene, Drouhin and Archery Summit can all get pricey, but the one that was a great deal for the money was DePonte. If you want to find an up and coming winery with reasonable prices and is making a name for itself, DePonte is a must visit.

Stoller and Wine Country Farms wines were okay to good, and they are far more approachable than the above wineries I listed.

Scott Paul and Tyrus I was not impressed with.

I also got to taste some 2001 Stags Hollow Pinot Noir. Oh wow, was that ever great stuff. I am so going there next visit.

One fun place to eat at is McMenamins Oregon Hotel. Their clam chowder was superb, and great home cooked fries. Everything there was outstanding. I also found out there are hotel accomodations there as well, and it is not just a restaurant. That will be a fun place to stay next time.

Also had a great drive out to the Oregon Coast. Next time we visit, it will be for at least a week, if not 2 weeks.

I'm glad you had a good time. Such a great area to visit, isn't it?

Oops, I must get snappier about my posts, both in timing and in addressing them. Sorry about that, Wineismylife; drop me a note next time you're in Carlton, and we'll make up the posting snafu to you with a great bottle of Pinot. Cheers!

Originally posted by wineismylife:
RedWineRedhead, well first off, thanks for insulting me. You called me Board-O! He's 152 years older than me.

You are dead on about KWC. I called ahead for a Pinot tasting and they told me everything had just been sulfured and therefore we couldn't taste. Since I was primarily interested in the Pinots I took a pass on the TE tasting room this trip. Maybe next time.

Will do!

Awesome write up Joe, I'm going to head up there mid september with the girl. We're going to do Seattle first, then oregon, then down to sonoma and napa. We're actually going more for hiking in seattle, but oregon we plan on hitting some of the wineries and your post has been very very helpful!!

Seems like Oregon is a recurring theme here. My body is paying the price right now, but had to opportunity to spend a quick weekend in the Willamette Valley and had an enjoyable time. I'll certainly need to arrange to spend a week out there to fully be able to catch many more wineries.

Flew out on Friday night, getting there in the wee hours on Saturday morning and I had made an appointment to meet up with BHVineyard at the Le Cadeau Vineyard at 10am. He was very gracious with his time and knowledge, walking me through the vineyard, discussing the soil types at various locations within. Also pointed out differences of the same clonal varieties in different parts, and wasn't hard to noticed the different stages of ripening in areas with more sun exposure vs. the section bordering a tree line. Tom & Deb spent a good 1 1/2 hours with me and then brought out a table and chairs, a cheese plate with crackers and two bottles of Le Cadeau PN. We tried the 2004 Rocheux and 2005 Cote Est. Very interesting trying these after seeing the locations where the grapes are sourced. The Rocheux coming from a section of very rocky soil on the western side of the vineyard on the downslope of the mountain. This wine exhibited serious notes of minerality. The Cote Est comes from the Eastern side of the vineyard, protected from the morning sun to an extent by trees that line that side of the vineyard. The soils aren't very rocky on this part and are more of a mocha color vs. almost orangish on the Western side. This wine was nice and concentrated, but with impeccable balance of fruit and acid and nevertheless the one I preferred. Certainly would have a hard time keeping my hands off the Cote Est young, while I'd allow the Rocheux to develop and see if the minerality tones down or changes with time. Again, a well made wine, right now not my preferred style of Pinot Noir. Kudos to them for their time and generousity. Needless to say, I'll be enjoying their wines for years to come.

After saying goodbye to Tom and Deb and signing up for their mailing list (long overdue I know), I headed down to Dundee to the Ponzi Tasting Room & Dundee Bistro for lunch. The bistro has a very good wine list, but by myself, I had to settle for the wines by the glass, which unfortunately only had a couple of Pinot Noir choices. Chose what I knew and had a glass of 2005 WilliKenzie Williamette Valley with Coq-Au-vin.

After lunch, the Ponzi tasting room was next door and they were tasting Adelshem Elizabeth, Shea Wine Cellars 2005 Wadenswil Clone & the 2006 Ponzi Reserve. All well made, but the Shea Wadenswil just stood out to me...just a wonderful wine. I had to buy one and did.

Was still waiting for my host to finally get down there (although he lives in the area, currently working in Tampa and got stuck in Charlotte Friday night because of weather), went across the street to Argyle. Did a tasting flight of sparkling, Chard and a couple Pinot Noirs. Really nothing struck me as exciting and while I've heard good things about the Nuthouse, just didn't wasn't very impressed. Finally, my host was on his way down into the valley and had me go up to road and meet him at Rex Hill up in Newberg, mainly so we could drop off a car at the hospital almost across the street. I did go ahead and taste at Rex Hill and nothing to speak of really, although they were tasting 2003 SVD (can't remember name...I'm just not a good note taker like WIML..LOL). It had all the aromatics and flavors of a really good Pinot Noir, but lacked the acid to hold it together.

After meeting up and combining cars, it was late enough that we could really only consider 1 other visit for the day, although we fit in two. First we made it up to Domaine Serene, certainly rather expensive for their tasting flights and very assembly line like how they have to you go from wine to wine. Tasted a Chard, the Evenstad Reserve PN, Jerusalem Hill PN and their Syrah from their sister label. I really enjoy the Evenstad, even though its on the pricey side of its worth. The Jerusalem Hill was also nice, but an easy pass at $75...bought 2 Evenstads and went on our way. By then Drouhin was closed, so we high tailed it to Carlton and Carlton Winemakers Studio.

Carlton Winemakers Studio is a place where small, or new wine makers can hone their craft without having to purchase all the equipment, etc. Sort of a co-op of sorts. Better yet, the pricing is well below what the avg wines go for in the valley. I was a bit skeptical, but that soon found myself impressed with the value of the wines. $9 tasting fee waived with purchase and also $5 off any 6 bottle purchase. The studio makes their own label, made by Eric Hamacher, who is a partner in the facility. Their label is a Williamette Valley designation and $18 price point. It was rich and opulent, with just enough acidity to balance it out...wonderful bottle of Pinot Noir for under $20...an obvious rarity. Hamacher also has his own label H Wines, which for $22 I went ahead a bought...a lighter acidic version, but also young..so we'll see if it settles down in a couple of years. Andrew Rich was the next item up...and it again was a Valley designation and at $35, on par with some of the better appellation wines from other wineries and had to pick up a couple. Also tasted and purchased a Ribbon Ridge Pinot Noir, but can't remember which one. I believe the winemakers there change over time...in fact I believe Penner-Ash started there before having their own facility, but its worth checking out.

That rounded out saturday...Sunday was a Day at the Vineyard at WillaKenzie and a Natalies Estate Winery release party with Penner-Ash in between. I can enjoy WillaKenzie wines, but their Willamette Valley wine is not up to par compared to others, although some of the single vineyard offerings were quite nice and my host is cellar club member could have gotten his pricing which make them well worth the $$, but I passed. Enjoyed the Penner Ash Willamette Valley PN (only PN they had available) and picked up a couple. Also joined their mailing list as I'd love to get access to their SVD's based upon the Willamette Valley offering.

All this quick trip did was have me yearn for more and more Oregon Pinot and think about scheduling another trip out there.

Well boys and girls here's where we unzip it for all to see. As you all know I went through and tasted a little over 100 wines during our trip to the Willamette and wrote a tasting note on every wine tasted, none of which had any profession reviews at the time. Well Jay Miller with the Wine Advocate has published his tasting report for the 177 wines he tasted during his trip. I quickly scanned through all of his notes looking for wines both of us had tasted for comparison purposes and to see how my palate might be calibrated to his. From a purely score stand point we're pretty doggone close. Here's the numbers all Pinot Noir from the current Wine Advocate unless otherwise noted:

WINE/JAY/WIML
Cadeau Rocheux 93 v 92
St. Innocent Justice 92 v 88 *
Bethel Heights Casteel 92 v 90
Cadeau Diversite 91 v 91
Bethel Heights Southeast Block 91 v 91
St. Innocent Shea 91 v 91
St. Innocent Villages Cuvee 90 v 88
Carriere Pinot Noir 90 v 92
Cadeau Cote Est 90 v 90
Carriere Provacateur 89 v 90
Ponzi 89 v 89
Bethel Flat Rock 89 v 90
Chehalem 3 Vineyard 89 v 87
Chehalem Ridgecrest 89 v 91
Bethel Eola-Amity Cuvee 88 v 89
Cristom Mt. Jeffereson Cuvee 88 v 89
Torri Mor Pinot Gris Reserve 87 v 88

I'm pretty happy with the results.

* BUMP *

I'll be there in a couple of weeks. Suggestions for good places for lunch in Dayton and Newberg?

Tina's

Red Hills

Both allowed BYO when we were there.

Ponzi Wine Bar

I thought Tina's and Ponzi were in Dundee? (Maybe these places are all much closer than I think).

I don't think Red Hills is open for lunch.

but thanks. I've got all of the restaurants you suggested earlier in this thread on our dinner itinerary.

While everyone who is anyone is probably having a good time at the CDP, I'm having a good time in Willamette Valley. Have been to Chehalem, Domain Drouhin, and Domain Serene so far. Both Chehalem and Drouhin are something special. Got the full tour at Drouhin and joined the club. Very nice. The folks at Chehalem are pretty great too. Bought some stuff there to drink during the week. I don't think I'd recommend Domaine Serene for a visit, though I like their wines quite a bit.

Had dinner at the Joel Palmer house last night and it's pretty special. We have a reservation at the Painted Lady on Wednesday, and regardless of how good that might be, anyone who comes here should get a dinner at the Joel Palmer house. The food was great, and the orientation to mushrooms is unique. We had a 2005 Le Cadeau Cote Est off the wine list which was great with both our pork loin and salmon dishes.

I was hopeful about a new place called Farm to Fork. It looks promising, but the service is really slow. We had brunch there. While my wife's French toast was getting too cold they were converting my over easy eggs into overdone. We went back and got some great Oregon cheeses at the deli which we had after the dinner I cooked in at our place.

Nice place here. Thanks to everyone for recommendations about places in this thread, and I'll post another update or two.

We're done with our wine tasting. We had dinner at the Painted Lady tonight and then we're off tomorrow.

Great time. Managed to stay off the 99 corridor for the most part the last couple of days which greatly improved the overall experience.

Today we had lunch at the Bistro Maison in McMinnville: http://www.bistromaison.com/. Highly recommended for lunch. We sat in the garden and had mussels, quiche, fondue and tartiflette. The gardens are terrific this time of year.

Later went to the Medici/Sineanne tasting room and got to try my first 2008s including the Resonance Vineyard. Quite delightful. It's the only place on our stop where I ordered cases on the spot. The Medici wines were pretty good too.

Only one of the places we did tastings wasn't really that great, but from the 5 days of really great visits probably Drouhin, Anne Aime, and Chehalem stand out.

We rented a cottage, but if I were to come back and stay in a hotel, I'd definitely try for the hotel oregon in mcminnville - nice area with a lot of great eats right there.