My husband and I are getting ready to leave for Portland to visit our son. We were planning on going to Dundee for two days, is that too long a time to stay in that area? If not, what to do, other than wineries?

Thanks!

Picture a highway, a 2 lane highway, with homes, garages, little strip malls and here and there, a winery.

2 days is not really necessary. This is the basic winery route, you can go farther and see nicer areas but I never thought it was worth staying over night.. I was happy to drive home and have dinner in one of the many great restaurants in town..

My wife and I are planning a trip almost identical to Silvana in about 10 days. The posts to her question have been really helpful!

I have one additional, more specific question - we're hoping to find a Pinot Noir that may not be as well known, and hard to find in wine shops, but shouldn't be missed while visiting. The best equivalent I have is A.Rafanelli for those familiar with their Zin. They are a small producer who only sell to their mailing list and restaurants. Maybe a ridiculous question (and favorite wines is always subjective), but thought I'd throw it out and see if any of you could make a similar recommendation.

Thanks!

Another great wine country b&b is Youngberg Hill. And for lunch or dinner I highly recommend Bistro Maison on the main street in downtown McMinnville, we've been several times and it's always great! I think they are closed early in the wk so you may want to check days. Enjoy!!

Scott Paul does some nice Pinot Noir, I love the "audrey" if you can still find it. Domaine Drouhin, Domaine Serene and Archery Summit are all great places for Pinot tasting. We were in the Dundee area this past October picking grapes for our Pinot Noir which is aging very nicely! ***kim***

Popj,

I ditto the Scott Paul rec if you love the burgundian style of PN. Great stuff and an interesting tasting of burgandies that he imports, as well as his own wines.

We liked Patricia Green, but it's appt only. Many of the smaller producers are appt only, but it's worth trying to set up some private tastings if that's the sort of experience you prefer.

Check out Carlton Winemakers studio for a tasting of some of the really small wineries including Andrew Rich and Boedecker.

Scott Paul's Audrey is his reserve label, and usually sells out shortly after it's released. How long ago was it that you bought that bottle, kimamom?

I also like Andrew Rich at Carlton Winemaker's Studio, but you might find something else there you think is better. Ken Wright is another one to look for, also in Carlton. And I've never had a bottle from J. Albin that I haven't liked. Albin is also the Director of Winemaking at King Estates, but produces his best stuff under his own label. His small winery is outside of Newberg. Then there's Owen Roe....

We also like the Patricia Green wines and the Winemaker's Studio is cool, you can taste several different wines there in one place, they have a nice outdoor area also to enjoy your tastings. ***kim***

You must be thinking of the outdoor area at Cana's Feast next door, kimamom. Carlton Winemaker's Studio's is tiny. Makes one wonder if you were ever really there. Or Scott Paul, for that matter.

Beachbum--Makes you wonder about a lot more things as well.

I wonder about how to haul all of those rain soaked grapes to California.

A poster on another board mentioned that Patty Green is currently sold out of all wines...so...no stopping there until Thanksgiving time.

Check out Shea Wine Cellars. They are also by appointment only. Dick and Dierdre Shea own what is, hands down, one of the best vineyard sites in Oregon. Many other wineries produce wines from Shea Vineyard.

popj--Look at Brick House, Grochau Cellars, or Arbor Brook. They all make excellent wines and are not found everywhere. As a bonus, they are all located very close to each other so that will save on time as well.

PDXWineaux--True about hauling the grapes. Especially since they were picked after everything else was harvested here, and with the rains we had...I wouldn't want to touch those!

mms, I have a feeling that, with the rains, they may be "corked" grapes even before they hit the bottle. I'm wondering if too much tasting went on prior to picking. LOL!

In a 12-14 hr drive wouldn't you eat most the grapes?

We just returned from our Oregon trip. Just want to thank you for all the great advice-it all worked out and we had a great time-brought home some good wines. The Black Walnut Inn and The Surfsand resort were outstanding! Oregon is beautiful! Thanks again for all the info.

Glad to hear the trip was good, but we would love to hear more details

Thanks for the report, but we won't let you get away with it being so brief! ;-) Any fave wines or diamond-in-the-rough winery finds?

Didn't want to bore you with details, but since you asked....wine tasting experience was great. Didn't have enough time to really seek out the undiscovered wineries, checked out the ones that were recommended -Domaine Serene, Domaine Drouhin, Erath,Tori Mor, Ponzi, Argyle and several more. We were also driving ourselves so you just have to stop at some point! It was a real treat tasting Pinot after Pinot and we also drank Pinot at every meal! I don't usually buy Pinot in my "everyday wines" because it is so expensive and we don't get a large variety of wine from Oregon here in NJ. My fav of the places I visited was Tori Mor and purchased a 2006 Olson Estate Pinot. Fav meal was at the Wayfarer at Cannon Beach-halibut topped with a sauce of shrimp and artichokes. Yum...Great restaurant. Low point of the trip-we took a tour van to Mt Hood-we were tired of driving-tour was great but I got sick on the way back(I have a food allergy and ate something at lunch) had to stop at least 4 times on the way home -yes that was me throwing up in the street-not pretty!
Would love to come back with my wine club and spend all the time at the wineries. Again, thanks for all your help!

Still here and collecting info for our trip in a week and a half....do you recommend Wayfarer Restaurant to Newmanns 988..we're staying at the Stephanie Inn

Just returned from Oregon trip-Wayfarer was excellent-we ate there both evenings we were at Cannon Beach. Didn't go to the other so can't compare.