Oregon wine country lodging
 

My wife and I will be visiting your wonderful wine country next Spring and we're looking for recommendations for a romantic B&B for a 3-day weekend. We'll be visiting Domaine Serene and Beaux Freres, among others. Any B&Bs that stand out and are a must stay?

Youngberg Hill is just lovely and very central. I am not familiar with the Wineries you mentioned but Youngberg Hill is in McMinnville. Enjoy!

Black Walnut Inn - http://www.blackwalnut-inn.com/ - is close to Domain Serene, and in a decent location for getting to Beaux Freres and other wineries of North Valley Road. Since I'm local, I haven't stayed there, but it looks nice driving by, and I've read favorable reviews.

HI LarrySt, I've also heard good things about the previously mentioned places. You will love Domaine Serene, we were there in July. The grounds are gorgeous and their Pinot Noir is outstanding. I hope you get over to Archery Summit and Domaine Drouhin, two more of our favorites in this area. ***kim*** ((l))

I second the Black Walnut Inn..though I have not stayed there either, but did see it and cannot wait to stay there.
The whole wine area here in Portland/Oregon is easy to see in a couple of days , try to get a B&B with a room with a fireplace, Spring is wet and chilly here..pretty romantic to be stuck in with a fire and some of that nice wine you will buy :)

Thanks for all of your quick replies. The Black Walnut Inn looks wonderful.
Yes - we're definitely on the trail for Oregon's famous Pinot. Drouhin and Archery Summit are on the list.

When will you being doing this trip, Larry? Domaines Serene & Drouhin, and Archery Summit all make fine wines, as you apparently already know, but they also price themselves ridiculously high. There are a number of boutique type places where you'll find just as good or better wine, and prices don't necessarily include the huge winery overhead. However, most require an appointment for tasting.

***kim*** ((l)) - You've written before about buying a couple bottles of Domaine Drouhin, but have you ever had any Domaine Serene or Archery Summit besides the tastings you split with your husband?

Beachbum - We'll be there in mid March. What boutique wineries would you recommend? Obviously, I'm most interested in Pinot Noir. I live within an hour of Napa/ Sonoma, but am looking forward to sampling the best from Oregon, which I do prefer over CA Pinots.
Thanks,
Larry

I was thinking that if you were coming yet this fall, many ordinarily taste-by-appointment-only wineries are open the weekends on either side of Thanksgiving.

Near Beaux Freres, my favorites are Brick House and Patricia Green Cellars. Instead of returning to Black Walnut over Worden Hill Road, loop back through Carlton for a stop at Carlton Winemaker's Studio, then McMinnville for Westrey. Winemaker's Studio is a co-op sort of place for small vintners, and has regular tasting hours, so it's a fun stop regardless, but ask for Andrew Rich wines. Westrey might be making the best pinot noir in the state.

<i>&quot;Split tastings&quot;?</i>

What next...a Coke and two straws at the General's Daughter? $)

Since some of the best Oregon advice I have gotten has been from beachbum, I would like to recommend that everyone listen to him ! lol

Kal...bringing your own glasses to the Pub is all a part of those <i>dining</i> experiences..

:-d Kal!!

What puzzles me is how someone can name as &quot;favorite&quot; a place where they've only shared tastings. :-? I interpret that to mean either they haven't tasted very much of Oregon wine, or most of what they've had has been really bad. In this case though, I'm not sure the taster knows the difference. :-&quot;

Thanks Scarlett! I owe it all to exhaustive research. hic! ((d))

IF your travels take you to McMinnville, a few restaurants to try include Kame and Maison Bistro. The Oregonian gave excellent marks to both, saying Kame has the best California rolls in the greater Portland area and Maison Bistro does great moules/frites (a bit coals to Newcastle for DH and I, as we live part time in Brussels, but still...). My in-laws live in McM and say both restaurants are very pleasant and worth a stop if you're in the area. McM also has a nice local bakery.

Hi BTilke, lol, you can be the resident expert on Moules &amp; Frites :D
Is that bakery the Red Fox? mms has been telling me about the bakery there, I missed it on our last visit, but now know we have to go back for lunch and picking up baked goods.

Ms Scarlett and b'bummer...
I can picture them walking into a tasting room like Minnesota Fats into a pool hall with a pool cue type carrying case, opening it up and tapping on the rim towards the innkeeper.

Oregon pinoooooots....=P~=P~=P~

Yes, indeed, it's the Red Fox. I was just &quot;chatting&quot; via MSN with my mum in law and she said they have excellent multi grain bread.
As for the moules/frites, of course, the Maison Bistro mussels are from the NW, perhaps from up Hood Canal way. Some of those are VERY good, just as good as anything from France!(the mussels available at our local Waitrose in the UK come from New Zealand)

BTilke--The Red Fox is closed for a bit. Their oven exploded a couple weeks ago and blew out the entire front part of the restaurant! It is all boarded up for now, but they hope to have their new oven and the place fixed up and open by early November.

Yes, there are lots of great places in McMinnville though!

My mother in law had no idea the oven(s) had exploded! She asked her husband to check the place out on his way home from the chiropractor. But she did say the ovens there had come from Zabars in NYC. If those were the ones that exploded, I wouldn't be surprised if a lawsuit develops.

Yes, it was just a week or so ago. I was there with my husband a few days ago and we tried to stop in and found it all boarded up with a notice of what happened. I was down there with the kids today, so knew to skip it. So we went to Alf's and visited Elvis instead, lol!

My inlaws had to drive by the bakery just to see for themselves that it was closed. A man was there still cleaning up. Fortunately, the photo of my in-laws' parrot eating their bread survived the explosion and is still on the wall...so if you stop in after it re-opens and see a photo of an utterly insane Moluccan clutching a piece of Red Fox bread, you're looking at a Tilke ;-)