Kenneth E. Harker
2010 Willamette Valley

Jen and I had a wonderful day exploring the Willamette Valley in northwestern Oregon in the spring of 2010. This was our first trip to Oregon wine country and Jen's first trip to Oregon. The Willamette Valley is an easy drive from Portland and features several distinct wine regions. We had excellent spring sunshine and really enjoyed the scenery.

These photos are copyright © 2010 Kenneth E. Harker. All rights reserved.

	Our first stop in the morning was Rex Hill Vineyards. We stopped here because it was the first big winery on the road from our hotel, and we were hoping to find a winery map of the valley, which they had.
	Some Pinot Noir vines at Rex Hill. Being early in the season, there is not much canopy yet.
	A big sculpture out front of the Rex Hill tasting room.
	The "essence table" had wine glasses filled with various aromatic substances. Someone new to wine tasting could alternate smell the wine and then smell these glasses to more easily identify the aromas in the wine. My guess is that Rex Hill gets a lot of tour buses and other groups of novice wine tasters.
	Our next stop was Duck Pond Cellars. Jen and I served Duck Pond Pinot Noir at our wedding, so this stop was for sentimental reasons. Duck Pond was the least expensive Pinot Noir we tasted on this trip, but I still think it is a great value for the price.
	The tasting room at Duck Pond Cellars. Duck Pond sources grapes from all over the Willamette Valley in Oregon and the Columbia Valley in Oregon and Washington.
	Jen, having a good morning. The Duck Pond property had a lot of beautiful flower beds.
	Wisteria growing on the arbor above the front porch. Wisteria does not grow well where we live in Texas.
	Some pink rhododendrons.
	I liked this tree at Duck Pond.
	A red rhododendron near the front porch of the tasting room building.
	Pinot Noir vines at Duck Pond Cellars.
	Our next stop was in the town of Dundee. Argyle Winery turned out to be our favorite winery of the trip. They had some amazing single vineyard Pinot Noirs, and one of the best Chardonnays I've tried.
	The walk from the parking lot to the winery tasting room passed through some nice gardens.
	The tasting room building at Argyle Winery also had wisteria growing on an arbor around the wrap-around porch.
	Ken and Jen at Argyle Winery.
	Leaving the town of Dundee, we drove up into the Dundee Hills. Our first stop was Domaine Drouhin. The Drouhins are a well-known wine family from Burgundy that have produced wines made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in Beaune, France for generations at Maison Joseph Drouhin. The Drouhins began planting Pinot Noir in Oregon in 1961.
	The Domaine Drouhin winery sits atop a hill in the Dundee Hills, and has very nice views of the surrounding wine country.
	A meadow at the top of the hill.
	Some of the vines at Domaine Drouhin. These vines have less growth on them than the ones we saw earlier in the day at warmer locations in lower elevations of the Willamette Valley.
	The tasting room building at Domaine Drouhin. This was the most expensive winery we visited on our trip. Some of their single-vineyard wines cost over $90/bottle.
	The view from the porch at Domaine Drouhin.
	Jen, at Domaine Drouhin.
	One of the vineyards at Domaine Drouhin.
	A great long-distance view.
	Ken, at Domaine Drouhin.
	The Dundee Hills were originally covered in conifer forests.
	The Dundee Hills.
	Not far from Domaine Drouhin, we visited Domaine Serene, another very expensive winery.
	The vineyards at Domaine Serene.
	The view of the Willamette Valley from Domaine Serene.
	The winery building at Domaine Serene. You had to walk down a level to get to the tasting room.
	Ken, at Domaine Serene.
	Our next stop was the Carlton Winemakers Studio. The studio is a shared wine making facility and tasting room for a number of small labels. We tried two flights of wines, but nothing here really struck our fancy.
	Also in the Carlton area, we visited Anne Amie Vineyards. This winery was not on our original itinerary, but was a recommendation of one of the tasting room workers at another winery we visited earlier in the day. We've always had good luck asking the locals what wines they like, so now we intentionally leave room in our schedule when we start out.
	The winery at Anne Amie has a distinctive front door.
	The view from the winery at Anne Amie.
	The view from another direction.
	The patio outside the winery at Anne Amie.
	Winderlea Vineyard and Winery was another place we stopped based on a local recommendation. The winery building was built in a modern style that was described to us as cross between an Apple Store and an Ikea Store.
	The vineyards at Winderlea. The Pinot Noirs at Winderlea were among my favorite on this trip.
	The deck in the back of Winderlea was about 20 feet above the vineyards, and had great views.
	Jen and Ken at Winderlea.
	Our last stop of the day was Lange Winery and Vineyards.
	It seemed like everywhere we went in the Dundee Hills, the view was amazing. Towards the end of the day, the clouds began to roll in.
	The vineyards at Lange Winery.
	The winery building and tasting room at Lange.