The Oregon trail is an historic wagon wheel route, originally laid by fur trappers and traders that connect Missouri to Oregon.  Settlers used it to come west and stake out claims for land.  While the land journey is certainly a great trip, we took an air journey and flew into Portland.  Portland is an interesting and somewhat quirky town with many unique and interesting neighborhoods to enjoy as well as a highly accessible and enjoyable downtown area.  The Columbia and Willamette rivers run right through the heart of Portland, but they are not the only liquid assets here, which seems to have a micro brewery on every block.  For this trip, we were not there for the beer (sigh), but simply using it as our jumping off point to get to the Willamette Valley in search of grapes.

The Willamette Valley has emerged in recent years as one of the premier wine producing regions in the country, even garnering international notoriety. The valley is home to over 300 individual wineries The climate, latitude, and geology is particularly suited to the production of top-quality Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris.  The Willamette Valley is a huge appellation that includes six sub-appellations: Chehalem Mountains, Dundee Hills, Eola-Amity Hills, McMinnville, Ribbon Ridge and Yamhill-Carlton.

As we are still travelling, here is just a quick photo overview as it is almost time to get out and explore some more.

Stoller Family Estate in Dundee Hills.  Beautiful tasting room and great 100% Estate grown wines.

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Sokol Blosser Winery – the Evolution blend is easily found in the midwest.

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Durant Vineyards – one of our favorite stops!

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Archery Summit – Great wines and a unique (to this area) wine cellar tasting room

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