• About
  • Indiana Wineries
  • Michigan Wineries
  • Wisconsin Wineries

Howard W. Hewitt

~ … The "W" stands for wine!

Howard W. Hewitt

Tag Archives: Wilamette Valley

Join Me for Oregon Wine Trip

11 Saturday Jan 2014

Posted by Howard in Food & Travel, Oregon

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Alexa Winery, Domaine Drouhin, Lange Estate Winery, Republic of Jam, Wilamette Valley, Winderlea

Don Lange talking Pinot

Don Lange talking Pinot

Leading wine trips has been in the back of my mind for the past couple of years. Six years of immersion into learning and appreciating wine has given me some knowledge, experience, and certain contacts in the wine industry.

I helped leading a group to France in June through my regular job. I was in charge of four days in Southern France visiting wine country. After that trip, and consulation with a few wine friends, I thought I could start doing one trip a year and then perhaps 2-3 annually in the future.

I’ve put together a trip to Oregon’s Willamette Valley, June 9-14. This will be a boutique type trip for people serious about wine. Frankly, this trip could be done a little less expensive but we’re going to eat well and stay in a really fabulous Bed and Breakfast when we’re in the Willamette.

Our lodging - Black Walnut Inn

Our lodging – Black Walnut Inn

Before I go any further, the brochure is linked in the left rail on this page and right here!

The trip does NOT include transportation to and from Portland. The trip beings Monday night, June 9 with a reservation in your name at the Hilton Doubletree Inn, downtown Portland. We’ll travel Tuesday morning out to the valley and begin with a tour, tasting and lunch at Lange Estate Winery. We hope to have Jesse or Don Lange join us to talk about Lange wines.

After lunch its the very nice, and very upscale, Alexana Winery which is nearby. Then we’ll check into the stunning Black Walnut Inn. That night we’ll head to McMinnville and dine at one of local winemakers favorites spots – Nick’s Italian Cafe.

drouhinWednesday’s action includes an Oregon Pinot/Burgundy side-by-side tasting at Domaine Drouhin. We’ll have lunch at a great boutique winery – Winderlea. And we’ll visit one of my personal favorites, Vidon in the afternoon. We might even squeeze in one more. Dinner that even will be more on the lighter side.

On Thursday we’ll break the routine and head out to take in the stunning Columbia River Gorge. It think it’s one of the prettiest areas in our country.

Columbia River Gorge

Columbia River Gorge

We’ll stop at Multnomah Falls and have lunch in Hood River.  That night we’ll have a grand dinner at the fabulous Recipe restaurant in Newberg.

Friday’s lineup includes tasting at another boutique winery, a visit to the great ladies at Republic of Jam, and lunch in Carlton. We’ll have an extra hour or so in Carlton to visit some of the great little shops on your own – or even visit a few of the tasting rooms in town.

Mid afternoon we’ll head back to Portland where a room at the Doubletree will be reserved in your name. The trip officially ends. You are on your own Saturday to head home or enjoy more of what Oregon has to offer.

That’s a quick overview. Check the brochure for more details and cost.

I wanted to get this post up to link up some blogs and photo albums from previous visits to the Willamette Valley.

July 29, 2011 newspaper column on Oregon Trip. Four photo albums from that trip here, here, here, and here.

Here are my blog posts from that trip: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • More
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Drouhin’s Oregon Pinot Noir One of Very Best

28 Saturday Jul 2012

Posted by Howard in Oregon

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Domaine Drouhin, Laurene, Oregon, Pinot Noir, Wilamette Valley

The Oregon Vineyards of Domaine Drouhin

Most wine drinkers have a bottle or two – or many – stashed away for a special occasion. While much can be said for popping one open on a Tuesday night just because you ARE special, we do tend to squirrel them away with a purpose.

I had such a purpose this week for a friend who will be moving out of town for a year. Patrick is my best wine buddy. We normally taste something at least once a week so he will be missed.

In Patrick’s honor I went to the storage system and snooped around and decided on a Domaine Drouhin 07 Laurene Pinot Noir. I picked this up in the summer of 2011 while visiting the Willamette Valley and the gorgeous Drouhin winery.

Here are some photos from that day in the valley. Photos include stops at Domaine Serene, Winderlea, and Sokol Blosser, three more great Oregon wineries

Simply put, the Laurene was one of the best Oregon Pinots I’ve ever enjoyed. I think Patrick might agree. The 07 Oregon vintage has gotten a lot of press for its up and down quality as its aged. But tasting the 07 wines last year was a real job. I was actually in Oregon when most of the 07 vintage was released and there wasn’t much to like, though I didn’t visit Drouhin.

Last summer the 07 Pinot Noir really came to life. The 07 Laurene is Domaine Drouhin’s top bottling. It doesn’t come cheap at $75 a bottle, though I did find it as low as $57 on the internet.

The wine had wonderful complex fruit much more pronounced that some wines of any vintage. There was lovely dark cherry but with a bright freshness you only get in the best Pinot wines. It had strong but well-balanced acid which would have been perfect for some sockeye salmon or steelhead trout. But when I open a Pinot of this quality I just want to sip it. Maybe a little matching chocolate with this Pinot but it should be savored.

I didn’t even have to look to guess the critics liked this wine, but I did. Josh Reynolds of Tanzer gave it 90 points. “Brisk, finely etched red fruit flavors carry no excess weight and gain intensity with air. The lingering finish echoes the strawberry and blood orange notes.” That geeky enough for you?

Robert Parker scored the wine 91 points, Wine Spectator agreed with the 91 score, and the Burghound jumped it up to 93 points.

Again, the price point will scare off many and I understand that. But this is a great example of you get what you pay for.

Domaine Drouhin 2007, SRP $75, Very Highly Recommended


Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • More
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Recent Posts

  • The Garage welcome, risky addition
  • How About Some Soup, Friends?
  • #KrogerLinwood: A Virus Nest

Grape Sense on Instagram

Categories

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 3,661 other followers

Howard’s Wine Ratings

"Very Highly Recommended" - Drop everything and rush out to buy this wine!

"Highly Recommended" - Wine is varietally correct, well made, great balance, a must buy!

"Recommended" - Good wine and a good value. Not spectacular but a solid choice.

"Not Recommended" - Run the other direction.

Wine Travel Photos

My Magazine Stories

Friend Me On …

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Archives

My Summer With Lymphoma: Lymphoma, My Stem Cell Transplant

Good news on cancer and eyes

I have failed miserably at keeping ‘the cancer blog’ updated – and that’s a good thing, I suppose. I have now been “clean” since my April autologous stem cell transplant. I had a PET scan in June and a CT scan this week (Sept. 11) and both showed negative results. My oncologist was very pleased […]

Decisions, Decisions – Job & Health issues

  It’s been two weeks since my last update, one week-plus since I dropped one of my three antibiotics, and 97 days since my stem cell transplant for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.   So there are a few things to update and a few thoughts to share. Let’s start with the cancer. My team of oncologists at […]

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
%d bloggers like this: