For over thirty years now, tourists and locals have descended on the annual Portland's Waterfront Park for the annual Bite of Oregon. Restaurants and food carts roll out nibbles and let their chefs show off. Brewers, distillers and winemakers offer their own libations, and the proceeds are given...
Because vineyards often reside in the hinterlands, it's not uncommon for a winery to put their tasting room in town. The goal is the same: put the wine in the hands and mouths of as many people as possible. The difference is which people: While a winery tasting room attracts a tourist...
We'd actually put off reviewing Boedecker Cellars' urban winery for a while because they were remodeling the tasting room-not because we weren't longtime fans. The result is a quietly elegant space with dark wood, simple square bistro tables in the middle of the room, and longer bistro tables...
Urban wineries are a relatively new concept that is about to reach its tipping point. While at first glance incongruous--the image of the chateau producing wine taken from surrounding bucolic slopes is the image most people have when they think wine--the truth is, the grapes themselves are very...
Urban Crush is a remarkably tiny winery tucked away in Southeast Portland. The tasting room isn't exactly cramped, but a half dozen customers would make it pretty cozy. It's all they need: a state of the art facility on a very small scale. Quantity, however, does not preclude quality: there's...
Coopers Hall is located just across the river, a few blocks from the Burnside Bridge, scant minutes from downtown Portland on the bus. The building is sleek but rustic, hip and Spartan, Portland chic. It's a very clean, uncluttered design, with simple lines and functional economy that gives an...
There's a well-worn, very old adage in the wine industry: The best way to make a small fortune with a winery is to start with a large one. On the other hand, there must be a way to start small and grow. Clay Pigeon Winery has embraced the urban winery concept and taken the tasting room/wine bar...
Although Oregon Pinot Noirs tend to be a bit more expensive than Pinot Noirs from other U.S. wine regions, great deals abound in and around the Willamette Valley. When considering economy, though, it's interesting to add the element of time in with the stated price. Jan-Marc Winery offers a...
The great thing about Oregon in general and Portland in particular is the number of wineries producing really great Pinot Noir. It's what we do here, at least at the top of the state. The downside is, tasters are easily inundated. But that becomes an upside for a winery like Seven Bridges who...
Sometimes, when exiting the car and getting a first look at a vineyard, there's a premonition that you're in for something special. The day we visited Bryn Mawr Vineyards in the Eola Hills and saw the precipitously steep slope next to the winery, I knew that whatever wine came from it would be...
The Eola-Amity Hills AVA may be a little further south from Portland than most people care to go, at least on their first visit to Oregon Wine Country; well over an hour. But the payoff is tremendous. One of the area's best wineries, Cristom, turns out to be fun to get to: take the ferry. When...
Witness Tree Vineyards is named after an approximately 250 year old oak that overlooks the property. 150 years ago, surveyors used the tree to mark the corner of a claim. Now the tree overlooks the vineyards of this modest operation and graces the labels of their wines. It's been designated a...