Visit more than 100 Wineries and Tasting Rooms in Oregons Premier Wine Country
(PRWEB) February 12, 2005 -- The roads are narrow and winding, the wineries intimate, and the winemakers passionate about their wine. Come discover Oregons Willamette Valley wine region, a short jaunt from Portland, nestled in a valley between the Cascades and the Coastal Mountain Range. More than 100 wineries and tasting rooms will welcome both causal sippers and serious oenophiles during the 15th annual Memorial Day Weekend in Wine Country, May 28-30th, 2005 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Take this opportunity to visit some of the Willamette Valleys small, family-owned wineries often closed to visitors, as well as larger wineries and tasting rooms pouring select library wines. For a wine touring map with winery listings, lodging and dining, please call the Willamette Valley Wineries Association at 503-646-2985 or order online at www.willamettewines.com.
Oregons Willamette Valley Celebrates 40 years of Vines:
The Willamette Valley is celebrating 40 years as a wine producing region, dating back to 1965 when David Lett, and his wife, Diana, planted 3,000 pinot noir vines in the Dundee Hills. A Utah native, Lett was traveling to San Francisco when he discovered the Napa Valley. He soon gave up a dream of dental school to study viticulture at the University of California at Davis before heading north to Oregon. After studying western Oregons geography and climate, Lett planted pinot noir grapes in the Northern Willamette Valley, convinced that pinot noir was a perfect fit. The Letts produced their first wines in 1970 and welcomed the migration of Oregon wine pioneers – including Dick Erath, Erath Vineyards, Dick and Nancy Ponzi, Ponzi Vineyards, David and Ginny Adelsheim, Adelsheim Vineyard, Joe and Pat Campbell, Elk Cove, Susan and Bill Sokol-Blosser, Sokol Blosser and Myron Redford, Amity Vineyards.
New Willamette Valley AVAs:
Today, there are 121 wineries and tasting rooms represented by the Willamette Valley Wineries Association stretching south from Portland to Eugene. The Willamette Valley AVA was approved in the mid-1980s. Three new AVAs have recently been approved for the Northern Willamette Valley; Yamhill-Carlton District, Dundee Hills and McMinnville. Three additional AVAs are pending, including Chehalem Mountains, Eola Hills, McMinnville Foothills, Red Hills of Dundee, Ribbon Ridge, and Yamhill-Carlton District.
The Willamette Valleys Less-Traveled Roads:
Touring the Willamette Valley wine country takes patience, a good touring map, and an adventurous spirit. With some of the 121 wineries and tasting rooms tucked back from the road, perched on top of a ridge, or housed in old pig farms and barns, the Willamette Valley has a surprise waiting at every fork in the road. Small towns like Carlton, Lafayette and Dundee dot the map, llamas and horses share pasture space, and rows and rows of grapevines paint a pastoral backdrop. With world class dining, intimate country inns, and nurseries and garden shops, the Willamette Valley is worth exploring – one back road at a time.
About Willamette Valley Wineries Association:
The WVWA is a non-profit industry association dedicated to achieving recognition for the Willamette Valley as a premier wine producing region. Currently, the new organization has 121 members representing wineries and tasting rooms throughout the Willamette Valley region – from Portland to Eugene. Memorial Weekend in Wine Country and Wine Country Thanksgiving (November 25-27, 2005) are the two oldest wine touring events in Oregon sponsored by the association. The Board of Directors includes: Paul Hart, president and owner of Rex Hill Vineyards; Josh Bergstrom, Bergstrom; Bill Hatcher, A to Z; Lisa Jenkins, Duck Pond; Harry Peterson-Nedry, Chehalem; Steve Vuylsteke, Erath Vineyards; Pat Dudley, Bethel Heights; Annie Shull, Raptor Ridge and Ken Evenstad, Domaine Serene. For more information or to request a wine touring map, please visit www.willamettewines.com or call 503-297-2962.
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