A Day-Long Out-of-Season Oregon Wine Tour

We did one day of tasting room visits in Washington County, Oregon many years ago as part of a fundraiser for the Oregon Humane Society: we paid $50 each, I think, and we got to taste one or two wines at each of 10 different wineries or distilleries. We did three or four visits in one day, and then we had the rest of the month to do the rest. It was our introduction to Oregon wineries and we loved the experience. And didn't do it again for more than a decade.

But all this time, I had really wanted to do another day of tastings, and I wanted to do it in Yamhill County, Oregon, which is next door and I think it's the most beautiful county in Oregon: rolling hills, trees, fields, farms, oh-so-charming Carlton, and vineyards. We travel through Yamhill County by motorcycle, and I don't drink and ride, so I would think about how much I'd like to stay in the area and do some winery visits, and then not do it. Since every plan I made for my 60th birthday fell through (January is a really lousy time to have a birthday), I decided we would, at last, make a day of formal wine tasting in Yamhill County, complete with a driver.

I have lived in Oregon for 17 years, and I know that January is a really unpredictable time in this state, weather wise. It can be rainy, it can be snowy. It is often gray. It is usually not sunny and warm. So, for my birthday, I had resigned myself to cold, rainy weather and not seeing any views at all. I had resigned myself to indoor tasting rooms and hoping there would be a fire place, and being told over and over, "I'm so sorry you can't see our beautiful view!"

Added annoyance: SO many recommended restaurants, wineries and distilleries turned out to be closed for January (do your research before you arrive!).

The drive to Carlton, not even 25 miles from our house, was terrifying: it was not only pitch black, but the fog was thicker than anything I have ever seen in my life. I was expecting for us to drive of the road and die the whole way. Our accommodations were off a gravel road, and we could see NOTHING on either side of the road nor any turnoff at all. By the time we got to the guest house, which even lit up wasn't visible until we were almost right in front of it, I was shaking. And the next day, we woke up to fog, as seen in the photo. 

Unbelievably, the odds were defied, the weather forecast was wrong, except for the very early morning, and we ended up with beautiful, clear skies for the entire day of my birthday and the drive home the next day. I still can't believe it. Just be aware that you might not be so lucky if you try to do this trip anytime from November 1 to the end of May in particular. 

We stayed at the Gaard House, the most affordable of all of the accommodations I had looked at in the area online. It's a huge family home surrounded by sprawling hills and fields, much of it vineyards. The owners are super welcoming. Our room was one of four guest rooms, all upstairs and next to or across the hallway from each other. It's a shared bathroom for each two rooms, but we were the only guests, so the bathroom was all ours. They even provide bath robes! 

I also picked the Gaard House because breakfast was included and there was a game room with a pool table, and Stefan loves to play pool - we played both nights for our stay, a perfect way to end both days.

Breakfast at the Gaard House turned out to be WAY more than we imagined. I was expecting a European style breakfast buffet: some choices of cereal, some meat, some bread, some cheese. And that would have been fine! But this was so much more: the first morning we had an amazing egg sandwich on grilled English muffins, with tomatoes and greens and local bacon, a delicious yogurt with fresh blackberries, fresh apple juice with NO cinnamon (Stefan was so happy) and, of course, coffee. By the end of breakfast, I was SO FULL - which is what you want before a day of wine tasting. The second morning, we had killer yummy blackberry pancakes, a side of local bacon, and that same incredible yogurt and apple juice and coffee. And a perfect view as we ate of Yamhill County wine country.

Since there were no other guests, we chatted up the hosts while we watched them make our breakfast in their gorgeous kitchen. The second morning, we were joined by their sweetie pie cat.

The Gaard House has its own screening room with three rows of VERY comfy recliners, but we never could figure out how to turn the system on and I was too lazy to go upstairs and ask. But we weren't there to watch TV anyway, and I sat in a chair on the first row a few times just to rest up before returning to the pool table so Stefan could beat me yet again.

Ending each day at that pool table was so perfect for us. Every guest house should have a pool table.

There is a nice walk on a long gravel driveway beyond the property where we stayed, with gorgeous views of the surrounding hills - so long as the weather cooperates. There was frost on the ground in all shaded areas, but once the sun hit the ground, it disappeared. As we walked it on the morning of my birthday, we bothered a pig who grunted his annoyance at us as he quickly headed back to his barn, and turkeys who gobbled their annoyance at us for not feeding them.

Walking on that gravel driveway between the country houses felt like walking in a Jane Austin novel. Whether we do a motorcycle trip or a camping trip with Lucy and our trailer, we like to start the day or end the day with a slow walk around the camp site. I was glad we were able to have our morning walk on this trip. 

I could not believe the break we had gotten in the weather that day.

The Gaard House is perfectly situated between Carlton and Dundee, and Dayton and McMinnville are just a wee bit farther of a drive. Perfect place to base yourself for wine tasting. Newberg isnt' that far either. So we were in the perfect position to go to any of the wineries in the area - and there are a LOT of wineries. More than a 100? Probably. So if you are looking to explore the area in depth, the Gaard House is a perfect base. But we really didn't want to go far, and we really wanted only one day of wine touring.

It's so unfortunate that Yamhill County and Washington County do not have hike and bike trails between any wineries at all. And it's also really sad that none of the wineries have camping except for some places that allow Harvest Host setups (you have to be a member and your RV has to have its own bathroom). In France, England and Hungary, we've pitched a tent in a camp site and then walked over to wine tastings or pubs that evening, then stumbled home to our tent. What a shame that Oregon wine country makes experiencing wineries and distilleries so unaffordable / inaccessible for so many.

It's worth nothing that the proposed 17-mile-long already-mapped-out Yamhelas-Westsider Trail, which would go from McMinnville and through Carlton and Yamhill to Gaston (to the Henry Hagg Lake junction) is, at the time of this writing, been put in danger by the members of the Yamhill County Commission, not because of public pressure - the local community overwhelmingly supports the trail construction, having seen the economic benefits to Vernonia per the Banks-to-Vernonia hike and bike trail. And Yamhill County owns the majority of the trail right-of-way. The trail would, without a doubt, be an economic asset to Yamhill County wineries and restaurants and places providing accommodation. But Republicans hate bicyclists and pedestrians - the opposition is being done purely out of spite.

Anyway...

I decided I did not want Stefan driving between wineries. All of the wineries and tasting rooms we went to were SUPER close by to our accommodations (though not close enough to walk and not safe enough for a bike ride), but it made me much more comfortable to have a driver for the day. Winery tour drivers are RIDICULOUSLY expensive - and the only semi-affordable one I found is closed for the season. So I asked a friend if her daughter was looking to make some extra money, and she was: she came to Carlton on my birthday and drove us around.

I also refused to even think about paying for winery charcuterie board for lunch, so I packed up meats, cheese and crackers before the trip. Many places do NOT allow outside food, so I wasn't sure where we would be eating it...

I am coming across as cheap. I'm really not. I will happily pay the full price for certain things, like an expert-guided tour of Tikal. But, again, why do US winery areas have to be so expensive?!?

Let's talk food & drink:

Wednesday night, we ate dinner at the Blind Pig / Renegade Catering in picture-perfect downtown Carlton. We've passed it dozens of time when we pass through town on our motorcycles, but have always gone to a nearby wood-fired pizza place instead. But that was closed, and I was happy to try a new place. The burger I had was mind-blowingly good and cooked to my specifications (medium - on the medium rare side). I had a cocktail with bourbon, pomegranate and lime juice.

Thursday night we ate at Alpine Crossing in McMinnville, a bit of a schlep but, again, so many places were closed for the season, and the one place that wasn't was booked solid. Stefan had a pork leg on a sea of mashed potatoes and he loved it. I had a seafood pasta dish that had but two shrimp in it... but I had had such a great day, I didn't really care.

If you are thinking, "Why didn't they eat at the famous such-and-such?!?" We didn't because whatever place you are thinking of was closed or was already fully booked.

Now for the wineries, all of which we did Thursday. I figured if I had four winery or distillery destinations picked out, that would be enough for the day. It turned out to be one too many! But I highly recommend you do the same: pick at least four places to go for your day. Research them before hand: what are the costs of flights? Can you share a flight? You don't have to do the formal flights, but I really wanted to, and all of our flights were affordable and came with interesting commentary. Your accommmodations will have recommendations, and I recommend all three places we visited.  Our driver got us at 11:30 and off we went on a perfect sunny day:

Abby Road Farm and Winery. It's an 82 acre farms with very happy pigs, sheep and donkeys, very cranky geese (but are there any other kind?), a beautiful tasting room, a huge event room and the Silo Suites B&B, where you stay in converted grain silos. We learned later that they regularly have events that are open to the public, with music and artisan vendors. If we had had more time, we would have walked around the grounds and looked at the animals a bit more.

We sat outside, the tasting room staff started a fire for us, and we sat looking at an unreal beautiful view whilst drinking delicious wines and hearing her top-notch narrative about the wines. We had the entire outdoor area to ourselves and I just could not believe the weather. We loved this place so much we ended up staying longer than we planned. There was only one other group of customers - it was like having the entire place to ourselves. We ended up buying a Resiling and a Syrah.

Afterwards, we drove a bit towards the road, where they had picnic tables, and we grabbed one ate some of the food I had brought - so many wineries do NOT allow that, so I was really glad they had these picnic tables. While there, we also got to say howdy to the donkeys and there was a chicken who wanted to run around near us.

Did I mention it was a beautiful day?

Next, we went to Dominio IV, which was a whopping 1.2 miles way. We once again decided to do a full flight each. I was enjoying trying different wines that I usually don't drink much more than I thought I would. I'm still not a Pinot Noir fan nor a Chardonnay fan, but I did try some that I wouldn't have minded having with a meal if that's what someone chose to serve.

We reserved a time beforehand and then showed up late - I felt so bad about that. But we were one of only two groups of customers at the time, so I don't think we put anyone out... I hope we didn't.

At Dominio IV, we imbibed in a room upstairs at their charming 1916 farmhouse. We not only had the room to ourselves, we had the entire upstairs to ourselves, and the staff seemed happy to schlep upstairs with each new wine to taste. They also did some side-by-side tastings, and it was interesting to be able to compare. 

They have a beautiful 100 year old barn with two stories, all laid out so that a group can be well contained in their own little circle of comfy chairs and couches. Since we were the only guests, it would have been a bit of a schlep for the staffer to come from the farm house to here just for us. Also, the barn is not insulated at all, so it was a bit chilly. But I was glad we could tour the barn - it's gorgeous. I want my own barn. My other pictures look oh so artistic with lots of streaks of light - I didn't know there was a smudge on my camera lense that was causing the lights to look so funky.

They also have a shed that is converted into one private group gathering place and I WANT IT. I want the entire shed and all of the furniture inside. I would hide in it all the time. I don't like Pinot Noir, but I had the best I ever had at Dominio IV. Didn't buy it though...

Finally, we went to Cana's Feast, which we've passed more times than I can count when we are out for a motorcycle ride. In fact, there was a couple there two up on a Harley, but we didn't chat. I thought it would be too cold to be outside, but we were in the direct light of the sunset, and it was fine. Once again, we did a full flight each. I really hadn't planned on doing that at every place, but it really is so much fun to try such a variety of very, very different wines. That day, they had wines from Washington State and they were fantastic.

We sat outside with just two other couples on the long patio and watched a breath-taking sunset, enjoying the staff member who may have had a long day, but seemed ready for just-one-more tasting. We ended up buying three more bottles of wine, including another Syrah and a wine called Joie de Vivre.

It was well after 5 by the time we got back to the Gaard House - almost two hours later than I thought we would be. The wine tastings took longer than I thought, but that was fine. Just keep that in mind if you book a driver or make reservations that evening for supper. I had wanted time to take a nap before we headed out to supper - oh well. 

It was a fine day. And a nice 60th birthday. It wasn't what we had originally planned - we were supposed to be in Peru or Columbia on rented motorcycles, but my knee injury in June cancelled those plans. Maybe it was a good thing to have such low expectations, because this almost last-minute makeup plan turned out very nicely. And now I have five bottles of really excellent local Oregon wine to enjoy. Come visit! 

All photos here.

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