A wine weekender All about the vino

SATURDAY AFTERNOON in Willamette Valley wine country, we found our oasis in cheese.

My friend and I had just finished a tasting at the second winery on our agenda when we realized our rookie mistake—we hadn’t eaten lunch. We were running on crackers for the past hour of wine tasting. Through our hunger-fog, we saw a sign with some combination of the words “cheese,” “tasting,” and “today.”

Our designated driver made a quick left turn onto the gravel road lined with dairy cows. Inside the small building, we gorged ourselves on creamy, savory cheese—grateful for the sustenance before our final tasting. Less than a year out of college, we were wine-tasting rookies. Traveling to one of the best wine regions in the country for the weekend was our chance to change that.

Our weekend started Friday night at Maven, a new downtown restaurant in Salem a block away from our accommodations at the Grand Hotel and a five-minute taxi from the city’s renovated, historic train depot (AMTRAK CASCADES). The menu is simple, relying on local and in-season ingredients. I chose the burger with a sundried tomato spread. My friend had the hazelnut and Italian sausage risotto. Our plates ended up in the middle of the table as we kept trading bites.

For a nightcap, we stopped at Archive, a new coffee shop and bar in town that feels more like Southeast Portland, with a rustic wooden bar and bartenders in plaid shirts with man-bun hairstyles. The punch is a must. Served in old-fashioned crystal tea cups, it’s an ever-changing, housemade concoction that is dangerously good.

We woke up early the next morning to map out our wine-tasting tour. After breakfast at the Grand, the sun was out and the sky was blue—a rarity in the wet Willamette Valley winter. We decided to take advantage of the weather and walk around Bush’s Pasture Park, a large, forested area near downtown. By eleven o’clock, when the sky turned grey again, we were ready to start our wine tour.

The Willamette Valley shares the 45th parallel with France, which explains the similarity in wines.

The Willamette Valley is a mecca for winemakers. Sharing the 45th parallel with France, the valley produces world-class wines, most notably pinot noir. A surge of Oregon rieslings, a white wine perfected by German winemakers, is underway in the region.

We decided to visit three wineries on Saturday and one on Sunday. To keep driving to a minimum for the shortstraw driver, we decided to limit our foray to the Eola-Amity Hills AVA.

The first stop was Bethel Heights, a winery from the second wave of the Oregon wine movement owned by the Casteel family since it was founded in 1977. The winery has a modern tasting room. We sampled a chardonnay, pinot blanc and three pinot noirs, learning about the differences of the wines from grapes grown just feet from each other.

Our next stop was a smaller winery. Bryn Mawr was founded in 2009 by California transplants Kathy and Jon Lauer, who moved to the valley to start the winery. While Bryn Mawr is following suit in the region with its pinot noir, we also tasted its tempranillo, a full-bodied red with spice.

Leaving Bryn Mawr, we realized how hungry we were. We began to regret not picking up a baguette and cheese along the way when Willamette Valley Cheese Co. appeared off Highway 221. The cheese was a godsend. The fromagerie has dozens of varieties, from traditional aged asiago to ambitious chipotle cheddar and jalapeno Havarti. As we were in wine country, we also tasted the pinot noir gouda, which was a perfect pairing for the day.

Satiated, we made our way to Brooks Winery on a recommendation from Bryn Mawr. The winery was recently renovated and has a stunning tasting room with an expansive wall of windows overlooking the vineyards. We went big, tasting thirteen wines at Brooks, and had a tour from “wineteller” Gerry Rasch. He shared the remarkable story of the Brooks family—how Pascal became the owner of Brooks at 8 years old when his father, Jimi, unexpectedly died. A decade later, Brooks has continued its devotion to organic and biodynamic farming.

For two young twentysomethings, wine country got the best of us. That night we had big plans to go dancing in downtown Salem but fell asleep early in our hotel room.

We didn’t let morning get the best of us and jumped in line at Word of Mouth, a brunch spot so popular that you’re likely to wait at least an hour for a table. While we waited, we went to the Governor’s Cup for coffee then strolled through The Book Bin.

I had been to Word of Mouth before and knew that its bloody marys are the perfect blend of spicy and savory. But seated at last, when our server asked what we’d like to drink we blurted, “Water.” The restaurant, a five-minute stroll east of the state capitol, is charming, quaint and serves generous portions. Rumor has it that the owners snubbed publicity from the Food Network to preserve its namesake.

On our way out of town that afternoon, we decided to skip another wine tasting for two new exhibits at the Hallie Ford Museum on Willamette University’s campus. The museum is worth taking a couple of hours to explore the large collection of Pacific Northwest art.

We both left Salem and Willamette Valley wine country with a bottle of wine in our suitcase, vowing to open one on each of our birthdays to remember our first foray into real wine.

Learning from our mistakes, however, we’ll pair this wine with an appropriate amount of cheese and bread.