The Beauty and Bounty of the Willamette Valley

13 days. 12 nights. 12 restaurants. 7 American Viticultural Areas (AVAs). 21 wineries and tasting rooms. 142 wines. Our long-delayed retirement celebration trip (two years late, but better late than never!) to the Willamette Valley in Oregon was epic. We are already looking forward to returning for a second visit, and when you learn more about our trip, I think you will feel the same way! Let’s talk Willamette Valley!!

The Willamette Valley - Photo by Laurie Geis

13 days. 12 nights. 12 restaurants. 7 American Viticultural Areas (AVAs). 21 wineries and tasting rooms. 142 wines. Our long-delayed retirement celebration trip (two years late, but better late than never!) to the Willamette Valley in Oregon was epic. We are already looking forward to returning for a second visit, and when you learn more about our trip I think you will feel the same way! Let’s talk Willamette Valley!!

Laurie and I recently spent two weeks in Oregon and more specifically, in the Willamette Valley just south of Portland. So, of all the places we could pick for a retirement celebration blowout trip, why did we pick the Willamette Valley? Two reasons. First, the weather in the valley in June is sublime – highs in the 60’s and 70’s during the day, lows in the 40’s and 50’s at night, and little rain – the perfect respite from the hot and humid Florida summer. And second, Willamette Valley is one of the two most famous and top wine growing regions in the U.S. (Napa Valley being the other). We have visited Napa Valley frequently, but had never been to the Willamette Valley, so now was the time. And it did not disappoint!

The Willamette Valley is to the United States what the Burgundy region is to France. That is, similar to the stunning and famous Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs produced in the Burgundy region of France (generally regarded as the best in the world), the absolute best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines in the U.S. are produced in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. There are about 900 wineries in Oregon, with 700 of those located in the Willamette Valley. Compare that to California and Napa Valley, where there are about 4,700 wineries in the state, with about 1,700 of those located in Napa Valley. In total, despite it’s size and impressive number of wineries, Oregon produces only 1% of all fine wines made in the United States! That’s because most of the wineries in Oregon produce very small amounts of wine each year (less than 5,000 cases on average).

Located between the Cascade Mountains to the east and the Coast range to the west and a short 50 miles to the Pacific Ocean, the Willamette Valley is 100 miles long and spans 60 miles at its widest point. Compare that to Napa Valley, which is about 50 miles long and spans just 5 miles across at its widest point. Which means that the Willamette Valley is significantly less crowded than Napa Valley, with more wide-open spaces and plenty of room to roam and explore on your own. And best of all, no traffic jams (which are a mainstay on Highway 29 in Napa Valley, especially on the weekends!).

In the Willamette Valley, Pinot Noir is queen! This temperamental grape produces an elegant, silky, ethereal wine that tastes of black cherry along with red and black fruit, and that also has floral and earthy characteristics as well. It’s a lighter style of red wine that pairs beautifully with food and can be enjoyed year-round. 70 percent of all the wine made in the Willamette Valley is Pinot Noir, followed by Pinot Gris (16%) and Chardonnay (8%). Other varieties grown in the valley include Riesling, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Blanc, and Gamay Noir. The Pinot Gris wines from the valley are lean and fruity, with zesty acidity and lots of citrus fruit (perfect for summer sipping!). The Chardonnays are similar to Burgundian Chardonnays, with bright citrus, peach, and tropical fruit notes, along with nice acidity and just the slightest hint of oak. If you like your Chardonnays in a lighter and more refreshing style, these are the ones for you!

So, what makes the Willamette Valley wines so famous and also unique amongst all the other wines produced in the United States? My take after tasting almost 150 of these wines over two weeks is that the Willamette Valley has three defining characteristics that set it apart from all other wine-growing regions in states:

• The soil. 15,000 years ago, the Missoula floods caused by melting glaciers carried flood waters from Canada and Montana down the Columbia and Willamette rivers. The waters, moving at a speed of 60 miles an hour and floodwaters 1,000 feet deep, flooded the Willamette Valley, stripping away and carrying up to 200 feet of topsoil, along with boulder-laden glaciers. Once the waters receded, there was hundreds of feet of new topsoil made up of marine sediment, volcanic basalts, and other rocks and soils. Also left were larger boulders, called erratics, which were embedded in the glaciers and remained after the ice melted. The glacier erratic we visited while in the valley is the largest remaining one, about 90 tons. This soil provides the perfect ground for growing the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes.

A sampling of the varied soil types in the different AVAs of the Willamette Valley

The largest glacier erratic rock in the Willamette Valley

• The climate. The climate in the valley is also absolutely perfect for wine growing. The winters are chilly and rainy (with even some snow on occasion), while the spring, summer, and fall are cool in the evenings, warm during the days, with plenty of sunshine. These ideal growing conditions provide ample sun and warmth for the grapes to ripen, without overheating or the constant threat of extreme weather conditions. During the two weeks we were in the valley, we experienced daytime highs from the low 60’s (refreshing!) to the low 80’s, with nighttime lows from the high 40’s to mid-50’s. And NO humidity!! I’ll confess I didn’t miss the 80% relative humidity and 90+ degree temperatures that are typical for Florida this time of year! The Pacific Ocean provides cooling winds that flow down the valley in the afternoons, moderating the heat.

Yet another perfect day tasting wine in the Willamette Valley – low 70’s and sunny!

• The collaboration. I can’t tell you how many times we were regaled with stories of how the winemakers in the Willamette Valley view each other as colleagues instead of competitors. From the earliest days in the 1960’s when the first serious winemakers arrived (Eyre, Ponzi, Lett, Adelsheim), they collaborated with each other by sharing their wines, their secrets to making their most successful wines, and their failures as well. This spirit of collaboration has carried forward to this day, with winemakers helping each other during difficult times and stepping in to ensure help arrives when needed. From banding together to buy up an entire vintage of grapes from a group of winegrowers in southern Oregon when a California buyer reneged on the deal one year, to pitching in to help harvest, ferment, and bottle wines from a winery who’s owner passed away suddenly days before harvest and whose spouse was left alone to deal with it all. They joined together to ensure the wines were produced at the last minute. It’s a great story and a hallmark of the Willamette Valley wine-growing community!

Wine tasting at Ponzi Vineyards – one of the originals!

In my next blog post on the Willamette Valley, I’ll share our take on the absolute best of the Willamette Valley based on our experience there. In the meantime, seek out some of these beautiful Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays from the Willamette Valley and let me know what you think!